Question: I’m running Windows XP and Office 97 on a 2-year-old custom-built (locally) PC. I have an HP C5250 All-in-one, also about 2 years old. I have suddenly been unable to print MS Word documents. When I attempt to do so, Word closes. No error messages are displayed. Other Office docs print just fine, as do PDFs, and I have no issues printing items from the Web. I uninstalled/reinstalled Office, but the problem remains. My anti-virus scans (CA Security) show nothing amiss. What do you suggest?
Answer: It may be that you have a Word virus. I know that CA (Computer Associates Security Suite) shows nothing, but this is pretty typical behavior of some macro viruses. First, make sure that CA is up to date. The printer driver may be looking at the wrong port. Click the Start button, then Settings, then Printers. Right-click the icon of the printer you want to modify (likely the only printer). Click Properties on the drop-down menu, and click the Details tab on the window that comes up. In the “Print to the following port” list, click to select a valid printer path. That’s likely LPT1: or First Parallel Port; check your printer manual.
Next, you might have corrupted your printer driver. Try reinstalling that driver. First, uninstall the printer. Start by unplugging the printer from the computer. Click Start, then Settings, then Printers. Right-click the icon of the printer you want to delete (likely the only printer). Click Delete on the drop-down menu, then click Yes. Now you have to install the printer again. Insert the HP printer disk, and follow the bouncing prompts. It will ask you to reconnect the printer, install the driver, and then run some tests.
Question: I moved our older computer to my workshop and it stopped working. I have an HP Pavilion 7935, with 1.3 GHz, 128 MB and 40GB; we have Windows XP on it. We bought it about seven years ago but we are not regulars on it. When I turned it on, a dark screen comes on and says “operating system not found.” If there is a simple step to recovering the operating system, please let me know. If you recommend that I take it to the repair shop in our area, I will do that also. Although we have a laptop and another HP PC I bought my wife, I would really like to have old faithful back with us.
