A friend's computer has the following problem only if the printer is connected to the USB port of the computer when the computer and monitor are switched on. The monitor immddiately goes into standby and nothing can be seen on the screen.

If the printer's USB cable is disconnected from the computer the comuter and monitor work fine. The prnter can now be connected and used if required without causing any problem but has to be disconnected if the computer is switched off before an attempt is made to switch on the computer again.

I cannot figure out where the problem lies. Can anyone advise me please.

Hmmm. Without knowing anything about the brand of printer, or the Operating System (O/S), my first thought would be for your friend to uninstall, then reinstall the printer driver.

Has your friend checked the manufacturer's web site to make sure he/she has the most current printer driver? Is this a new problem, or has it been happening for awhile? Did it start up after some other new software was installed?

A number of factors could affect this, but he/she might also want to make sure the driver for the monitor is okay.

Really need the O/S info to help more. I can post detailed steps for where to go look, if you can get that information.

I have personally removed the printer software and then reinstalled. The problem persists. If the printer's USB cable is connected the monitor immediately goes into stand-by. The solution is to disconnect the printer's USB cable and then use the computer. When the computer is still running printing is possible by  connecting the printer's USB cable.

Does the monitor go into standby the moment you hit the computer power button or only when your OS begins to load?

Tne monitor goes into stand-by immediately as soon as one hits the power switch and remember it only happens when the printer's USB cable is connected to the computer.

Okay, well that almost certainly means the problem has nothing to do with the printer software or your OS.


Even though the monitor doesn't work, does the computer contine to boot up and work properly?

You sound like you have a driver problem is your driver software fully compatible with the version of windows.

I've had similar problems with XP and modem drivers.

XP is extremely fussy about its drivers and they nedd to be fully compatible.

See if there is an update for your printer Driver on the makers web site.

There seem to be some sort of conflict with your port assignment.

I'm not sure how this all works hope you can update your
Printer driver and maybe monitor driver or even graphics card driver may see you right.

That's where I would start.

Catch hope I helped out

DAZZA

I unstalled the printer driver and began to add the printer from scratch.

However, with the printers USB cable connected (no driver installed yet) the monitor goes into standby and the computer does not load windows when switched on although the indicator comes on. I am wondering if there is something wrong in the computers setup.

If the cable causes the monitor to go into standby the moment you hit the power and prevents windows from loading, then you almost certainly do not have a windows driver problem.

What happens with the lights on your computer? Does the floppy drive light up? CD-ROM light? HD light, etc? When does it lock up? Are you sure windows is not loading? Try and post a detailed description of exactly what happens. ;D:):)

What is the assembler and model of your computer? You might want to check their website to see if they have any information about your hardware and usb printers. Maybe there is a BIOS setting you can change... (Good luck, some computer assembler websites are extremely hard to navigate :) )

llewelyn, hi, psi42 is on the right track about the BIOS settings. This is a very common, especially on a COMPAQ computer. Your are right about getting the printer to work after the OS system has loaded, and then plugging the printer back in. That is actually my recommendation, too. USB ports on a COMPAQ especially are worst kind of them all. I myself absolutely hate COMPAQ computer because their BIOS, or more precisely,CMOS chip on the their own made OEM motherboard, just downright sucks.

The next best thing you can do is try updating the BIOS on your system, what's called a flash BIOS update. The website of your computer brand will show you where to download and how to flash update your computer's BIOS, usually in the SUPPORT\DRIVER section.

But, most of time, even flash updating would not work, but try anyway if you can, play around with the BIOS settings and see what happens. You can go into the BIOS setup after as soon as your PC boots, immediately press F10 (for Compaq pc), or DEL, F1, F2, or ESC in older pcs.

So, the best

Thanks so much for all the advice but before any attempts to do anything as suggested were made, we have a new problem. The monitor now goes into stand-by even if the printers USB cable is not connected. I have checked all the connections behind the computer and to the monitor and all are fine. Any suggestions?  

Hmm... just to be sure your monitor didn't fry itself, try testing the monitor on a different computer, or try a different monitor. :)

Also try disconnecting any peripherals (scanners, zip drives, etc) and see if anything changes.

~psi42

llewelyn, all right, now if I can ask a several questions:

First, have you done anything to the motherboard recently before the problem appear, like adding new or replacing parts to it, such as adding a new video card, putting in more memory, or even taking parts out and putting them back in so as pinpoint the problem?

2nd, what computer brand is your computer, such as a DELL, COMPAQ, HP, GATEWAY, or some other brand, & what brand is your monitor?

3rd, how long have you had your computer and monitor?

4th, did you or someone build your computer?

And 5th, have you done anything to the computer or vice versa? Perhaps maybe you might have a virus? Do you regularly update your anti-virus definition list and normally scan for viruses? (professional anti-virus companies, such as SYMANTEC, recommend updating the definition list at least every 5 to 7 days.)

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What you can do in the mean time is:

Check out all the add-in cards of the motherboard such as your video card (if it's not built into motherboard), modem card, and so forth to make sure each of them are firmly seated or snapped into its slot; No parts can be loose.

Test your power supply to make sure it's not going bad. You can easily do this using a multimeter which you can get at your local electronic store, such as RADIOSHACK. These sites will show you how to use it:

http://www.doctronics.co.uk/meter.htm

http://mechatronics.mech.nwu.edu/mec...ultimeter.html

Check the motherboard jumpers ( near the CPU) to make sure the proper voltage setting is configured properly.

Make sure you don't overload the power supply by plugging to many parts to the power cables, such as adding 2 or 3 more fans or even extending any of the power cables with a Y-SPLITTER. For example, if your power supply specs is 300W or less, you shouldn't add and connect to many extra things to the power cables.

These issues I mentioned to watch out can cause your computer to act funny, including the problem you are having.

Lastly, you can also try to re-set your BIOS/CMOS jumper to see if that will get the computer to work normally. (it is located near the motherboard round-shaped battery, or a rectangular-shaped battery if your computer is older than 10 or 15 years).

To re-set the CMOS jumper, move the jumper from position 1-2, to 2-3. Wait for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then put the jumper back to position 1-2.

If you have a COMPAQ computer, wait 2 to 3 minutes bbefore putting the jumper back to position 2-3. And especially if you have a COMPAQ computer--old or new, it doesn't matter--expect at least 30 minutes before the blinking cursor on the upper left of the (now) black screen to move to the upper right corner, which means the computer is about to load. ;) :D

Correction...

If you have a COMPAQ computer, wait 2 to 3 minutes bbefore putting the jumper back to position 1-2.

Sorry ;D

Thank you everyone for your advice. Unfortunately, an engineer had to be called and he diagonised a problem with the motherboard and recommeded a new one. The setup is now working fine.