Windows 10 Hates My Printer (and So Do I)

Yes, we have had that happen to one of our Canons. Mrs. Hook still insists on Canon, but she always gets the protection plan and, since no one repairs printers, when it happened to us we received a free new Canon, the current version of her model. But yes, there can be reliability issues with Canons. So if color quality is not a top priority, Epsons are probably a good choice.

 

This phrase sent a shudder through my spine, as my brain recalled events from my early days. My very first job was in a computer repair center, and the worst part was repairing or cleaning printers. We would receive these huge, wide carriage dot matrix printers, and inside we'd find everything and anything, from jammed paper to -grab onto something- rat nests. Once I checked an inkjet printer that wouldn't feed paper. Inside there was a chicken drumstick bone! Seems someone was gnawing said bone while peering into the printer top feed slot, yawned or something, dropped the bone, and somehow assumed that was an acceptable place to leave it. The funniest time was when a concerned lady brought a smallish printer that worked ok, but she said she'd seen a few ants crawling all over it. Opening it revealed a few half-eaten chocolate bonbons that I assume were dropped just like the aforementioned chicken bone by the concerned lady's kids. The horridly fascinating part was that the ants had build a whole colony around the bonbons, complete with eggs and larvae. After cleaning, my report under recommendations said "A printer won't do as an ant farm project, since it won't provide adequate visibility. Recommend a glass or plastic model for your kids"

So yeah, no one repairs printers, but it's for a very good reason!

 

Consider installing the Win7/Win8 printer drivers on your Win10 computer. There's a chance it could work.

 

Thought of trying that from the outset but the printer installation itself failed. Lexmark has disavowed all knowledge of that printer and Win 10. Now I'm stuck with a Lexmark line item in Add/Remove Programs that absolutely refuses to Remove/Uninstall and gives an error message that "item was not supported and could not be installed" although obviously something got a claw in somewhere. Next step is to Search machine for "Lexmark" and see if anything is found. I'm not feeling the love for Win 10 on any level.

 

Liked your post for the shared knowledge, not for your trials & tribulation, Dear¬Super!_Mod

 

Aw, thanks for the sympathetic pat on the back. TTYTT, I could've easily done without this whole upgrade experience because... My sig has never been more true!

 

Scjjtt, good to hear of your good experience with Brother. Mine hasn't been that good, but that goes a ways back. I've also had long term issues with various Canon printers and copiers, so avoid those too. Can't speak to recent stuff though.

Hook, awesome tip about the printer window. I bet a few others work like that too.

 

Any luck with your printer(s)?

https://deals.kinja.com/brothers-new-and-improved-all-in-one-laser-printer-is-c-1823235300

Brother's New and Improved All-In-One Laser Printer Is Cheaper Than Ever
by Shep McAllister, deals.kinja.com

Brother HL2395DW All In One Laser Printer | $100 | Amazon
The trusty Brother HL2380DW laser printer has long been a hit with our readers, but it was recently replaced by the HL2395DW, and the new model is back on sale.


Compared to the 2380, the new one is slightly faster (36 ppm vs. 32), uses less electricity, and has NFC for direct printing from compatible Android phones. All the basics that have made Brother printers a hit are still there too, including duplex printing, AirPrint and Google Cloud Print support, relatively inexpensive and long lasting toner, and a complete lack of the carriage jams and destroyed paper you’ve come to expect from inkjet printers.

If you aren’t satisfied with your current printer (which is a pretty safe bet if it’s not a Brother), this is a great buy at $100.

If you really need to print in color, one of Brother’s color CDW models is also on sale for $69 more, which is a nice deal too.

 

Thanks for the tip, Hook, but my printer uses the TN450 toner cartridge which doesn't seem to have that window (at least, I can't see it). There are various instructions for extending the toner cartridge life by removing a cover plate on the cartridge and moving some gears around. I haven't tried them, but have been lucky buying toner on sale. I think I spend about $10 - $15/ year on toner -- much cheaper than all the dried-up inkjet cartridges I used to deal with.

 

No action yet as I've been mired down with all of the nonsense involved in trying to migrate to a different primary PC.

I appreciate all info offered WRT acquiring a new printer that will work with the Win 10 Pro laptop. I think I'll be able to get thru this tax season with the old printer. I can save the needed docs to Dropbox and then print from the older Win 7 Pro laptop (which has those new drivers now and which I still fiercely love). However, a new printer is definitely in the top items of the ToDo list. *sigh*

EDIT: If I wasn't clear , I need to have an all-in-one printer with a scanner, etc.