Troubleshooting Printer Spooling Problems
At its most basic definition a printer spooler retrieves the data for a requested print task and performs the required print even if it is not printing multiple print jobs. The simplest explanation, and where you should start, is in the task manager. Under “processes” in the task manager look for a file called spoolso.exe or spoolsv.exe; if these files are not present it simply means that the process has been stopped and needs to be restarted. This can be done by running “net start spooler” command. In the start menu bring click on the “run” option and type the command in the box prompt.
Sometimes a faulty printer driver is the cause. This is hard to determine in any sort of certainty, but a simple reinstallation of the drives is simple and easy enough for virtually any user. Uninstall and reinstall your printer driver; if the printer works after the reinstallation you are safe and ready to print. The next step would be to check if old printer drivers are still installed on the computer. These can sometimes conflict with each other allowing an old print driver to be the spooler and not the proper driver for the current printer. Remember to clear the printer’s queue before removing the old drivers.
A last attempt at solving printer spooler problems is to manually delete the files in the printer driver. These will all be either .shd or .spl file types and are located in the temporary directories of your printer spooler subsystem. Whatever you do, do not delete the spooler subsystem app. This can cause even worse printer problems and in rare cases can cause major printer failures and errors. Should none of these work or solve the problem, it is in your best interest to seek a professional in the matter of solving the problem. Most printer spooler problems can be solved by the user in a few short steps.
Troubleshooting Banding in Laser Printers
Banding is a term used to describe the horizontal lines that sometimes appear in laser printer documents. As a rule of thumb the printer should be cleaned regularly as toner particles can build up and cause minor problems. Banding may occur regularly or when more complex or large documents are printed but the problem almost always lies with the printer and not any of the software. If you have recently purchased or started to use new paper that may be the problem. Inexpensive paper can cause minor or barley noticeable banding worse or it can be the cause of it entirely. Change back to the previously used paper to determine if this is the problem.
An example of banding in a laser printed document.
Next look to be sure the printer is set to the correct paper type; although auto paper detect is becoming more common most users do not have that function. You will need to look for the printer utility which is located under “print” in the “file” menu of the program from which you are trying to print. The printer dialogue box will be brought to display and you will need to find the “properties” or “setup” button; this will vary from vendor to vendor. You should see a list of different printer options now including the paper type option. You may need to look for it as every printer’s utility is a bit different. Select the correct paper type such as “photo paper” for a photo print.
While using the printer utility take note of other settings that could help. Say you only notice banding on full page full color graphics; you could set the utility to apply specific parameters to alleviate this on these particular files and documents. This will take some time and calibrating to get the desired result but will save your workgroup or office on paper costs. Again the settings are going to be different on each company’s printers but the features are generally universal.
Battery Technology Overview – Part 2
While a nickel metal hydroxide (NiMH) battery has two to three times the capacity as a nickel cadmium battery, compared to lithium ion batteries the NiMH batteries have a lower density by volume and the self discharge rate is higher. An effect called “voltage depression” can occur in NiMH batteries due to partial discharging and recharging; this can lead to premature discarding of the battery but can be reversed if full charge cycling is used. This means a battery is fully discharged and then fully recharged restoring the internal charge memory of the cell. NiMH batteries have been redesigned recently to provide a lower discharge rate and longer life than its previous chemical structure allowed.
The current standard in laptop battery technology is the lithium ion battery; this battery uses lithium ions (Li-ion) to charge and hold chemical energy between the cathode and anode. These batteries are characterized by no memory effect or voltage depression. This means that the life of the battery is not affected by the full discharging of the battery. This alleviates the user from having to remember to fully discharge the battery prior to recharging. Li-ion batteries also exhibit extremely low self discharge rates, about 5% a month as compared to NiMH at 30% total capacity per month at room temperature which is a marked increase in the storage life of a battery. It should be noted that low self discharge NiMH batteries have a 1.25% monthly self discharge rate.
There are a few drawbacks to Li-ion batteries that are not widely known. Lithium ion batteries over time will lose their total capacity simply due to age which is not apparent in other batteries. This happens regardless of use or storage, and is inevitable in lithium ion batteries. High heat levels can drastically reduce the charging and recharging capabilities permanently and this usually happens during an overcharging or when stored in a high temperature area. Even with these few drawbacks Li-ion batteries have one of the highest energy to weight ratios on the market today.
Battery Technology Overview – Part 1
There are three main types of battery technologies used in laptop computer batteries; the main difference is the chemical structure in which they store the electricity which affects their charging and discharging as well as the maximum voltages able to be held. Nickel cadmium batteries have a nominal cell potential of 1.2 volts, and changes little, if any, as the battery discharges. This makes it difficult to determine the battery’s charge and remaining power. Nickel cadmium batteries have a low internal energy density and have been steadily being replaced by nickel metal hydroxide and lithium ion batteries.
However the nickel cadmium batteries are more durable and can sustain longer storage times as they do not discharge quickly. NiCd batteries can also be charged and recharged more often than their competing alternatives extending battery life. The nickel cadmium batteries are more sensitive to temperature; they lose internal resistance and thus deliver less power in high temperature environments. Nickel metal hydroxide (NiMH) batteries are similar to NiCd in that they are widely used for rechargeable battery applications. The main difference is that the NiMH battery has two to three times the internal capacity of a NiCd battery. Nickel metal hydroxide batteries are well suited to high current drain applications like powering LCD screens.
This is due to their low internal resistance, lower than the NiCd batteries providing more reliable constant high currents. NiMH batteries are also considered to be more environmentally friendly than NiCd batteries due to the lack of toxic cadmium. The use of a hydrogen absorbing alloy allows the batteries to be charged and recharged hundreds of times decreasing the cost of ownership. As opposed to NiCd batteries the NiMH batteries can be charged without the use of a special charger. Manual charging is possible but only if monitored closely and charged at a moderately high rate.
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