TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

Trying to help a good friend;-
His PC isn't recognising his printer, it was functioning, but now a banner states "cannot communicate with printer" He tried the "help" function, & checked all connections as was suggested, but all were OK.
His PC was built to order by a reliable firm, & runs Windows XP, the printer is a Lexmark "X" etc., he was away from his PC & couldn't remember the exact printer model, can you help him please?

usb or parallel?

I would make sure the cable is good. I once messed with a printer for over an hour to later discover that the cable I had just taken out of the box, brand new, was bad.

If it was built by a reliable company, possibly look into getting service from them. If they sold him a defective part, they should repair or fix it.

Thanks, folks;-
[1] Poertner, I'm not knocking your comments, you may well be correct, but perhaps he could look at the printer cable first, [thanks Dlx/P] then when that angle is eliminated, then investigate his PC?
[2] Godataloss, it's a USB connection.

The printer likely came with a cd that would have the printer drivers on it. This may be something as simple as putting that cd in and re-installing the driver. I think the chances of having a cable go bad all at once aren't real good.

I'm not saying it isn't something simple, I am just saying if he got it from a reliable company, then they should take care of the problem. One way or the other.

Thanks Poertner, didn't mean to offend, I see what you're saying, I'll see that he looks into both possibilities.

Yeah but how do we know he isn't using a old crappy cable that he found somewhere. I mean they don't come with new cables in the box with the printer.

I've dealt with several Lexmark printers showing out before. One of the more common things I've run across is that the printer wasn't properly protected from a lightning storm. For some reason, Lexmark printers seem to lose their communication functionality rather than power or something else whenever they get hit by a power surge. My guess is to try another printer with the same cables (borrow one) and if it works, then it's the printer.

yea i have seen the same thing that jdman687 is talking about, i would try that soon!!