SOLVED Brother HL-1440 printer not printing after W10 April update

[Wjbrown727]

After the W10 major update finished, my trusted Brother HL-1440 no longer prints. I have things in the que but nothing goes forward. I added another copy of 1440 but it doesn't seem to work either, no test page prints - it just goes to the que. Any ideas?

 

[Bighorn]

The first thing I do with such an issue is to clear the que/print buffer, shut down both machines, unplug their power cord and the USB cable. Then I restart the computer, when fully running plug the power back in on the printer then plug in the USB cable.

The issue usually is that when a document refuses to be printed/stalls no other documents following will print, have to clear the first document, either Cancel or Delete, menus on the tool bar or the printer icon in the notification area.

 

[Tim Locke]

@WjBrown. What Bighorn is suggesting in his first para above has the effect of causing Windows to try to re-install the printer...which it will usually manage to do and at least find a driver and connect the spooler to it.

 

[Wjbrown727]

@WjBrown. What Bighorn is suggesting in his first para above has the effect of causing Windows to try to re-install the printer...which it will usually manage to do and at least find a driver and connect the spooler to it.

 

[Wjbrown727]

I did what Bighorn suggested, in a slightly different order. I depowered the printer and removed it from the desktop, then repowered and reconnected. That didn't seem to help. I restarted the computer. That didn't work. Finally I just installed the printer again and took out the old copy. That worked. Why the W10 April update caused me grief, who knows. But now I at least was able to print a test page so that gives me some assurance the printer is spooling up and doing what bit is supposed to do.

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

 

[Tim Locke]

being able to print a test pages does not ( sadly) prove that the whole printing subsystem is working, just tat the printer and its driver are working.

I always go to Word and print a simple 1 page document...if that prints then it is all fine ( For interest the document I pick is a recipe for a simple Okra curry!)

 

[Wjbrown727]

being able to print a test pages does not ( sadly) prove that the whole printing subsystem is working, just tat the printer and its driver are working.

I always go to Word and print a simple 1 page document...if that prints then it is all fine ( For interest the document I pick is a recipe for a simple Okra curry!)

 

[Wjbrown727]

Yep. I recognize that, unfortunately. Then, I think about throwing the desktop and printer out the window for a few seconds.
My wife has other ideas for my time today, going to the grocery store with her but I'll be back for the print. BTW, I am a big fan of fried okra but not otherwise cooked.

 

[Bighorn]

Yeppers, fried okra rolled in corn meal.

 

[Tim Locke]

Okra dusted with curry spices (turmeric, chilli powder and coriander powder) then fried in a little oil tempered with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

 

[Wjbrown727]

Another oddity for the forum: same HL1440 printer I had trouble with, reinstalled and that took care of the problem.
Here is the new problem. When downloading a pdf file on the internet and trying to print it directly, the printing goes to about a 1/16 page at the top left rather than printing a full page. This is a new deal. I can download the pdf and use adobe acrobat reader then print to full page size normally. And I will do this until somebody has an idea of what might be causing this.

 

[Bighorn]

Maybe not a solution but I've seen that on HP and Epson printers, usually it was the sizing of the Web page versus the actual document, always ended up downloading the .pdf file and print from the reader. And even though Edge is supposed to handle .pdf file it doesn't always work as designed.

 

[Wjbrown727]

Maybe not a solution but I've seen that on HP and Epson printers, usually it was the sizing of the Web page versus the actual document, always ended up downloading the .pdf file and print from the reader. And even though Edge is supposed to handle .pdf file it doesn't always work as designed.

I’ve used Chrome and Firefox. Never Edge. But, like you I download the file and open it in a pdf reader and then print. My only question is why does it show full page in the browser but prints so dadgum small? My spouse gets really frustrated when a document she needs to print and sign ends up printing spider size. Thanks for a quick response. At least I don’t feel too stupid.

 

[Bighorn]

The only conclusion I've come to is that Web page designers are trying to get as much data on screen as possible, sometimes forget that not everyone has the latest and greatest monitors for displaying that data, saw it start happening when the LCD Flat Panels came out. I just automatically download the files for later use.

 

[Wjbrown727]

The only conclusion I've come to is that Web page designers are trying to get as much data on screen as possible, sometimes forget that not everyone has the latest and greatest monitors for displaying that data, saw it start happening when the LCD Flat Panels came out. I just automatically download the files for later use.

You’se a smarter guy than me. I don’t even think that way. But, then again, I’m a pilot. What else can you say

 

[Bighorn]

You’se a smarter guy than me. I don’t even think that way. But, then again, I’m a pilot. What else can you say

I'm a retired Air Traffic Controller. My oncologist is a pilot, has a surplus T41, and we have great discussions.

 

[Wjbrown727]

I'm a retired Air Traffic Controller. My oncologist is a pilot, has a surplus T41, and we have great discussions.

See. You were a controller. I followed directions. Life is good.