Finding The Best Place For Printer Repair

Having a broken printer is certainly not one of the most pleasant of experiences when dealing with your IT equipment, but it doesn't mean you should just send it straight to the nearest printer repair shop without consideration.

One of the best things you can do is to make sure that when you send your printer to be repaired, you send it to somewhere reputable where you are confident that you will get the printer back in full working order, and that the printer repair will come with an assurance that those repairs will have solved the problem for you.

You should consider asking friends, family and colleagues if they have any experience in dealing with the printer repair shops in your area, and whether or not they found that specific person or company to be reliable. If you are unable to locate any recommendations in that way, then you can also look for the review sites online, and see if there are any reviews for the printer repair shops that you will find listed on those sites.

Another area you can look at if you are struggling to choose between repairers is to have a look at the website of your printer's manufacturer. They will often run their own accreditation schemes where printer repair technicians will have to pass exams and study a course set by that manufacturer. They will actually have a list of the technicians in your area that will hold these if they run such an accreditation scheme.

Of course, you will be wanting to ensure that you spend as little as possible on the actual repair itself, so it may be an idea to check if your printer is still within warranty, which would be an almost certain way to avoid some of the costs incurred in these repairs.

Having exhausted these options, and still haven't found the best place to arrange your printer repair? If this is the case, then you may want to consider just popping in and having a chat with one of your nearby printer repair shops. Talking to someone will often give you a first impression about what they are like. Look out for any signs indication that they belong to any trade bodies, or any qualifications that they will display in their shop, and this should help you choose somewhere to repair your printer.

You can simply go online and acquire all the necessary tips and advises on printer troubleshooting.

Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6586286

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How to stop printer from printing a test page?

Following are the steps  to stop printer from printing a test page. You have to follow the exact method and in order:

1. Turn off the printer and wait 10 seconds. Turn it on again

2. Let the printer print the test page.

3. After the test page is printed, disconnect the USB cable connecting the printer to your computer. DO NOT turn off the printer while disconnecting the USB cable.

4. Place the test page on the scanner glass and press the SCAN button on the printer. The ON light will flash as the page is being scanned.

5. Remove the test page when the ON light is steady.

6. Finally, turn off the printer and wait another 10 seconds. Then turn it on again. No more printing test pages

Now no more testing pages.

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How to Fix HP Printer Errors

Many times, when an HP printer has an error, the cause is clearly shown on the monitor. However, in other cases, the cause of the HP printer error may be a complete mystery. Instead of going on a wild goose chase to find the exact solution for the printer error, it's better to try a series of routine printer troubleshooting steps first. If these steps fail to fix the printer error, you may find the solution on the HP website.

Steps to fix HP Printer Errors

Step 1 - Ensure that the HP printer cables are properly connected. If in doubt, turn off the printer, unplug it and disconnect all of the printer cables. Plug it back in and reconnect the cables. Turn the printer back on again to see if the error has cleared.

Step 2 - Check the HP printer cartridges and print-heads to ensure that they're installed properly. Also see if the printer cartridges are empty. If the ink cartridges have sufficient ink, reinstall the cartridges and the print-heads. If an ink cartridges is empty, replace it with a new one.

Step 3 - Make sure that the HP printer's software is properly installed. If the device does not respond when you try to print or the printer software won't initialize, uninstall and reinstall the HP printer software.

Step 4 - See if your computer's firewall is preventing the HP printer from functioning properly. Open your firewall preferences and add the printer software executable file (*.exe) as an exception or disable the firewall temporarily to see if this fixes the error.

Step 5 - Check the print settings in the HP printer software if the pages don't print properly. Make sure that the margins are set to at least the minimum margins that your HP printer supports. Also ensure that you've selected the correct printer settings for the paper size and type of document you're trying to print. To access these printer settings more easily, open the HP Solution Center.

Step 6 - Clean and align the printer cartridges. Open the software for your HP printer or the HP Solution Center to access these maintenance features.

Step 7 - Double-click on the HP printer icon in the systray on the bottom right of the screen, if it appears. Look under "Status" in the printing queue to read the error messages. Right-click on the entries and select "Cancel," if necessary.

Step 8 - Navigate to the HP website to search on your specific printer model if these steps fail to fix printer error. Click on "Support and Troubleshooting." Click "Solve a Problem" to find solutions for the HP printer's specific error. Also check the "Software and Downloads" area for software and driver updates.

Read more: eHow.com

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To Repair Or Replace a Printer?

"Should I buy a new printer or fix the old one?" I don't know how many times I've heard this question, but I wish I had a nickel for each time. Of course, if they asked a salesperson, he'd have a ready answer for them... always "yes". But as a technician, I like to analyze the question a little before giving an answer. The standard equation was always that if the repair costs more than half the machine, then replace it. But as printer technology advances, and smaller printers last longer, that standard is changing.

Just to give you an example, a $1,000 laser printer might easily last 150,000 pages before ever breaking down. When it finally does need repairs, a $500 maintenance kit (including labor) is nothing to wince at. It's standard almost. And the $500 will most probably carry you through another 150,000 pages. In a case like that, if you'd replaced that printer, you would have wasted $500.

So once we get down to the dollar for dollar, the modern equation has changed, even though the standard answer from printer dealers hasn't.

Of course, the question of repair cost and printer cost isn't the only thing to consider anymore. You have to consider down time, technological advances, and a whole mess of other things. In the end, you won't get a short, simple answer... but you can make a list of pros and cons taking into account each of the following:

Small Consistent Repairs - If a machine breaks down every other month, it's probably time for an upgrade... even if the repairs are cheap. They aren't supposed to break often. If yours is, then either the parts are getting old and brittle, or the machine itself isn't made for the amount of work you're giving it. An acceptable 'break free' period is four months.

Parts - With smaller machines, parts availability is usually the deciding factor when trying to decide whether to replace or repair. Especially with inkjet printers. As a matter of fact, the odds of being able repair an inkjet machine is very slim, because inkjet parts are usually not manufactured--the machine was designed to be replaceable.

Down Time - Sometimes it's not the end of the world when a machine sits in the corner for a week waiting for parts. Sometimes it is the end of the world. If your business relies on your machine, then you need to consider a few things: 1-Is the machine reliable enough to go for long periods without breaking? 2-Is the machine a popular model, and are there parts readily available when the machine DOES break? 3-do you have anything for 'backup'? If you answered 'no' to any of these questions, you ought to think about buying a good, reliable, POPULAR machine.

Technology - Hey--it changes, and it changes fast. If you're still using something with a parallel port, then it might be time to switch over. Yes, they'll always have things to help you convert from USB to parallel, but there are other software and memory changes that might make it impossible to use old printers. If you're thinking about upgrading your computer systems in the next couple of years, you ought to upgrade your printer as well.

Supplies - It's really hard to let go of an old printer when you have a whole stack of unused toner cartridges. Especially if you can't sell them to recover some of your cost. If the printer is costing too much to repair, then you end up spending a dime to save a nickel. However, some of the 'old reliables' can be used for bulk printer or for back-up printers, so it's not always a total loss.

While these are all good things to consider when paying for a printer repair, sometimes the final decision comes down to a simple budget consideration. The most important question might simply be: Do we have enough money budgeted for a new printer? Your technician can't help you answer that, but his experience can usually help you foresee the price you'll pay if you hold on to your old machine.

Source: Ezinearticles.com

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How to Repair Printer

Repairing a printer is not a complicated task. You can easily fix some of the issues on your or can call in some tech support center.

If you own a printer, you must have faced some technical issues that might have prevented you from getting the best out of it.

Here are some of the common printer issues:

- Printer spooler service not running

- Paper jam issue

- Power cable issue

- Cartridge not working

- Paper rolling out of printer completely blank

- Printing result is not up to mark

- Driver failure

About 90 percent of printer problems are related with interface/configuration mistakes and special effects errors. Chances of any mechanical errors are very rare.

Interfacing and configuration issues arise when there is some problem in networking and you may get error like, printer is not found. There are two possible reasons, it may be not be getting identified by your operating system or there may be compatibility issue related with hardware. Please follow the following steps:

Step1. Cross-verify your USB cable, which is used for connecting printer to your computer. You must replace it if there is any damage caused to it.

Step 2. Make sure that your printer is being identified by your computer. From the main menu of Windows, choose the "Printers and Faxes" option and follow the steps to add your USB printer.

If even your printer is not recognized by your computer, then it reflects your printer software may is corrupted. Hence, you need to download it from manufacturer’s website or from a CD.

Finally, check by changing the setting of your printer to default status.

Here are some of the problems that you can fix on your own:

Paper jam: Usually it happens when more than one sheet of paper stuck in the printer. You can gently lift the cover of your printer and pull them out.

Ink level: Check the level of the ink in your cartridge and refill it asap.

Clogged cartridges: This is the most common fault, when your cartridge head is clogged with dry ink. You can repair it with simple command as: Control Panel> Printer>Right Click> Properties>Maintenance> Clean Cartridges.

Driver failure: You can check your device manager, if there is any conflict related with driver it will get reflected as exclamation mark. It shows there is some fault in printer driver and it needs to be replaced. You can make a clean install of your driver.

Alternatively, you can choose to update your printer driver as: "Control Panel > Printers > Right Click > Properties > Update Driver"

Now, you must have understood that most of the problems can be addressed easily at user’s level without calling any technician. However, you can also avail services from some tech support provider to repair your printer.

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