A+ Guide to Managing
and Maintaining Your PC
Fifth Edition
Chapter 21
Supporting Printers
You Will Learn…

How printers work

How to install printers and share them over a
local area network

How to troubleshoot printer problems
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How Printers Work

Connect to a PC by parallel, serial, USB, IEEE
1394, or SCSI port, or by infrared, wireless,
PC Card, or network connection

Can be combined with fax machines, copiers
and scanners in the same machine

Most often use AC power
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Major Categories of Printers

Impact printers


Dot-matrix
Non-impact printers

Laser (highest quality)

Inkjet

Solid ink

Dye-sublimation

Thermal
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Laser Printers
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How a Laser Printer Works

Places toner on electrically charged rotating
drum

Deposits toner on paper as paper moves
through system at same speed the drum is
turning
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Six Steps of Laser Printing
1. Cleaning
2. Conditioning

Take place inside toner
cartridge

Use components that
undergo the most wear
3. Writing
4. Developing
5. Transferring
6. Fusing
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Six Steps of Laser Printing
(continued)
1. Cleaning
Cleans drum of residual toner & electrical
charge
2. Conditioning Conditions drum to contain high electrical
charge
3. Writing
Laser beam discharges a lower charge to only
those places where toner is to go
4. Developing
Toner is placed onto drum where the charge has
been reduced
5. Transferring Strong electrical charge draws toner off drum
onto paper; takes place outside the cartridge
6. Fusing
Heat and pressure fuse toner to paper
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Six Steps of Laser Printing
(continued)
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Step 1: Cleaning
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Step 2: Conditioning
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Step 3: Writing
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Step 3: Writing




Data from PC is received by formatter (1) and
passed to DC controller (2) which controls laser
unit (3)
Scanning mirror (4) is turned clockwise by
scanning motor
Laser beam is reflected off scanning mirror,
focused by focusing lens (5) and sent to the mirror
(6)
Mirror deflects laser beam to a slit in removable
cartridge and on to the drum (7)
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Step 3: Writing (continued)
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Step 4: Developing
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Step 4: Developing (continued)
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Step 5: Transferring
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Step 6: Fusing
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Inkjet Printers
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Inkjet Printers (continued)

Use ink-dispersion printing

Popular: small and print color inexpensively

Most give photo-quality results
(eg, PhotoREt II color technology)

Paper quality affects quality of printed output

Slower than lasers
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How an Inkjet Printer Works





Print head moves across paper, creating one
line of text with each pass
Shoots ionized ink at a sheet of paper in a
matrix of small dots
Several technologies are used to form ink
droplets (eg, bubble-jet)
Require ink cartridges
Nozzles tend to clog or dry out

Can be cleaned automatically
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Inkjet Printer Ink Cartridges
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Dot-Matrix Printers

Less expensive; lesser quality

Print multicopy documents (impact printer)

Print head moves across the paper, using pins
to shoot against a cloth ribbon and print a
matrix of dots

If print head fails, buy a new printer
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Dot-Matrix Printers (continued)
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Thermal Printers and Solid Ink
Printers

Relatively new printer technologies

Non-impact printers that use heat to produce
printed output
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Thermal Printers

Use wax-based ink heated by pins that melt ink
onto paper

Popular in retail for printing bar codes and
price tags

Variation: dye-sublimation printer
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Solid Ink Printers

Store ink in solid blocks that melts into print
head which spans width of paper

Print head jets liquid ink onto paper as it
passes by on the drum

Simple design, excellent print quality, easy to
set up and maintain

Takes print head ~15 minutes to heat up
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Installing and Sharing a Printer

Local printers

Network printers

Default printer
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Installing a Local Printer

Physically attach printer to computer

Install printer drivers



Have Windows do it
Use printer manufacturer’s installation program
(recommended)
Test the printer
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Sharing a Printer with Others in
a Workgroup

To share a local printer using Windows


File and Printer Sharing must be installed
To use a shared printer on a remote PC

Client for Microsoft Networks must be installed
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Using a Shared Printer

Approaches to installing shared network
printer drivers on remote PC

Use drivers on CD

Use printer drivers on host PC
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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Using a Shared Printer (continued)
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Ways to Make a Printer
Available on a Network

Attach regular printer to a PC using a port on
the PC

PC can share printer with network

Connect network printer with embedded logic
to manage network communication directly to
network with its own NIC

Use a print server to control several printers
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Troubleshooting Guidelines for
Printers

How Windows handles print jobs

Printer maintenance

General printer troubleshooting

How to troubleshoot problems specific to
laser, inkjet, and dot-matrix printers
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How Windows Handles Print
Jobs


Windows NT/2000/XP or Windows 9x using a
PostScript printer

Converts print job data to PostScript language

Windows 2000/XP can also use Printer Control
Language (PCL)
Windows 9x using a non-PostScript printer

Converts print job data to Enhanced Metafile
Format (EMF)
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How Windows Handles Print
Jobs (continued)

Text data lacking embedded control characters
is sent as raw data (DOS)

Spooling
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Printer Maintenance Procedures

Vary depending on manufacturer and printer

Make sure consumables for printer are on hand

Research printer documentation or
manufacturer’s Web site for specific
maintenance tips

During routine maintenance, clean inside and
outside of the printer
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Using Printer Manufacturer’s
Web Site as a Resource

Online documentation

Knowledge base of common problems and
what to do about them

Updated device drivers

Flash BIOS updates

Catalog of options and upgrades for purchase
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Using Printer Manufacturer’s
Web Site as a Resource
(continued)

Replacement parts

Printer maintenance kits

Additional software
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General Printer Troubleshooting

Isolate the problem

Application attempting to use the printer

OS and printer drivers

Connectivity between PC and printer

Printer itself
• Verify that a printer self-test page can print
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Isolating a Printer Problem
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Problems with Laser Printers

Poor print quality or a Toner Low message is
displayed

Printer stays in warm-up mode

Paper jam occurs or Paper Out message
appears

White streaks appear in the print
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Problems with Laser Printers
(continued)

Print appears speckled

Printed images are distorted

Printing is slow

Portion of the page does not print

Is there a dead mouse in the printer?
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Problems with Inkjet Printers

Poor print quality

Intermittent or absent printing

Lines or dots missing from printed page

Ink streaks appear on the printed page
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Problems with Inkjet Printers
(continued)
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Problems with Dot-Matrix
Printers

Print quality is poor

Print head moves back and forth but nothing
prints
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Troubleshooting Printer
Problems

Problems printing from Windows

Troubleshooting printing from applications

Troubleshooting networked printers
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Summary

Main types of printers and how they work

Laser

Inkjet

Dot-matrix

How to install a printer

How to share a printer with others on a
network

How to troubleshoot printer problems
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