Epson printer has gone haywire

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I have an Epson Stylus C80. Within the last few days, it has become quirky…will print out 1/2 of a page, then start sending blank sheets through the machine at rapid speed before printing the other 1/2 of the page on another sheet! Maddening. Doesn’t do it all the time, either….

I deleted the printer and reinstalled with original drivers, and that solved the problem for awhile, but — like a gremlin — it’s back. I’m operating with Windows XP

Any advice?

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Sounds to me that a paper sensor isn’t sensing correctly! Have you tried looking very carefully inside to see if there is a small ripped-off bit of paper anywhere? Can you check the entire paper path for dust/dirt/gunge?

I would say that it is more likely to be a mechanical problem than a driver problem – but hey, what do I know?

John

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Sounds to me that a paper sensor isn’t sensing correctly! Have you tried looking very carefully inside to see if there is a small ripped-off bit of paper anywhere? Can you check the entire paper path for dust/dirt/gunge?

I would say that it is more likely to be a mechanical problem than a driver problem – but hey, what do I know?

John

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If it does not happen all the time, does it happen repeatedly on the same document(s)? If so, could be something in the document formatting.

Joe

--Joe

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When I go to the control panel and click on the default printer, I can see what’s happening in the status pop-up box. It seems to reflect “dummy” documents piling up in the queue… “Epson EPABI Dummy Document” or some such name. I don’t know where they’re coming from. I’ve searched the Epson Web Site tech support area for some reference to dummy documents, and can find no information.

Does this sound like a virus? I’m consistently running and updating Norton Antivirus…

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I don’t think it’s a virus. I’ve seen this happen before with Epson printers, and a few others. Here is what I suggest you try:

• Open the Services console. Click Start – Run and enter services.msc in the box. Click OK.
• Locate the Print Spooler service and click on it.
• Click on the text on the left that reads Stop the service.
• Click Start – Run and in the box that appears enter %systemroot%system32spoolprinters and click OK.
• An Explorer window should open and in the folder that appears, you will see any documents that have been spooled to the printer. Delete anything you find there.
• Restart the Print Spooler service and exit the Services console.[/list]I cannot promise you that this will eradicate the dummy documents, but it will ensure that you have cleaned out any gunk that may be lingering in the print queue. Worth a try…

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I don’t think it’s a virus. I’ve seen this happen before with Epson printers, and a few others. Here is what I suggest you try:

• Open the Services console. Click Start – Run and enter services.msc in the box. Click OK.
• Locate the Print Spooler service and click on it.
• Click on the text on the left that reads Stop the service.
• Click Start – Run and in the box that appears enter %systemroot%system32spoolprinters and click OK.
• An Explorer window should open and in the folder that appears, you will see any documents that have been spooled to the printer. Delete anything you find there.
• Restart the Print Spooler service and exit the Services console.[/list]I cannot promise you that this will eradicate the dummy documents, but it will ensure that you have cleaned out any gunk that may be lingering in the print queue. Worth a try…

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I did a quick google on “epson dummy document” and the first link in the list seems to have a fix: http://boards.screenprinters.net/viewthread/64/45828%5B/url%5D

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I did a quick google on “epson dummy document” and the first link in the list seems to have a fix: http://boards.screenprinters.net/viewthread/64/45828%5B/url%5D

Reply | Quote

When I go to the control panel and click on the default printer, I can see what’s happening in the status pop-up box. It seems to reflect “dummy” documents piling up in the queue… “Epson EPABI Dummy Document” or some such name. I don’t know where they’re coming from. I’ve searched the Epson Web Site tech support area for some reference to dummy documents, and can find no information.

Does this sound like a virus? I’m consistently running and updating Norton Antivirus…

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If it does not happen all the time, does it happen repeatedly on the same document(s)? If so, could be something in the document formatting.

Joe

--Joe

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I have the same printer, and loved it; until it started doing the same thing. Eventually, it stopped working all together. Now when I try to use it, I get a paper jam error and there’s no paper in the printer. I just went and bought an HP. I’ve had problems with their PCs but never their printers!

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I have the same printer, and loved it; until it started doing the same thing. Eventually, it stopped working all together. Now when I try to use it, I get a paper jam error and there’s no paper in the printer. I just went and bought an HP. I’ve had problems with their PCs but never their printers!

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