Printer initially worked in compatibility mode, now always non-specific error instantly

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I just upgraded my Dell Vostro 32 bit W7 installation to W10. Problem is with a Dell 1720 laser printer. Dell will not publish updated drivers, but provides directions about how to install W7 driver and run in compatibility mode. Followed instructions and printer worked. Shut down for the night and print job now fails to work instantly with no indication printer received anything. Print queue shows error status. Restart does not help. I do not receive clues as to where problem is, but seems likely to me that the compatibility mode is not working correctly. How do I troubleshoot this?

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Is this a network printer, or directly connected to your PC? Any other machines using it in your location, or that it can be tested on?

First thing to try is to uninstall the printer, reboot and reinstall.

Error message text might also help us to help you.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Not a network printer but connected via USB. Exact message is (two lines): “Error printing on Dell Laser Printer 1720 / The printer couldn’t print Test Page”. As I mentioned, message is instantaneous and the printer shows no signs of any data being sent. That is the printer does not show any error state. I’ll try reinstalling.

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message is instantaneous and the printer shows no signs of any data being sent.

Hopefully reinstall will work, because this suggests the problem is on your PC, rather than at the printer end, which is what compatibility would affect afaik.

If still problem, try a different USB port on the PC side, and a diff cable if you have one–altho I doubt it’s a cable issue.

Check that the printer still shows as the default printer after failure. Is there any virtual printer [eg print to file, print to PDF] which might be hijacking the connection?

I’m a light printer user, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will pitch in if you’re still in trouble. My long experience of printers is that they are a pain when they glitch, but repeated fiddling eventually brings them around.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Well, on my way to reinstalling the printer driver I discovered that the driver apparently can work for two versions of the printer: 1720 & 1720 XL with the latter appearing to be the default. When I switched to plain 1720 the print jobs (test page anyway) worked right away. I’ve since shut down and rebooted several times and as long as the 1720 XL doesn’t appear in the printer list all is well. So for now this seems solved! Thank you Lugh for taking the time to respond to my initial request for help.

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Glad to hear, hope it stays working for you

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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