Paperless Office My Foot!
May 17, 2005
You'd think Brightspark would be one, but I can tell you - we are not!
I do try to keep it that way, but there are times when you simply have to have the paper. Like for example, when you must print and sign a form in order to join an association. Or when you must print a really long document out because it's written so poorly your poor eyes can't take it in from the screen. Or when you need to print out cover letters to go with a really interesting offer that you're marketing. I could go on, but I won't.
Brightspark has been 'sans printer' since the move to Sandymount back in April. The printer and computer had been carried out to the transport van in the way they warrant, ie. like they are the most precious things on earth - yes they are! So it has utterly confounded me in the last 6 weeks as to why the printer won't work.
In true IT helpdesk style, I worked through the possibilities. No. it wasn't a fault with the printer because it still printed out that test page. It wasn't the connectors either because I got them to work on other pieces of equipment. It was definitely the relationship between the laptop and the printer...
Was the printer jealous of the laptop's new position in the sunny spot of the office? Was the laptop feeling cheapened by its perch on a pile of encyclopedias for height while the printer resided on an antique cabinet....all these potentials and more crossed my mind.
[if you're reading this and thinking she's finally gone mad, I urge you not to lose faith, it's just a bit of poetic license]
Anyway, today was the day. I was not going to let this thing get the better of me. I rang the Apple technical support helpdesk to be told that everything I needed was in the troubleshooting part of the site. Then I began to read through the troubles.
There are a lot of things that could go wrong I can tell you....it's kind of like reading the health section of a Lonely Planet book - you start to read and you think that you've got everything they mention. In fact, now that I think of it my printer could be exhibiting signs of malairia...
In a moment of despair, I rang the good guys at iSolutions, they're the Mac Doctors I wrote about not too long ago. Pleasant Gavin asked me a few questions to make sure I had been through all the right moves and you know what? I hadn't downloaded the new drivers from HP.
Seemingly HP bring out new drivers every so often and they put them up on their site, and we the customers are just supposed to know that this kind of thing happens...so, next time you have something wrong with your printer and you can't live without it any longer, visit the manufacturer's site and you might find the answer to your prayers.
Now I type to the sound of a busy printer. My laptop and printer are in perfect harmony again. The sun is shining outside and my world is at peace once more.