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basic_troubleshooting [2015/09/29 09:15 (9 years ago)] swindbasic_troubleshooting [2015/09/29 09:25 (9 years ago)] swind
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 Before you start looking at System Five, there are other pieces to this picture that need to be looked at first. Before you start looking at System Five, there are other pieces to this picture that need to be looked at first.
 Obviously we have System Five and Microsoft Windows, but we can break the issue down further. Remember the customer says that they can’t print, so we also need to look at the printer and the printer driver. Obviously we have System Five and Microsoft Windows, but we can break the issue down further. Remember the customer says that they can’t print, so we also need to look at the printer and the printer driver.
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 +{{:basic_troubleshooting:block1.jpg|}} 
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 When I approach the issue, I look at what pieces are the simplest to eliminate, and I generally try to start at the closest thing to the problem. What I mean by that is, if it is a printing issue, I start at either the printer, or the Windows Printer Driver. When I approach the issue, I look at what pieces are the simplest to eliminate, and I generally try to start at the closest thing to the problem. What I mean by that is, if it is a printing issue, I start at either the printer, or the Windows Printer Driver.
  
 Can I print a test page from the Windows Printer driver? Can I print a test page from the Windows Printer driver?
  
-- Yes – Great. We have eliminated the printer and the Windows Printer driver as the source of the problem. We can now move on to System Five.+- Yes – Great. We have eliminated the printer and the Windows Printer driver as the source of the problem. We can now move on to System Five.
  
 Or Or
  
-- No – Then we need to look at either the printer or the Windows Driver. + - No – Then we need to look at either the printer or the Windows Driver. 
  
 Ask if anyone else prints to that printer, and if they do, have them try to print to it from that other computer. Ask if anyone else prints to that printer, and if they do, have them try to print to it from that other computer.
  
- Can they print to it from any other computer?+ - - Can they print to it from any other computer?
  
- Yes - Eliminate the printer+ - - Yes - Eliminate the printer
  
- No – Then the Printer is probably the issue. Have the customer check that the printer is on line, and that there aren’t any error messages or error lights showing on the printer. Also if no lights are showing, have the customer check the power cords or check that the printer is even turned on. Yes I have had calls where the customer called in and said that they could not print, and it turned out that someone had unplugged the printer. + - - No – Then the Printer is probably the issue. Have the customer check that the printer is on line, and that there aren’t any error messages or error lights showing on the printer. Also if no lights are showing, have the customer check the power cords or check that the printer is even turned on. Yes I have had calls where the customer called in and said that they could not print, and it turned out that someone had unplugged the printer. 
-Once we have eliminated the printer as the source of the issue, and that others can send print jobs to that printer, the next logical step would be to look at the Windows printer driver. Check the settings. You may need to look at the settings on another computer to verify the settings in this PC. Or, do they have multiple copies of the printer driver in the Windows Print Manager. This could point to a hardware change, or some change in the network. Try printing from any copies of the printer driver to determine if any of them can print to the printer. If one of them can… Delete the copies that can’t print to the printer. This will help prevent this type of confusion in the future.+ 
 +Once we have eliminated the printer as the source of the issue, and that others can send print jobs to that printer, the next logical step would be to look at the Windows printer driver.  
 + 
 +Check the settings. You may need to look at the settings on another computer to verify the settings in this PC.  
 + 
 +Or, do they have multiple copies of the printer driver in the Windows Print Manager. This could point to a hardware change, or some change in the network. Try printing from any copies of the printer driver to determine if any of them can print to the printer. If one of them can… Delete the copies that can’t print to the printer. This will help prevent this type of confusion in the future.
  
 If you still can’t print a test page, then you may need to uninstall, and re-install the driver. If you still can’t print a test page, then you may need to uninstall, and re-install the driver.
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 Now, if we have eliminated the printer and the Windows driver, and you are now able to print from the Windows Printer driver, we can move on to troubleshooting System Five. Now, if we have eliminated the printer and the Windows driver, and you are now able to print from the Windows Printer driver, we can move on to troubleshooting System Five.
 +
 Again, we need to break this down to smaller pieces. You may be able to break it down further than I am in this document, but this would be a starting point. Again, we need to break this down to smaller pieces. You may be able to break it down further than I am in this document, but this would be a starting point.
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 +{{:basic_troubleshooting:block2.jpg|}}
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 Again, you need to ask the user some basic questions.  Again, you need to ask the user some basic questions. 
basic_troubleshooting.txt · Last modified: 2022/06/29 09:06 (22 months ago) by swind