What are Printer Drivers? ..

Device drivers, of which PCs have several, serve to control the various devices in your computer. They may be connected to it externally, such as a scanner or mouse, or fitted into it, such as a disk drive. Each of these devices has its own specific characteristics, which means that the computer’s operating system cannot communicate directly with them all. Therefore drivers are necessary, to act as go betweens, or translators, for the operating system and its various devices, making it possible for them to understand each other.

Why Does Your Computer Need a Printer Driver?

There are various types of printers, including ink jet, and monochrome or color laser printers, and in some cases the older dot matrix variety. Fax machines and plotters may also be connected to a computer, and are also types of printing devices. All of these devices need to have the format and content of their printed output sent to them in a form they can understand. The description of this output can vary according to the specific Printer Description Language they use.

If your computer is Windows based, then it prints via printer drivers and a print spooler. There is software which creates the print output and sends it to the operating system. This then sends instructions to the printer driver, which converts these so that the printer can understand them. The printer communicates back to the computer via the driver whether or not printing was successful. Your operating system, therefore, is assisted in the process of organizing printing processes, without knowing anything itself about the printer. This is what the printer driver does for the PC.

Common Problems with Printers… And Possible Solutions

1. Not Being Able to Print

First check for simple problems, such as the printer not being plugged in or turned on, and that it has supplies of ink and paper. If it is a big print job, the printer may just need time. Wait a while, and if it still doesn’t print, cancel the job and then send the document to print again. If the job does not cancel, switch your printer off and leave it for a short while, then switch it on and start again.

Go to the Windows Start menu, and follow Settings – Printers, and then right click on the relevant printer. Check that it is not offline or paused. This may fix your problem; if not then try restarting your computer.

2. Paper Jamming

Paper can get stuck on its way through the printer, in which case follow your printer’s instructions to clear this. Be careful when removing the jammed paper so as not to cause damage. If this doesn’t clear the problem, then turn off your printer, leave a while and then try again.

3. Poor Print Quality

If the print is faded or blurry, check the ink supply.

4. Software Issues

If documents fail to print only for one type of software application, even when you try to print different files, or after closing and restarting the application, then you may need to re-install the software.

5. Printer Driver Problems

Faulty printer drivers can cause problems too, in which case you will need to use the Device Manager to install the most recent version of your driver. Depending on your operating system you may be able to access this from Control Panel – My Computer – Manage. Devices will then be listed on the right side, and you select Ports – Printer Port – Driver – Update Driver. This will download printer driver updates so that you can install the most recent version. (You may need to uninstall drivers first before you can successfully update to new ones.)

Alternatively, you can go to the Control Panel and select Printers, then right click on the one which has the problem, and choose Properties – Advanced - New Driver.

If the problem has not been fixed, then right click on the problem printer and delete it, which will uninstall that printer. Then re-install by choosing Printers – Add Printer, and then following the prompts.