Category Archives: Windows 2000

Microsoft Windows – Network Printer/s Unexpectedly Show Offline

When using Microsoft Windows (various editions and versions) you may find that your Network Printer Unexpectedly Shows Offline.  This can occur for a number of reasons and todays blog will try and help get you printing again.

First you should verify that you can ping the printer you are trying to print to, you can usually find the hostname or the IP address of the printer from the “Ports” tab of the printers “properties” page.

It should look something like this:

Printer Name or IP Address is where we can see which port the printer is trying to print to, we can then enter a “command prompt” by typing “cmd” into the “run” box and then type the ping command and the ip address or hostname of our printer.  Example is “ping 192.168.1.230” or “ping hpinkjetprinter”

If we do not get a response from the address or hostname then it could indicate that the printer has been assigned a different IP address (DHCP) by the server or your Router.  It could also indicate that the printer is turned off, the network cable is unplugged or damaged, if the printer is wireless it may be that the signal is no longer in range or that the wireless credentials it was setup with have been changed (WEP or WPA Key, SSID).  Many Servers or Routers support reservations so that you can ensure your printer always gets the same ip address, alternatively you can find the hostname of your printer and set the printer port to the hostname, if the ip address changes the computer should then still be able to resolve the hostname to the current and valid ip address of the device.

If your printer is responding to a ping command but you still cannot print then it may be an issue with the configuration of the printers “Standard TCP/IP Port” you will several options on the port configuration page that can effect your ability to submit a print job to the network printer, it may also cause the printer to incorrectly report that it is offline.

One particular issues that I have witnessed first hand is an HP OfficeJet Printer showing offline when the “SNMP Status Enabled” is ticked under the  “Standard TCP/IP Port” printer port configuration tab.  You may be able to ping the printer and access its web configuration but the printer will continue to show offline in Windows and print jobs will remian in the print queue.  Once the “SNMP Status Enabled” is unchecked the printer will appear online again and print correctly.

You amy also find that your printer only supports RAW or LPR mode, you can usually find further information on the “Protocol” that your printer supports via the technical manual or sometimes via the printers web configuration page.

Last but not least please remeber to check that you have the latest printer drivers from the manufacturers website, any firmware updates or software updates should also be installed to ensure the optimum performance and reliability of your product.  It is also important to remember that you should ensure the printer you are accessing is compatbile with your operating system and that driver support is either providd natively within Windows or the manufcaturer supply drivers via their website.

Windows will not boot with a Stop Error 0x0000007B

A very common BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) is a STOP error 0x0000007B and may indicate either a hardware, software or driver issue.

Please see the great troubleshooting guide put together by Tim Fisher on about.com

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/stop0x0000007b.htm

One thing that Tim does not mention is that sometimes it is necessary to slipstream the AHCI SATA Controller Drivers into your Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation media.  This can easily be done by downloading and using nLite to slipstream drivers and updates into your Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 CD Media, you can get the application from http://www.nliteos.com/

Common AHCI Sata Drivers include:

Intel – http://downloadcenter.intel.com (Look under Chipset, Chipset Software and then Intel Rapid Storage Technology.  You will need the F6 Drivers for either x86 or x64 depending on you using 32bit or 64bit windows)

Nvidia – http://www.nvidia.co.uk/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-uk or http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

AMD/ATI – http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx

Verify the Health and Operation of your Intel® Processor with the Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool

A 32 and 64 bit version of the IPDT or Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool can be downloaded from here: http://www.intel.com/support/processors/sb/CS-031726.htm

You can also see a video on how to use it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpPOqh_Bq78

You can use the diagnostic tool to test the various features of your Intel Processor and perform a stress test to ensure that it is operating in a  stable manner.

Intel Network Adapter Diagnostics May Wrongly Report that the Network Cable is over 100 Metres Long

When you run a Cable diagnostic using the Intel PROSet Network Adapter Diagnostics you may find that the utility incorrectly reports that your network cable is over 100 Metres and/or that the Cable is faulty/poor.

This issue can occur if you have a network switch that implements “power Saving” or “Green Ethernet” this feature is meant to reduce the power to a network port that is supporting a device with a short network cable run.

This “power saving” or “Green Ethernet” feature can cause the diagnostics to fail and can sometimes contribute to network drops and/or poor network throughput.  If you have a managed/smart switch then you can normally login via a browser and “Disable” this feature to correct the issue.