General Troubleshooting Non-Postscript

In general, non PostScript printers are subject to system irregularities and configuration issues far more often than PostScript printers. If your printing problems are not corrected by these settings suggestions, the following may assist in determining the cause.

Check that the printer functions with other applications, e.g., WordPad. This will help verify whether communication exists from the computer to the printer. If you are unable to print from other applications, contact the manufacturer of your printer for more information regarding any known conflicts or driver issues.

An outdated video driver is the source of many non PostScript printing problems. Because non PostScript printers rely heavily on the information available from the video card, outdated video drivers can have a great influence on the printer output. To test for such a problem try the following:

1. Go to the Control Panel and choose Display\Settings\Change Display Type. Under Adapter Type choose Change and enable Show All Devices. Choose Standard Display Types under Manufacturer and select Standard Display Adapter (VGA) under Models. Select OK. After you exit this section you will be prompted to restart Windows. This causes the changes to take affect. Load your CorelDRAW file and try to print it in the same fashion as before. If the file prints correctly, contact the manufacturer of your video card to obtain an updated video driver.

2. Verify that there is sufficient memory for CorelDRAW to create your printer temporary files. Windows uses three different types of memory: RAM, virtual memory and temporary disk space. RAM is the physical memory that is installed in your computer and it works in coordination with virtual memory. Your computer uses these two types of memory as one, so that if you are running low on RAM, Windows will access virtual memory as assigned in the Control Panel. Temporary memory is accessed by Windows as it performs smaller tasks such as copying a file or a piece of a file for storage on your hard disk as a temporary file (*.TMP). These files are stored in your Temp folder, which is by default located under your Windows folder. If you exit a program or Windows in an irregular manner (e.g. system crash), these temporary files can be left on your hard disk and will take up disk space unnecessarily.

To remove these temporary files, at the DOS Prompt, type SET and make note of where the TEMP= variable points to. This is your Temp folder. Change to the temp folder and delete all of the files that end with a .TMP extension. You can use the wildcard command DEL *.TMP. It is also important that the TEMP folder be located on a drive that provides sufficient space for expansion. You may need to free up some disk space by deleting unnecessary files or by backing up files onto disks and deleting the originals from the hard drive. Be careful not to remove any system files because this may cause further crashes. Now reboot your system in the normal manner. Please note: Temporary files should not be located on a compressed drive.

Use the Scandisk utility to verify that there are no lost allocation units on your hard drive. This utility is found under Start\Programs\Accessories\System Tools\Scandisk.

Printer memory is also an important consideration when printing complex graphics from CorelDRAW. For LaserJet Series printers with minimal memory, try the following steps from within CorelDRAW. Select Print\Properties\Graphics. Under Graphics Mode, select Use Raster Graphics.

After this memory maintenance has been completed, try the printing operation again. If the file prints successfully, it may be a good idea to check for similar problems in the future because regular hard drive maintenance can improve the stability of your system immensely.