Cannot Print in Windows

• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

You may experience the following symptoms:

• You are unable to print from Windows-based programs, but you are able to print from MS-DOS-based programs (such as Edit.com).



• If you attempt to print from WordPad, you receive the following error message:
  

  The printer could not be found.




• The Print command on the File menu in Notepad is unavailable.



• When you try to print, you receive any of the following error messages:
  

  - An error occurred during this operation
  
  - Could not start print job
  
  - Windows was unable to print the test page. Would you like to begin troubleshooting now?

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the Win.ini file has the read-only attribute.

Note that this behavior may occur after you upgrade to Windows 98.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, remove the read-only attribute from the Win.ini file, and then install the printer driver again to update the Win.ini file. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.



2. In the Named box, type "win.ini" (without quotation marks), and then click Find Now.



3. In the list of found files, right-click the Win.ini file, and then click Properties.



4. Click the Read-Only check box to clear it, and then click OK.



5. Quit the Find tool, and then restart your computer.



6. Install the printer driver by following these steps:
   
   a. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
   
   b. Right-click your printer, and then click Properties.
   
   c. On the Details tab, click New Driver.
   
   d. In the Manufacturers box, click your printer's manufacturer, and then click the appropriate model in the Models box.
   
   e. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : kbprint win98 
Version           : WINDOWS:98
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: January 21, 1999