Genealogy Chat

At present my Computer will not recognise my Printer. However,When I tried to print, say a descendancy list, it used to save the work as an rtf file. this meant that I could at least view the list onscreen. Now when I click either Print or Preview I just get a popup saying 'Printer not connected'. Does anyone know how I can reinstate the RTF aspect?

If your computer doesn't recognise your printer it won't print anything, from a PAF file or anywhere else. I think you might have to reinstall your printer or at least change your print options. nell

Have you tried when it comes up as rtf (rich text format) to go into File, Save as (word or other) and call it what you will, then try printing? Sounds like you may have to relocad the software to recognise the printer though.. Yell if you need further help.

First make sure that all the wires are sitting tightly in there perspective slots....both into the printer and the computer. If your PC is plugged into a surge protector, try turning the surge protector on and off....sometimes this needs to be 'rebooted.' Reboot the PC. Lastly, try using the ADD HARDWARE Wizard....to do that: 1. Click on START. 2. Click on CONTROL PANEL. 3. Click on ADD HARDWARE. 4. The Hardware Wizard box will appear. Follow the prompts to see if the problem can be corrected this way. Judy :)

Whoa!!! It is not the Printer problem I am asking help for. That is to do with the fact that I am running Windows XP with Service pack 2, and there is a problem between Lexmark and Microsoft. There is supposed to be a patch to overcome this problem, and if anyone can tell me how to download it I would be grateful. MY REAL PROBLEM is that I want to save the list as an rtf file, but am not now offered that option. Even though I have done nothing (as far as I am aware) to switch the option off. Jim

Hi Grampa Jim What is the printer name and type you have and I will find the relevant patch for you to download. I know this isnt the first question you asked but will help with it if I can. Vikki xx

Hi Again Grampa Jim I found this site that deals with PAF 11 errors. I dont know if its completely relevant but may have some hints for you, if you can understand the jargon. http://www.familyhistorycenter.org/donspafii-01-cleaning.html Vikki xx

Grumps, When you go into the report screen there is a little tick box on the right hand side marked 'Print to file'. Click this so the tick shows and you should seen the document folders box open. You can then save it as an .rtf so you can view it on your computer. Hope this helps! Sarah

Thanks for the replies. Sarah, I tried that but when I click on Print, Preview or even Page Setup it just tells me the printer is not connected. My Printer is even uninstalled until I can sort out the software. Vikki, The printer is a Lexmark X85. I have been given some instructions from Microsoft but they don't work, I have downloaded the Driver, and that doesn't work. Tearing my hair out. It worked perfectly before I downloaded Service pack 2! I will try the LDS site. Thank you.

Hi Grampa Jim Have you been to the Lexmark site? Here is the patch (sorry its a long link: http://downloads.lexmark(.)com/cgi-perl/downloads.cgi?category=Patches&ccs=227:5:0:348:0:0&os_group=Windows%20XP&searchLang=en Remove the brackets. Another thing you could try is the following: Start/Control panel/system Click on hardware then device manager. Look under ports or see if there is anything relating to the printer with a yellow exclamation mark or question mark. Open the + next to that item and then RIGHT click and go to properties. It should tell you what the problem is. Usually you need to 're-install driver' Just follow instructions then restart PC. Apologies if you already tried this. Vikki xx

Hi Grampa Jim if you havnt tried this already, my daughter had problems with her lexmark. if you go to control panel printers and faxes and view printer and make sure its ready, hers was in waiting mode so we had to double click on printer and delete everything that was waiting to be printed Bev

hi Grampa Jim (again ;-D) Beverly is right and dont forget to make sure that the actual printer is set to default. My printer has various software programs with it and kept printing to paperport. When hubby checked the printers, it had paperport set as default and not the actual printer itself. Just right click the printer and click 'set as default' Apolgies again if you already know this Grampa Jim Vikki xx