My landlady has a problem with her HP Deskjet 694C printer. If I can get it fixed she might not mind that I'm gonna be a few days late with the rent.

It's hooked up to a HP machine. PII. WIN95.

She can't print in color. Cartridge looks good. Test page looks good. But when she goes to print, the image comes out black and white. It's all there, just no color.

Suggestions?

Have you checked the print properties when you print something? They may be set to b/w by default...does the test page have color in it? The color ink cartridge could be bad, sometimes the heads get clogged...try to do a nozzle clean (if that option is available) and see what happens...

Did this problem just start? New printer? Try reinstalling the drivers...if all else fails, try a new cartridge...at least you can eliminate that as the cause if the new cartridge does the same thing (when I say cartdrige, I don't mean the little ink tanks, I mean a whole new cartridge...some printers have replaceable tanks while the cartridge with the print heads, stays in the printer)...

Thanks HG. Yup, the test page has good color. That makes me think the ink cartridge is ok. The full image prints, so I presume it's a software issue. I'm pretty familiar with win98 but not so much with 95. I've checked the properties section but I can't find anywhere to enable/disable color printing. It's pretty easy in 98 but her os is 95. Know how to do it in 95?

Hey,

When you choose to print something, choose the Properties button on the printer dialog box that pops up. Click on the Color tab and make sure that "Print in Grayscale" is not checked. That's the only thing I can think of.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability that you'll get it wrong.

There should be a HP software program in there which allows these changes. If you cant find it then you certainly can find the "Printers" folder in "My Computer".....then right click the icon for the HP in there and you will find the settings in the "Properties" sect.

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Will XP save Me ?

[This message has been edited by Randy_tx (edited 04-24-2001).]

Thanks Randy.

It seems to me, that I'm doin' what you described. There just doesn't seem to be any setting for color/b&w. She did a system restore awhile ago. Maybe her reinstall of the printer didn't take? Reinstall, maybe?

Thanks BB66.

Your post came in just behind Randy's. Like I said above, for some reason, the color tab just doen't seem to be there.

Reinstall the HP Printer drivers for sure!

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Will XP save Me ?

Randy...1100!? Whud ya do, 100 posts this weekend?

OK reinstall it is. Updated drivers and all. I'll let you knoe what happens.

Hey Steve,

That HP printer should come with a "Toolbox", usually included as part of the driver software. The toolbox will have various choices to: align and clean print heads, troubleshoot, etc..

The installation of an updated driver from HP should fix you up. If for some reason it doesn't, then re-install the old driver from the original driver disk that came with the printer. That for sure will install the toolbox for you. However, the toolbox alone won't solve your problem. You need the "Color" tab to switch between color and grayscale printing.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability that you'll get it wrong.

Tool box...hmmmmm. I know I haven't seen that yet.

I'll see what I can do.

The comp. and printer are about 4? yrs. old. I'll try the new drivers and see what happens.

Thanks. Got the first thunder storm of the season bearing down on me. Guess I'll shut things down for awhile.

Not much of a storm, but not bad for the first one.

Well... I uninstalled the printer. She had it installed 3 times. Reinstalled with new drivers. Everything works. Thanks guys.

She didn't like the news about the rent, though. Oh well...

Yeah, and she wouldn't have liked the bill from the repair shop either.... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

But hopefully you learned a little more about printers. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

468th Rule of Aquistion: Debugging of software is foolish, there is much profit in updates and upgrades.

[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 04-25-2001).]

Ain't that the way it goes. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

And I HAVE learned a little about printers. Last year, soon after I bought my machine, I started getting error and illeagal operation messages every time I tried to print. Kind saleman says "Reinstall printer". It works. My buddy has a printer that just stops workin'. He does a uninstall/reinstall, it works. Landlady can't print in color, uninstall/reinstall. It works!

What's this? The ultimate fix for printers?

Not quite but close, I think that printer drivers are possibly one of the most easily corrupted drivers there are.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

468th Rule of Aquistion: Debugging of software is foolish, there is much profit in updates and upgrades.

Thanks...as an old boss used to say, "just alittle more ammo for the gun".