Printed characters are split horizontally

[teemro]

Printing from Win98 in MS Word.

Some characters are split horizontally, and sometimes the head line on a page is usually printed as if you are seeing double.

Also, in other parts of the text, there are odd/weird characters.

HELP! Please!

I have tried a replacement printer, and the we get the same problem. I have gone to fonts in Control Panel, and tested them, but same problems.

I'm a bit stuck now.

Thanks.

[EzyStvy]

The make and model number of the printer is__________________

Have you "Cleaned" the print heads?

[glc]

Have you tried a different printer cable?

[Force Flow]

Have you tried aligning the print cartridges?

[teemro]

Hi, sorry, I've been away a few days...

The printer is a Lemark Optra E+. It is a laserjet.

No, I haven't tried aligning the print heads. I'll try it this morning.

Thanks.

Tim

[glc]

Aligning print heads is only done with inkjets.

You have a driver, cable, or parallel port issue. To confirm, print a self test page from the printer front panel menu - if it happens to be screwed up too, then it's an issue with the printer itself. You should be using a IEEE1284 certified bidirectional cable and the port should preferably be set to ECP in the bios - but try EPP and standard bidirectional to test. Have you downloaded the latest Lexmark driver package?

[teemro]

[QUOTE=glc]
You have a driver, cable, or parallel port issue. To confirm, print a self test page from the printer front panel menu - QUOTE]
Thanks glc.

It's difficult as I can only get access to the control panel when the user is logged in, and they are part time!

I'll check on these things in due course.

I have put in a new printer cable, and am awaiting the user to report any difference.

Cheers for now.

Tim

[glc]

I am referring to the control panel on the printer itself, not in Windows.

[teemro]

I'll check on it tomorrow when I get back in...

Thank you glc

[teemro]

glc

Have printed a test page from the front panel of the printer. It has printed normally - no funny characters or what have you. Should I be looking for anything in particular?

I have changed the printer cable - it says IEEE STD 1284-1994.

I have also uninstalled and reinstalled the printer drivers - no difference.

Should I be focussing more on the cable now?

Cheers.

[glc]

I'd be looking at the port settings now - and a different driver. Download the latest driver from Lexmark.

[teemro]

I'll look at the Lexmark www site later.

Many thanks.