Click the network printer option and click Next. The Specify a Printer dialog box

Chapter 15 ✦ Printing on a Network Give everyone with a printer a list of basics to check in case the printer has a problem so that you don’t have to do simple troubleshooting. Checking basics first You’re probably familiar with all the common problems and solutions. Just to review, how- ever, make sure that you check the following first when you have a printer problem: ✦ The printer is turned on and is online. ✦ The printer has paper, toner, or ink, and no printer doors are open or ajar. ✦ The paper tray is in the appropriate position. ✦ All plugs and cables are firmly and securely attached to both the printer and the com- puter. Make sure that all cables are connected to the appropriate ports. ✦ The printer cable is not nicked or damaged in some way. ✦ You have at least 3MB of free disk space on the computer attached to the printer. The spooler can’t work without the free disk space. ✦ The appropriate printer is selected in the program’s Print dialog box. ✦ The printer driver is installed and working. If any of the printer’s software configuration has changed or might be corrupted, delete and then reinstall the driver in the Printers folder. ✦ Have you installed new hardware that could be conflicting with the addressing or interrupts? ✦ Have you installed new software that might have changed the printer’s configuration files? ✦ Has anyone on the network made changes to the printer’s configuration? Windows 98 includes a Print Troubleshooter in Online Help that you might try. Choose Start ➪ Help. On the Contents tab, choose Troubleshooting. Windows XP also has a Print Troubleshooter in the Help feature. Locating the problem You can perform several tests to see if the problem is in your printer, in your cable, in your computer, or with the network. Locating the problem is the first step toward solving it. Before continuing with the following suggestions, you should switch printer cables to see if the prob- lem is the cable. ✦ Turn the printer off and then back on, and try printing again. You might even want to turn the computer and the printer off, count to five slowly, and then turn it back on, just in case something is corrupted in memory. ✦ Next, run the printer’s self test. If the test fails, the problem is inside the printer. It could be a bad part, an open door, an askew cartridge, or some other problem. ✦ Try printing locally instead of over the network. Try printing from both Windows and MS-DOS to see if the problem is related to the operating system. If you can print from MS-DOS but not Windows, it’s a Windows problem. Note Small Business Tip