Locally connected Printer shows as offline on Windows 7 network after initially working

Anonymous

Ok, have checked similar threads wihich got no successful answers.

I have a PC with Epson printer connect directly via USB. Print driver installed correctly. Works fine.

Windows 7 Ultimate (32 bit) no security other than windows firewall and microsoft security essentials.

Laptop connected wirelessly to PC. On same network and homegroup, file and media sharing all working fine.

Laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate (32 bit) same security as PC.

When I add a network printer it finds printer on PC and correctly installs driver etc. Printer appears in devices and will print the first couple of times.

However, by the next day the network printer shows up as "offline" in the print spooler on the laptop. Documents simply stack up.

The PC does not go to sleep and is left on all of the time except for the monitor which is switched off. Printer works fine on PC, indeed with docs stuck on the laptop I can still print directly from the PC - even this does not show the printer as online on the laptop.

Have checked that the printer spooler on laptop is running and set to automatic.

Epson unable/unwilling to help - have found a similar thread with no answer - anybody any guesses as to what to try?

Many thanks

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Anonymous

I had a similar problem and for me the Problem is with the EPSON driver.

My printer was connected wirelessly to my network, I had IP address and could ping it but WIN 7 showed it as OFFLINE.

I then went and had a look at the printer driver, (start, Devices and printer, selected the epson printer then under printer management, customise printer, ports then configure port)

And noticed that for Standard TCP/IP Port it was pointing to a different IP than that what my printer currently had. I edited it to match what the printer was and it came ONLINE.

When you turn your printer off, its IP address goes back in your routers pool to be reassigned.

The Epson windows driver still has the old IP. You turn your printer on and your router happens to give it a different IP from last time. It now doesn't match with what the Epson driver stored before and tells you it is OFFLINE.

For me, rather than changing the IP in the driver each time this happend I assigned a static IP (fixed host ) address in my router to match my printers MAC address. This way it always gives my printer the same address everytime and no more fake OFFLINE messages appear in Windows.

This is an Epson driver problem, not a windows problem.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Set the IP address of the printer to a static address as stated earlier in this thread. If you add the printer again by browsing the network, the Standard TCP/IP port will only work as long ast the printer retains the same IP. If the print device support DNS or WNS name registration you can add a Standard TCP/IP Port using the hostname rather than a transient IP address for DHCP enabled print devices.

Alan Morris Windows Printing Team; Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here: http://support.microsoft.com/search/Default.aspx?adv=1

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88 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-05-25T17:22:29+00:00

How do I give my printer a static IP address and what is it
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Anonymous

2011-04-17T22:07:49+00:00

I have no idea if you, Natalie Klara, will ever see this reply to your May 3, 2010 message about your Epson printer and Windows 7 turning it offline but I'd like you to know that I went through the ropes of signing in for an account here just to enable me to post my heartfelt thank yous to you.

Just like your Epson my heavy duty HP turned on me on a Sunday afternoon while I needed a couple of thousands of pages off of it.

This printer was born before W7 so the driver I use is a "UPD" (universal printer driver) from HP. How wonderful this all ended up due to your posting; I stopped pulling my hair and... minutes later I was up and running as they say.

I suspect your suggestion would work in many similar situations and it's worth trying before unloading/reloading various drivers, etc..

Thank you.
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Anonymous

2011-04-11T14:31:58+00:00

I've posted my problem elsewhere on this site, but have just realized that what I've experienced is similar - if not identical - to the problems others have described in this thread. Briefly, I have two printers connected to a printer server with a fixed IP address on our home network. Both printers have worked for years - and continue to work - with three printers running XP Pro. Having bought a new computer that runs Windows 7, I downloaded and installed new drivers for the two printers (an HP LaserJet 1220 and a Canon S820) in the new computer. Connected directly, they worked fine, so I have no reason to think there's a driver problem.

Next, I connected the new computer to the network and installed the two printers, which were reattached to the server (a Troy 100d). The new (Windows 7) computer printed to each of the printers over the network after the initial installations.

BUT, when the Windows 7 computer was/is rebooted, the printers' status is changed to "offline."

I've found a manual fix for one, but it must be done after every boot!

This is, so far as I can tell, NOT a printer driver problem.

It's a Windows 7 problem, IMHO.

We have exactly the same problem in the lab (HP 2055dn printer connected to network by Cat5) and our network uses static IP addresses for all hardware (even my computer has a static IP). In fact, even if I don't reboot the computer, the driver installation only lasts for about a day. I have to reboot my computer into linux every time I want to print, then reboot back to windows to use lab software (this makes data analysis really painful).

Also, I triple checked, and the IP address of the printer is definitely NOT changing.
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