HP Laserjet 5L Extra (bought new c. 1998) printer here.
One-month old computer with new Win XP SP2 Home loaded on
it. Was printing fine the first few weeks. Now, printing a
single paged document, the printer's error light comes on
and blinks. The manual indicates this means the (software)
driver is suspect. I reset the printer, to see if it's just
some temporary hangup, and the printer starts printing but
only very large font and only a few words of my one-page
long (like 12-pt font) document at a time.

Last time this happened, after loading and reloading what I
thought were the drivers, and stopping print jobs as needed
using the "Printers" feature in "Control Panel," I could not
get any improvement. I waited a day or two, then tried to
print something, and it printed fine.

My old computer with Win ME has no problems sending a print
job to this printer.

Any suggestions?

Elle wrote:
Download/install the latest drivers from the manufacturer.
Avoid PCL6.. Use PCL5 drivers.. and/or combine that with PS drivers.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Chat with an HP Online Technician
http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact/chat_1.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------*----------------

"Elle" wrote:


| HP Laserjet 5L Extra (bought new c. 1998) printer here.
| One-month old computer with new Win XP SP2 Home loaded on
| it. Was printing fine the first few weeks. Now, printing a
| single paged document, the printer's error light comes on
| and blinks. The manual indicates this means the (software)
| driver is suspect. I reset the printer, to see if it's just
| some temporary hangup, and the printer starts printing but
| only very large font and only a few words of my one-page
| long (like 12-pt font) document at a time.
|
| Last time this happened, after loading and reloading what I
| thought were the drivers, and stopping print jobs as needed
| using the "Printers" feature in "Control Panel," I could not
| get any improvement. I waited a day or two, then tried to
| print something, and it printed fine.
|
| My old computer with Win ME has no problems sending a print
| job to this printer.
|
| Any suggestions?

I did this the other day (sorry; forgot to note it). I tried
it again a minute ago. No go.

Here's where HP sent me:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...ectID=bpl11035

In short, HP insists Win XP has the driver already.

"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@gmail.com> wrote

I'll give that (another) shot when they re-open Monday
morning. I did just send an email to HP's tech support.

Thanks for your quick input, Shenan and Carey.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <cnfrisch@nospamgmail.com> wrote

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 01:29:10 GMT, "Elle"
<honda.lioness@nospam.earthlink.net> wrote:

type in the spooler. Per HP website:
Windows XP

1. Click Start. Click Control Panel.
2. Select Printers and Faxes
3. Select the appropriate HP printer icon.
4. Right-click the icon and select Properties.
5. Select Advanced tab. Click Print Processor. Select Raw option.
6. Click Apply, then OK.
7. Click OK again to close Printer Properties window. Restart
Windows and then try printing.

May be worth a try.
--
Mr.E

<Mr.E@totally.invalid> wrote
Mr. E: It was already set on "Raw." I switched to another
setting in that window. Still no go.

I realize I may simply not have deleted and refreshed
everything properly. Depending on what HP says, I suppose I
may re-load Win XP (and everything else) and check all the
printer settings, since this didn't happen when I first
started using this new mobo, CPU and Win XP about a month
ago. It was printing fine, then.

Couldn't get through to HP's online chat. Stuff needs to be
downloaded. The window kept saying only about 30 seconds
more would be required. Ten minutes later, no change.

The HP 800 number said my (c. 1998 Laserjet 5L Xtra) printer
is out of warranty; support is provided only for a fee.