Printer offline-How can I change it to "on-line"

Anonymous
2011-01-04T17:10:46+00:00

How can I change a printer that is networked from "off-line" to  "online" to one computer?

Ours is accessible to my computer but not my wife's as her status is "off-line."

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2011-01-05T05:30:21+00:00

Hi WVseagull,

Check the status of the printer at Control Panel. Set it to online if it’s shown as offline. If this doesn’t fix the problem, check whether installing the vista driver available at your printer manufacturer’s website helps.

Step 1:

a. Click Start, go to Control Panel and select Hardware and Sound.

b. Click Printer.

c. If the Printer is offline, it shows “Offline” status. If the Printer is online it shows “Ready”.

d. If the Printer is offline, set it to online.

e. Right-click on the printer and select “Use Printer Online”.

f. The display should change to ready when the printer is set to online.

Step 2:

If still you are facing issues, then update the printer driver. This should fix the problem.

Update drivers: recommended links

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Update-drivers-recommended-links

Hope this information is helpful.

Praseetha K

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-06T06:54:39+00:00

    Thank you!  I just did that, and my printer became ready right away.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-05T16:09:04+00:00

    I fixed this for some networked printers by turning off SNMP under Ports>Port Configuration in Printer Properties.

    Bryce

    Excellent. Worked on 2012 R2 Print Server. Printer was Dell 1815. Thx

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-10T00:44:23+00:00

    The only reliable way i have found to do this is to go into Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Service find Print Spooler, RMB select Restart.  This should reintroduce the Printer to the Print Spooler. For some reason when there is a network interruption the printer will go Offline and the spooler will never see as Online again until you do this.

    Why wasn't this suggested by the Microsoft people?

    I've struggled with this question for over an hour.

    All of the suggestions from the Microsoft support people failed to answer this question.

    So another user figures out how to get the printer to to work using Services.

    Thank You Dan Mauk.

    No thanks to Microsoft.

    This question has been asked many times and no working solutions presented by Microsoft.

    I love the way several of the Microsoft technicians sign off by saying "Hope this fixes your problem."

    What an empty phrase.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-12-09T04:18:51+00:00

    Thank you so much for this information.  It was driving me crazy not being able to change the offline to online.  Had a new router sent per cable company and the printer would just not change from offline to online.  This worked perfectly !

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