Printer Jams Frequently

If your printer jams frequently, you may be loading too much paper. This can also occur if you've had jams in the past and have a piece of debris still stuck in the printer. Use a flashlight to examine the entire mechanism to ensure no paper is still inside. This can also happen if an internal gear is damaged. You will often notice one side being fed faster than the other. This could me the printer is physically damaged and needs to be replaced or repaired.

Printer Does Not Print Jobs

When you click Print and nothing happens, you may be sending jobs to a printer that is not connected to your computer. For example, if another printer was previously installed, and you install a new printer, the old printer might still be setup as the Default Printer. Go into the Control Panel, then Printers and make sure the new printer is set to Default.

Printer Streaks

If your printer is producing a streaked image, you will need to clean the printer heads. To do this, go to Printers in the Control Panel, then right click your Printer then select Properties. A menu with the various settings will appear. You need to select Clean Printer Cartridges. The printer will run in cleaning mode.

Printer Cannot Be Installed

If you're trying to install a printer and it will not install, be sure to check the Device Manager in the Control Panel for any Unknown Devices. Your printer will be come an Unknown Device if you plug the cable in before installing the driver software. Remove the Unknown Device and then unplug the USB cable. Next, install the software that came with the printer, and when finished, plug the USB cable back in.

Printer Repair and Troubleshooting Tips

If you're getting a Ink cartridge error If this is a new cartridge, open the front cover and remove all cartridges. Be sure the protective film has been removed from the cartridge prior to installation. Inspect the contacts on the new cartridge for damage. Replace the cartridges in the correct place, close the front cover and power the printer down and then up again.

The Printer Repair Zone

If you are experiencing problems with your printer, PCTechBytes can help. We provide tutorials for the major brands, such as HP, Lexmark, Canon and others. Typical printer problems fall into a couple of different categories: Improper setup, driver issues, communication problems and hardware failure. We can help you work through and eliminate possible problems. We can also help you get better quailty and effeciency from your printer with a few easy tweaks.

CD Drive Doesn't Show Up in My Computer

If your CD or DVD drive no longer show up in My Computer, you could have either a hardware or a software problem. the hardware problem could be as simple as the the drive has died, become unplugged or has a crimped IDE cable. But if the drive is good and it still does not show up in My Computer, you may need to do a little registry editing to get them back. Drives can disappear during a Windows update or if you install or uninstall hardware or software. Editing the registry is one way to force Windows to recognise the hardware again.

Computer Will Not Start

If your computer will not start, meaning it seems like it is dead or partially dead, then you probably have a bad power supply. There are, of course, other components that can cause a no power issue, but usually we need to start at the source and check the power supply first. The power supply is at the rear of the PC, usually near the top of the case, and it is what gets plugged into the wall or power strip. If you open the case, you will notice the power supply is more complex inside. You will have a main power connector that is either a 20-pin or a 24-pin. You will also have multiple connectors that go to various components in the case, like the hard drive, optical drives and sometimes even the video card.

Hard Drive Troubleshooting

This article in our ultimate computer troubleshooting guide will be focussing on the Hard Disk Drive. The HDD in your system may be an IDE or a SATA. IDE is the older variety, with the long, flat ribbon cable connector. SATA drives began appearing a couple of years ago. Gone is the flat ribbon cabe. In its place is a thick serial cable. You hard drive will have jumper on the rear. On IDE drives, these jumpers indicate which HDD is the Master and Slave. Yu can even configure a jumper to indicate which place on the cable determines who is the boss. This is called Cable Select. Either Cable Select or Master / Slave modes are fine, but the drives must be set up one way or the other.

How to Bypass A Motherboard Case Switch

Bypass The Computer Case Switch, While it's unusual, every once in a while we'll find that a case switch has gone bad. It's unusual because there really aren't many moving parts with an ATX case switch that can go bad. With that said, it does happen. This tutorial will explain how to diagnose a problem ATX case switch.
Once installed, a motherboard is difficult to gain access to. There are cables, drives, fans, memory and other components that make troubleshooting the switch difficult. While you can keep most of these components in, we recommend at least removing any IDE cables that make it difficult to see.
Bypass motherboard case switch. This image shows the lower right section of the motherboard. The grouping of pins are where the case interfaces with the motherboard. There will normally either be one solid grouping of wires, which is common in major brand PCs. But in custom computers you will usually see numerous wires, some labeled HDD LED, Reset SW, Speakers, PW Switch, etc... Refer to your motherboard manual when connecting these. We have removed all of the wires to demonstrate how to jump the pins that start the PC. Look for the leads that indicate PW Switch or Power SW and remove them. This will expose two pins. Touch the tip of a Flathead screwdriver to these exposed pins and you will normally be able to start the computer.

If the power supply or motherboard is bad, the PC will not start. This technique is often only used when troubleshooting a case switch or bench testing a computer that does not have a case. Be sure to excercise extreme caution when poking around inside of a PC with the power connected.