Bay of Isles Computers Support and Technical Tips

Bay of Isles Computers

63B Dempster Street
Esperance WA 6450

Ph: 08 9071 5542
Fax: 08 9071 5549

boic@boic.net.au

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Printer Operation Tips

Most new home-computer buyers have an inkjet printer included in the package. Here are a few tips for the new inkjet printer owner and operator.

Cleaning the Printhead
Aligning the Printhead
Reinstalling the Printer Driver
Keeping the Ink Nozzles Unblocked
USB or Parallel Cable?
What Ink do I use?

Cleaning the Printhead

In the User's Manual that came with your printer, there will be a section detailing the maintenance functions of your printer. Follow these instructions to clean the printheads.
If you do not have access to your User's Manual, in most programs, when you click on File, Print, a print dialogue box will pop up.
Look for the tab marked Maintenance or Control. Sometimes this will be found by clicking on Advanced or Properties first.
Then follow the instructions for cleaning either the black or the colour or both printheads. This will take some minutes and the manufacturers recommend that you do not send any print jobs to the printer while this operation takes place.
Check the quality of the print after cleaning. Occasionally you will need to repeat the process or choose the deepcleaning option if it is available for your printer.

Aligning the Printhead

If this option is available for your printer, it will also be found in the print dialogue box under the Maintenance tab.
Print out the sheets requested by your maintenance program.
According to how these print out, you should then follow the instructions provided to realign your printheads.

Reinstalling the Printer Driver

Make sure the printer turned off. Insert the CD ROM that came with the printer in the CD-ROM drive.
Switch on the printer.
Wait a few moment for the install program to start automatically and display the first screen. If the first screen is not displayed, double-click the My Computer icon. If the Select Language dialogue box is displayed, click the name of the language for your system and click the OK button.
After reading the License Agreement and clicking Yes, Click the Install Software button.
Follow the instructions on the screen to select your printer type and click OK button.
Make sure that the Printer Driver button is selected and click the Start button.
You may be asked to make sure that the correct printer and printer port is selected, click Next.
The required files are then copied to the hard disk of your computer. When this is complete click OK.
You may be asked to restart your computer at this point. Click Yes.
If the screen returns to the previous step, click on exit and restart your computer.

Keeping the Ink Nozzles Unblocked

Ink cartridges will inevitably dry out over a period of time and this can lead to the nozzles becoming blocked. If you are not using the printer very often, it is wise to turn it on at least once a month. This allows the printer to go through its cleaning cycle and keep its printheads in the best condition for when it is needed.

USB or Parallel Cable?

Most modern printers come with the choice of USB or parallel ports to use for connecting your printer. Which one will you choose? This depends on the other devices that you wish to run on your computer. If you find you have not used all your USB ports, then you may wish to choose USB. The difference between these types of connections does not affect the speed of the printing. The print speed is dependent on the printer. The USB connection will merely deliver the information from the computer to the printer more speedily, meaning the printer will start to print a little earlier than with a parallel connection.

What Ink do I use?

Printer manufacturers and Bay of Isles Computers strongly recommend that you use genuine ink in your printer cartridges. Each manufacturer makes genuine ink cartridges that are designed for use in that particular printer. Ink recipes can vary considerably and printer manufacturers can only guarantee their own genuine ink for use with their printheads.