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my printer will not print a web page directly but will print via copy/paste the same web page

williamconnor
williamconnor
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My HP deskjet printer has recently started to refuse to print by the print friendly button on any web site. The instruction goes onto the queue and the printer responds but only by putting through a blank page........the instruction then is cleared from the queue as though the task has been completed. If I 'select' the same web site or copy/paste it to a Works document then it will print normally. Suggestions?

My HP deskjet printer has recently started to refuse to print by the print friendly button on any web site. The instruction goes onto the queue and the printer responds but only by putting through a blank page........the instruction then is cleared from the queue as though the task has been completed. If I 'select' the same web site or copy/paste it to a Works document then it will print normally. Suggestions?

Modified by williamconnor

All Replies (4)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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As the first thing to try, I'm going to ask you to reset your printer settings in Firefox. The steps may be unfamiliar, but it's not difficult.

First, press Ctrl+t to open a blank tab, type about:config in the location bar, and press Enter. Click the button promising to be careful.

Second, in the Filter box, type printer and wait a moment until the list is filtered.

Third, find print.print_printer, right-click it, and choose Reset. Then test again.

Does that help?

A second thought: do you have a PDF printer driver, that is, a "printer" that saves printouts to a PDF file? That might be useful as a diagnostic to see whether Firefox is sending a blank page or there is a glitch specific to your printer.

There are a number of free PDF printer driver programs, including:

CutePDF Writer

PrimoPDF

PDFCreator (open source)

pdf 995 (used to have a nag screen)

williamconnor
williamconnor Question owner
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Thank you jscher. Unfortunately the problem continues............I have added a small extra bit of info in my question under the "trouble shooting information" although it does'nt really expand my original enquiry.

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Can you give a sample URL or two for a page that doesn't print correctly?

Often a "print friendly" page opens in a pop-up window. Can you see whether the contents of the window are normal before the print dialog pops up? If the pop-up does not open or immediately closes, you may have an extra pop-up blocker installed. Some third party toolbars have that feature.

Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer

williamconnor
williamconnor Question owner
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Dear jscher.............we must stop meeting like this!

Two (not exhaustive) examples for you: 

A) gmail inbox messages will only print by copy/paste
B) My telephone company's bills will only print via
                                         copy/paste.
                                
 When I tried your first suggestion, immediately below print.print printer in the filter box, a whole series of my printer relevant files appeared, some having 'false' against their status. What does this mean?

William .

Modified by williamconnor