Networks

HELP ! I am in desparate need of assistance. My home PC is 4 or 5 years old. I have WIN2K installed on it. In order for me to install the Blaster patch, I had to upgrade to service pack 4 which I did and was able to install the patch successfully. However after installing SP4,

I couldnt get into MS Word or Excel(Office 2000). So I re-installed Office 2000, afterwhich I was able to get into both. However when I try to print from Word or Excel to my HP Deskjet 500C, nothing happens - the change cartridge light keeps blinking. I did replace the old cartridge with a new one, but that didnt resolve the problem. So I re-installed the print driver for my 500C from Windows(the original driver that came with the printer is for Windows 3.1). I even deleted the printer via the ADD Printer Wizard and re-added it thinking that would fix it, but it didnt. I'm positive its driver related because the printer self test results print OK and I can print from the C prompt which leads me to believe the printer is OK mechanically and the parrallel cable is OK. When I went to HP.com to download the driver, they pointed me back to Windows. Someone at work suggested I check for any Windows updates which I did. I found one(#822831) I thought might resolve the problem, so I applied it and the problem still exists. It appears from what I can see via email questions in the Microsoft Newgroups there appears to be a lot of printer related problems after installing SP3 or SP4. If I uninstall SP4, I may get my printer back but then I'm vunerable to these Blaster related worms. In fact prior to installing SP4, I updated my Norton Anti-virus via Live Update. While I was installing SP4, I got hit with the worm, but Norton AV quaranteened it. I'm at my wits end with this and from what I can see in researching MS support options, it costs an arm and a leg to get phone support. My printer is 10 years old. Significant time on the phone with MS support could most likely cost as much or more than a replacement printer. For what we use this PC for(Internet, Word, Excel,etc) it worked just fine, up until now. Please help at your earliest convenience. Thank you.

Regards,

Jim Wojtyla

work phone: 480-441-1240

cell phone: 602-463-2093

home phone: 480-892-0303

work email: [email protected]

home email: [email protected]

This question was answered on October 28, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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The computer is outdate, you need to upgrade the whole entire computer to fix any problem to had.

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Posted by Student of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on October 28, 2003

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