Re: missing print forms

Hi Burt,

As you know, I'm not a willing apologist for Microsoft, but on a quick overview of your concerns, I have a feeling this isn't a problem caused by the OS, but instead is due to charges in design elements on the two printers (as a guess, probably to reduce footprint of the printer) or perhaps changes in the paper path. The concept of maintaining the midpoint of the paper regardless of the size of the paper is fairly conventional with laser printers, and it may indeed be due to the paper transport system, but I suspect it is more due to use of the laser drum and toner cartridges to avoid uneven wear and toner usage which would occur if one margin was always emphasized. With inkjet printers is doesn't matter, and the advantage is the closer the printed area is to the area where the head parks, the less head movement required, and therefore a quicker output and less wear and tear on the mechanics.

Most people aren't aware that Microsoft doesn't actually write the drivers for peripherals which are offered in the OS "in box". They are tested by Microsoft for compatibility, but usually the peripheral manufacturer provides them, and they can differ from the ones they provide with the unit or on their websites due to time of release, and
sometimes the wish to conform to some templates the OS provides.

If in terms of work arounds for the problems you mention you mean the ability to customize a set of parameters that would become the new defaults for as long as you wished them as such (such as telling your new HP printer to "always" print 3 mm further to the right as the start point because that is where your old printer found its start point, that may be possible. If that is what you are desiring, let me know and I will see if there is either a current way to do that, or if one could be written into the next OS release. Which OS are you currently referring to?

In terms of the overheated sticker adhesive due to multiple pass throughs over time, that's something perhaps best brought to Avery Labels. My work around isn't elegant either. I only use the stickers I will need for printing and mount them temporarily on a backing *** that is full size in the appropriate position.

Art

Burt wrote:

"Arthur Entlich" <e-printerhelp@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:CiOxj.17089$w94.4720@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi Ron,

I'm going to send this on to some of the people I converse with at Microsoft regarding printer driver issues and see if they either have a reasonable answer as to what's going on, if they are aware of this problem, and if they know of a work around. I'll let you know what I find out.

Art


(snip)

Art - I have had an HP P3005 laserjet now for about four months. I routinely use Wordperfect 8 due to the ease to view ALL formatting codes when desired. I've also found that WP is much more convienent for formatting documents as the format follows the document for printer setup, whereas MS Word can sometimes present printer formatting difficulties with two places to deal with such formats. I do use MS Word, however, when it is necessary for me to share documents with others who are more likely to have Word than WP.

The problems I had with the new HP printer are twofold. One is that one of the Avery label formats that worked fine with the HP 5p printer I just replaced (which, by the way, was still working with never a down second) prints out with a different left margin and screws up this one label set. I spent a great deal of time with customer tech support, switched from PCL6 to PCL5 without improvement, and finally decided to print this particular label on my inkjet instead. I could have adjusted the margin in the Avery format to "fake" the proper output, or I could have printed it out of MSWord 2000, . This particular label print job is one I sometimes only want to print a few labels on the page, and the laser printer produces a fair amount of heat which is a contraindication for running a label page through the printer twice, whereas the inkjet printer handles the double or triple feeding of labels with no problem.

The other problem has to do with the paper guides. I prefer that the left guide be fixed and the right guide moved to accomodate document width. I'm sure that having both paper guides move toward the center simplifies the paper feed mechanism and probably would prevent skewing in some cases. Skewing was never a probem with the HP 5p with a fixed left guide, however. The requirement to move both guides toward the center takes away the ability to avoid setting custom paper sizes and print smaller-than-8.5 width papers by simply setting the right margin to accomodate the narrower stock. This is a quick trick when occasionally printing off-size envelopes.

Small complaints that are easily overcome, and the new printer is super-fast and works well. Nonetheless, These are some of the quirks in computerization that are annoying until a workaround is arranged.


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