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
    2014-03-09T22:04:24+00:00

    I don't have a Ports tab on my Properties page.  Now what?

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-03-14T00:00:25+00:00

    I wrestled with this for a while too.  With my set-up, I have my printer wired to one computer and the other accessing it wirelessly.  It was this networked computer that received an "printer offline" message and couldn't print.  Here's what I did:

    I went to my wired computer that was working.  Go to control panel>devices and printers.

    Right click on the printer in question and select printer properties.

    Select Sharing.

    Check the box that says Share This Printer.

    And, voila!  Back online!

    Hope it helps!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-04-09T02:48:26+00:00

    I went through pages and pages of comments but found that if I turn the computer off then back on, the printer would come back online.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-04-27T22:55:32+00:00

    the printer is always off line, the option to set it online is NOT available, latest drivers are installed.  This is the a frequently recurring problem and has cost my engineering company something like 500 hours in trying to get printers on-line.

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