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Troubleshooting Answers
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Q.
My printer won't print at all from the DCMS, but it prints from other programs.
First,
you should know that the DCMS doesn't take into account which printer(s)
my clients are using. I'm not supposed to have to. One of the main selling
points of Windows was that the operating system was supposed to handle
all the printing (including the differences between printers - Another
Bill Gates promise) Programs like mine were supposed to be able to create
a page or pages and hand the print job over to Windows and Windows would
take care of the rest. As such, my programming environment doesn't even
let me take control of the printer directly, since to do so would short-circuit
Windows' control over the printer.
I
don't know the printer setup in your computer. If you read the paragraph
above, I shouldn't need to. But sometimes, a computer can have several
printers attached to it. Even if you only have one "physical" printer,
you might have several other "virtual" printers - such as a fax program
that "prints" your documents over a fax modem, or a similar program that
takes your document and "prints" it to the internet. In other cases, you
might have one machine, and it might have several functions such as print
/ fax/ copy etc.
Typically,
when the DCMS has trouble printing, it is because Windows has sent the
print job to the wrong "printer" in your computer. Most typically, for
those with multi-function printers, Windows tries to send the print job
to the fax side of the printer. This doesn't always happen, but if you
are having troubles, it means that this is probably happening in your case.
So
it appears that some times when the printer doesn't work, it's because
the DCMS is triggering the wrong printer function within Windows. Therefore,
I created the Automatic Printer Selection function of the DCMS. With this
option engaged, every time the DCMS prints something, a window pops up
to ask you to select or confirm the Printer Selection. This way you
can confirm that the print job is going to the right "printer" in your
computer every time. To find the Auto-Printer Selection function, go to
the Utilities menu and click on Configure the DCMS. You will find Auto-Printer
Selection on the "System Page" of the Configure the DCMS option - near
the bottom of the right side of the screen.
Finally,
sometimes all it takes is a re-installation of your printer driver.
Sometimes, when the DCMS is installed after the printer has been installed,
the printer has problems recognizing it. But when the printer driver is
installed after the DCMS is on the computer, it can accommodate the DCMS
better. This might also be a good time to download an updated driver
for your printer from your printer maker's web site, and install it instead.
I
hope that helps.
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