must be online to print ?
 

computer i am working on must be online in order to print anything from word, excel, etc. what could be wrong? win xp os, hp deskjet printer.

Is your printer hooked directly into ur computer or into the network????

standalone computer.

Tell us more about the details. What does it say when you try to print something when your computer is "offline?" What error messages are you getting, what type of reactions are you getting when you expect it function normally but it's not? etc. etc.

Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is the error message you are getting? Does it say that the computer is not on a network, or does it say something like the printer is offline?

By the way, what model of Deskjet printer is it, and does it connect to the system via parallel or USB cable?