Network printer shows offline on Windows 8

Anonymous
2013-04-05T06:09:56+00:00

Original Title: I have hp laserjet 1020 plus printer installed on win 7 it was a share printer when i was giving any print from win8 pc printer is going to offline & when i remove & add printer its working

i was installed win8 latest  drivers on all pc

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2013-04-06T03:27:53+00:00

Hi Hrishikesh,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I would like you to add few information:

Did you make any hardware or software changes on the computer prior to this issue?

I would suggest you to make sure that all the cables for the printer are connected properly and the printer is turned ON. Sometimes, offline status for a printer could be due no power to the printer.You also need to make sure that network sharing might be turned off.

For more information, refer to the link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/turn-sharing-on-or-off

If all the basic settings are checked and are up to the mark, you can follow the methods to troubleshoot the issue:

Method 1:

You can refer to the link to fix printer issues by running the printer troubleshooter:

“Fix printer problems”

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/printer-problems-in-windows-help#fix-printer-problems=windows-8&v1h=win8tab1&v2h=win7tab1&v3h=winvistatab1&v4h=winxptab1

Method 2:

I would suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the driver for the printer.

You can follow the steps to do so:

Note: Please make sure that you have the setup file for the driver of the printer before uninstalling the current version.

a) Press Windows and x key together and click on Device Manager.

b) Locate the printer driver and expand the driver icon.

c) Right click on the driver icon and click on Uninstall.

d) Follow the onscreen instructions to uninstall the driver.

e) Locate the setup file of the driver for the printer.

f) Double Click on the setup file and follow the onscreen instructions to reinstall the driver.

Check if you are able to find the printer online.

For further reference, you can refer to the links:

“How to solve printing problems in Windows”

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/how-to-solve-printing-problems

“Install a printer”

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/install-a-printer

Do let us know about the status of this issue.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-25T19:31:29+00:00

    In our office environment of Canon MFD's, we have noticed that downloading the latest Windows 8/8.1 drivers from Canon Solutions America's website and installing them on our print server has cured our issues. We have a mixed environment of Windows 7 and 8.1 devices. I know many others have mixed print environments, so I would recommend checking in with your printers manufacturer for updated drivers. It could be a simple fix as that.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-09-25T17:43:54+00:00

    I came up with a solution for our users at my organization. I was able to identify that most of the users that were having the Offline Printers issue were laptop users. They would go offsite and Windows would put the drivers into an eternally offline state. 

    What I decided to do, was create a small batch file with the following in it. 

    @echo off

    sc stop spooler

    sc start spooler

    Then, applied a GPO to drop the little batch into a folder on the C Root, and added a scheduled task to run that little script every time a user logs in or unlocks the machine. 

    All of our issues have been resolved since we have implemented this solution.  

    I hope this helps "resolve" issues with Microsoft's poor implementation of handling driver states.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-19T20:45:39+00:00

    How does checking to make sure cables are connected help with a "***NETWORK"*** printer?  I have the same problem.  I have a canon MX860 and every time I set up the network printer it works until I turn off my windows 8 machine.  Once the machine is turned back on, the printer shows as "OFFLINE," even though the printer works with all my other devices (windows 7).

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-28T12:36:21+00:00

    This worked for us, when the spooler 'fix' didn't. Hopefully it will save these settings. Thank you

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