At 09:19 06/23/05, Edward Whitnall <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >I have an irritating printer problem where whenever I boot up my >machine (Dell 8200 with XP, SP1 & SP2) connected to a laser printer >(HP or Dell), the printer during the boot cycle spits out a sheet >of paper with only a few characters on the top left (e.g. v}}zhlj >or the like). After that it prints normally. > >The same machine connected to an HP DeskJet or HP OfficeJet >printer doesn't do the same. > >I haven't been able to find a setting or other change that will >correct this. > >Any ideas? Ed Whitnall Hi Edward A couple of ideas... I had this problem with my HP Laser Printers back in the Windows 95 days. There is a Microsoft article "Extra Page Printed with Each Print Job" at <http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;132425>. "When you print to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) printer (or a printer that emulates an HP printer) that is connected to a computer using a PS/2-style parallel port, you may receive an extra page before each print job. The extra page contains PJL codes or a single character in the upper left corner of the page. The output on this page depends on whether you have enabled bi-directional communications." So the problem only occurs with HP Laser printers or ones that emulate them, like your Dell. Ink jet printers shouldn't be affected. For Win95, the solution was to replace the file "Windows/System/Lpt.vxd" with a later version, which was in to a special folder on the Windows 95 CDROM. Not much help if you're using Windows XP. But the article does suggest two other things that might be helpful to you: "Configure the port in your computer's CMOS settings to a non-PS/2 mode (for example, use standard LPT mode, or ECP or EPP mode)." So try a different printer port setting in your computer's BIOS. "Note that the symptoms described in this article can also be caused by a printer switchbox. If you are using a printer switchbox, you may want to disconnect the switchbox to see if the problem persists." Are you using a switch box to change from one printer to another? Finally, I'd suggest you try to find different printer drivers, either older or newer. Regards, Bill Do you want to signoff PCBUILD or just change to Digest mode - visit our web site: http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml