HP deskjet720 - slow

[Bruno_x]

@ home I use an HP Deskjet 720C. All works fine until last week.
Suddenly the printer is extremely slow.
Printing a A4 page in colour takes 90 à 110 minutes
CPU use less then 5 %
Printing in draft takes less then 1 minute
I have already cleaned the printer and reinstalled the driver, etc.

Any idea's left ? Or is this printer "fin de carrière" ?

 

[Andrew Fergus]

Hi.

Have a look at this HP website - it might help. Have you tried using another printer cable? What operating system are you using and is the printer slow when printing postscript documents (such as Adobe pdf documents) or is it slow for all documents?

HTH, Andrew.

 

[Bruno_x]

Hi Andrew,
I will try another printer cable, but remember : printing in "EconoFast"-mode is not a problem, so -I think- the printer cable is OK ?
I will also try to print Adobe docs and post back later.
My PC : AMD XP 3000+, 512 Mb RAM, HD 10 +13 Gb, Win XP SP1 + updates

Solution from the HP website :

Solution to Cause 1: An incorrect printer driver is selected > YES

Solution to Cause 2: The HP ColorSmart driver is set to Best and Glossy or Transparency paper > NO, set to normal

Solution to Cause 3: The system resources are being used by other applications > NO

Solution to Cause 4: The computer system meets the minimum system requirements >YES

Solution to Cause 5: Bidirectional communication is interfering with the printer operation > NO

Solution to Cause 6: Excessive temporary files can tie up system resources > NO

Solution to Cause 7: There are a large number of installed fonts > NO

 

[XL-Dennis]

Hi,

The problems You face may not necessary refer to the printer and its setup & configuration.

Have You installed new software or hardware? If so, what happend if You uninstall it.

Have You recently updated the driver for the video-card?

Make a search for tmp-files, especially if You run XP, and delete them.

 

[Bruno_x]

Andrew,
- other printer cable > same problem
- every document that I print in normal-mode > same problem
- every document that I print in EconoFast-mode > no problem
I even tried a friends HP Deskjet 690C > no problem

Dennis,
I've recently replaced the -broken- power supply with the same 300W type. (is a power supply 'hardware ? )
I've update DirextX to DirectX 9b. After that I couldn' watch TV on my videocard (ATI Radeon 9000 All-In-Wonder). Then I've installed the 'Non-NTSC TV Tuner Hotfix for DirectX 9.0b' from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=8dfd1b6d-e177-4a0e-91d0-b4310675b02b
And now I can watch TV on my PC without any problems.

But, ... the problems with the printer started before the DirextX update...

And when i say 'slow' I mean slow : 90 min for only one (1) page...

 

[Andrew Fergus]

I think you've pretty much eliminated all of the usual culprits. However, before you discard the printer can you change the default resolution to a lower setting? In other words, are there any modes other than "normal" and "draft"?

Andrew

 

[Bruno_x]

Yes there also "Best"... (used for photo's etc.)
and with the same problem as the 'Normal' setting...

There is one thing I can/will try : print a document in black&white instead of printing in colour...

 

[Andrew Fergus]

One last thing - I'm not sure if you are using a parallel or USB cable but have you checked the parallel port setting in the BIOS? Click here or here for details.
A

 

[Bruno_x]

Strange, very strange
What I did : print a multicolor page with the following settings
- EconoFast + Black&White > no problems
- Normal + Black&White > no problems
- Best + Black&White > no problems

OK, I can -at least- print in B&W on normal speed

Then I've changed the settings as follows :
- EconoFast + Colour > no problems, as before
- Normal + Colour > no problems
- Best + Colour > no problems

Don't ask me how this is possible. Was the Black&White setting the key to solve this problem ? Don't ask me, I just don't know...