strange printer problem

[QueBert]

the Printer is a networked one, PC is used for basic stuff, the guy never installs anything or changes any settings. A few weeks ago he was unable to print to the label printer. So I went to his office, I couldn't find a problem, for the hell of it I ended up trying to do a system restore. Even though the restore point claimed nothing had changed, the printer started to work. I couldn't explain it but he was happy it worked. Today he calls me saying the printers not working again. It's been about 2 weeks since I was there for the same issue. I know he hasn't made any changes to his system. I'm a bit puzzled how and why this is happening. The office has 2 other PC's and neither have issues with the label printer.

2nd question, they have a database that was custom made for them with a front end, this is where they print the labels from. When you click the print button in the database - a button the person who made it added, not the windows print. It defaults to the Dymo Label Writer they have, which is fine. But I see no way to change this as it seems hard coded in the database, which won't let me get into design mode. I'm honestly not good in Access but it appears they made the DB where you can't make changes. If this printer breaks (not made anymore) and they get a new one, it will search for this printer and not find it.

Does the 2nd question make sense? lol I'm just curious about it.

 

[Swampster]

For your printer problem, uninstall the printer from the offending computer completely. Reboot the system and go to Printers/Add A Network Printer and install it from their which will use the drivers from the host computer. This should straighten it out.

As for the database . . . it is much simpler to program for a specific printer rather than to link back to windows to access their print utility. That gives you the ability to easily change the printer, but many times raises other issues in a db when a driver fails . . . which is not all that uncommon with printer drivers.

 

[QueBert]

thanks for the reply, I'm at his office right now. When I click the label button it's looking for a printer \\scott\dymo and can't find it. There hasn't been a PC with the name scott here for years. The printer is on \\kim. The problem there is I can't get into the database to edit the settings and the company that made it for them is long gone. The database is on a server and both other PC's can print from it fine.

any suggestions I'm stumped.

 

[bruceb]

You might try a search in the registry for the invalid network path and delete it from there.

 

[Swampster]

The quickest and least expensive way would be to go to the person who created the db. If this is not an option, then you are stuck hunting for a tech that does this type of programing.

In either case, it shouldn't be an expensive repair. Remember, if you are a business, then you expect to be paid for what you do, so it is not unreasonable to expect to pay for this type of service.