Printer "unavailable"

Graham

New Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2002
Messages
9
I'm running Excel 2000 in Win 98.
Suddenly, out of the blue, today, for no reason I can see, when I try to print any Excel worksheet or part of same, I get this msg; "Current printer is unavailable. Select another printer". Well, (1) I don't have another printer (2) I'm not having any print problems with other applications.
Can anyone help with this? Thanks.
 

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Is it a local printer or networked?

What happened when you closed down and restarted Excel?

=dn
 
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Thanks. It's a single local printer. Since my first post I have restarted Excel several times, restarted the whole system > once, and used the Office2000 CD to run its "repair" and reinstall feature. I'm still getting the "printer unavailable" msg. Help!
This message was edited by Graham on 2002-10-07 12:20
 
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Sometimes print drivers do funny things...have you tried reinstalling your print drivers...


hope this helps..


pll
 
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I don't think it's a driver problem, because I can print anything I want from any of the other programs I have installed, including MSWord, which I installed with Office2000 at the same time as Excel. It's only with Excel worksheets that I get this "Printer unavailable" msg. I can even print Excel Help topics.
 
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Some of the help or suggested causes i found apply to local printers and some info for network printers.......

Excel is having difficulty communicating with the printer. You may receive this message if any of the following conditions is true:

The regional settings for your computer are corrupted.
If you are using a network printer, the printer driver may require the printer port to be captured.
The printer has an invalid network name.
The printer driver is corrupted.
There is an error on the device= line in the Win.ini file:

device= HPx LaserJet5Si,PCL5EMS,\servernameprinterid
For example, the name of the printer driver in the [windows] section of the Win.ini file doesn't match the actual name of the printer driver:

THINGS TO TRY...Try each of the following methods until you find one that fixes the problem.

Method 1: Reset the Regional Settings in Control Panel
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click the Regional Settings icon.
Click the Regional Settings tab. In the drop-down list, choose a different setting (there are several country settings that use English), and then click OK.
If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
After Windows restarts, return to the Regional Settings Properties dialog box in Control Panel, and reselect your original regional setting.
Click OK, and restart your computer again.
Method 2: Capture a Port for Your Network Printer
Before beginning this procedure, check with your network administrator to make sure you have the correct path for the network printer.

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
Right-click the icon for your printer, and click Properties.
Click the Details tab. Click Capture Printer Port.
In the Device box, click a port that's not used by another printer.
In the Path box, type the network path to the printer, and then click OK to close the Capture Printer Port dialog box.
In the Print to the following port box, click the port you chose in step 3, and then click OK.
Method 3: Reinstall the Printer Driver
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
Right-click your default printer, and click Delete. If you are asked if you want to remove extra files left on the system, click Yes.
Double-click the Add Printer icon, and follow the instructions to reinstall your printer driver.
When you reinstall your printer driver, the Microsoft Windows operating system corrects many system files and registry keys.

NOTES:

If your printer model isn't listed in the Manufacturers and Printers lists, check the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for an updated driver. If your printer isn't on the HCL, contact the printer manufacturer for drivers and instructions.
If you are on a network, you may need to install the correct printer driver from a network drive. Contact your network administrator for instructions.

hope this helps.

pll
 
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Why not remove/re-install the printer, see if it clears up?

The office network has done weird stuff. Not lately, Thank God, but I have seen:


Test Print in Windows, but "No Printer Installed" in Excel". Specific to a user; other users, no problem.


Since it may be specific to a user profile, see if that line of investigation turns up anything. Check the User permissions. Check another user. Check what the Administrator gets.
 
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Thanks for the replies.
I tried the Regional Settings trick but that didn't help.
So then I deleted the existing printer and downloaded the latest printer driver from HP (my printer is a Deskjet 932C) and reinstalled it. That hasn't cured the problem either.
If the printer works OK for all my other apps., there must be something wrong with my Excel or with its installation, no? But the first thing I tried (see post 1) was to run the Office 2000 repair facility. I wonder if I shd remove the Excel program and reinstall from the Office 2000 disk? any opinions on that?
 
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Re: Printer "unavailable"

...

Method 1: Reset the Regional Settings in Control Panel
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click the Regional Settings icon.
Click the Regional Settings tab. In the drop-down list, choose a different setting (there are several country settings that use English), and then click OK.
If you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
After Windows restarts, return to the Regional Settings Properties dialog box in Control Panel, and reselect your original regional setting.
Click OK, and restart your computer again.

...

pletteri, Thank you for the Regional Settings suggestion. It finished off a solution for a different printer-related problem, the frequent repetitive failing of the print spooler causing all printers to 'disappear'. If anybody reading this has no response when clicking Print or gets an error message stating "Word cannot print. There is no printer installed." or similar, then this page may be of use. Once again, thanks pletteri for helping provide me with a functioning print dialog after eight hours of frustration.

P.S.: Just noticed how ridiculously old this thread is. It's fantastic that the solution has survived the test of time and changes in operating systems. By the same token though, it's sad the problem has also survived this long lol.
 
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