Excel does not print 6 or 8 (these two digits)!

Topic

New Reply

Help…..
For some strange reason, my secretary’s computer has decided that it will no longer print these digits….. 6 or 8 from Excel.

Spreadsheets that print fine from my machine will NOT print these digits from her machine.

I have removed Office 2003 Pro that was on her machine, and installed Office 2010 Home & Office to see if that would fix it. No joy….

The rest of the spreadsheet prints fine – but 6 and 8 are simply left out!
Please help!

Reply | Quote

Replies

Can you try a different printer and/or printer driver?

Reply | Quote

This makes no difference…. Using Print Setup of Print to fit or normal has the same effect when printing (no 6 or 8 digits). They do appear in the print preview though!

Reply | Quote

I wonder if the cause is a corrupt font file – not all that uncommon.

You could investigate this by changing the font in her copy of the spreadsheet.

Reply | Quote

Yes – tried several different printers – HP Colour Laser and Gestetner Copier on the network = same result from the same PC. Other machines print it with ease……!

Reply | Quote

Does it make any difference if you alter the print quality or the print scaling (if there is any applied)? Do the numbers appear in print preview?

Reply | Quote

OK – I have selected the whole sheet, and changed from the default Calibri font to Arial. The numbers all print now.

If it is the font that is corrupt, how do I repair that? Do I simply delete the font from her machine, and then copy the working font file from mine?

Thanks for the tip!

Reply | Quote

Hi Photorer,

You can use the Windows Control Panel to delete the errant font. Before doing so, however, locate a good copy to reinstall. Copying from you machine should work OK. Note that some fonts have multiple variants (eg normal, nold, italic & bold italic).

Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Reply | Quote

OK – good news is that I managed to change the font…..
Bad news is that I still have the same problem…..
I even have the same printout if I change the Font from Calibri to Arial……

6 is replaced with /
8 is replaced with ~

I had a look under Windows 7 Regional Settings, and deleted any keyboards other than the US Keyboard (for South Africa). The same result after this.
I am really stumped!

The print preview looks fine – it has the 6 and 8 digits, only when printing!

Reply | Quote

Not a solution but some suggestions:

1. Does your secretary log in as a limited account or full administrator rights?

2. When did this first happen?
– What changed or was installed or updated around the same time?

3. Can you back up to a restore point before this started?

4. Can you restore the PC from a full image backup before this started?

5. Have you run a FULL malware scan, including rootkits?

Reply | Quote

(duplicate post removed)

Reply | Quote

Do you have the proper printer driver for HER machine loaded in YOUR machine? Please do not be offended by that, or the following, suggestion.

If NOT, do so now; then test your Excel sheet. If all is well, please post back, others may see this problem in the future, and they will learn (as will we all) from your experience.

1) Otherwise, print a Windows “Test Page” from YOUR machine to HER machine’s printer. Do “6” and “8” print thereon? If NOT, please re-install HER machines printer drivers on YOUR machine, ensuring you select “Shared Printer” not “connected Printer” and retry.

2) If still a problem after the above, then, from YOUR machine, using a “fresh” Excel sheet- i.e. a DEFAULT sheet without any custom header/footer and so forth, fill a single column A with a row “ABCDE” then another with “FGHIJ” and so forth, upper then lower case; then from the numeric keys above the alphabetic (i.e. not the keypad keys) 01234, then 56789, then the “shift”ed numeric key symols; finally the keypad numerals only. Print the result. Again, please leave all “default” Excel and worksheet print settings as they are.

3) PLEASE report back with your findings.

ASSUMING that this Excel sheet used to print okay from YOUR machine to HER machine; assuming, as I have (possibly erroneously, you must tell us) that HER printer is “shared” on a peer network (no Win Server intermediary), the above test should give us all a clue. If my assumption is correct – and, again, PLEASE do NOT be insulted by the simplicity of my suggestion both above and now – DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ON EITHER MACHINE until you’ve done the above and reported back.

Believe me, if I had to “blush” for each time I’d skipped the basics while tackling the sublime, I’d be sunburned beyond repair by now. There are only 2 kinds in IT: those who’ve slapped their heads in embarassment, and those who will.

My forehead’s already flat, so humor me, okay?

Regards,
Gene

Reply | Quote

The problem has been sorted out – eventually!
Thank you all for your kind suggestions – this is something that had me completely stumped!

I sorted out the problem as follows:
The original driver for the photocopier that she uses regularly was installed automatically when the computer linked to the network the first time. It worked fine for quite some time (not sure about the 6 & 8 problem). When it started printing strange text, I realised the problem, and came here for some help.

I went in search of the Gestetner copier model on the web…. does not exist anymore! I then looked for alternatives, and new drivers….. eventually found some on Ricoh’s website. Downloaded all the different types of drivers, and eventually managed to get it working properly, using a Ricoh Driver, for 64 bit…. but not the standard PCL6 driver – I had to use the Mini-driver!

I never thought it would be a driver problem, because it did the same thing on two different printers.

So it is working again – many thanks once more.

Reply | Quote