DOCUMENT:Q159418 11-JUN-2002 [word97] TITLE :WD97: Characters Appear as Square Boxes in Printed Document PRODUCT :Word 97 for Windows PROD/VER:: OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbenv kbprint kbdta winword word97kbfaq ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Word 97 for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry SYMPTOMS ======== If you print a document that contains extended characters, such as Greek symbols, to certain printers using printer drivers that do not accept Unicode characters, the extended characters are printed as square boxes, even though they are displayed correctly on the screen. The problem affects the following printers and printer drivers: - Canon BubbleJet BJ-C600, 4000, 4200, 4500, 4550, v 3.40 - Canon Multipass 2500 3.40 - Epson Color 500 - Epson Stylus Color, v 2.x - Epson Stylus Pro / XL v. 2.11BE - HP Color LaserJet 5 PCL, printer driver version F 1.300 - HP DeskJet 1600C, printer driver version 4.20 - HP LaserJet 4 PCL, printer driver version 3.78 - HP LaserJet 6P, standard printer driver - Okidata 4 laser printer CAUSE ===== This problem occurs because these printer drivers do not provide support for Unicode characters. WORKAROUND ========== To work around this problem, use any of the following methods. Method 1: Set a Print Flag -------------------------- WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. There is a flag (registry setting) for the printer driver that causes it to use American National Standards Institute (ANSI) character layout functions instead of Unicode character layout functions. When set correctly, this flag allows the printer driver to print the extended characters correctly. To set this flag, use the method appropriate for your version of Word. Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1): If you have installed Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1), you can set one registry entry that applies to all installed printers. If you have the original (non-SR1) version of Word 97, see the "Word 97 (Non-SR1) Version" section later in this article instead. To set the registry entry, follow these steps: 1. On the Start menu, click Run. 2. In the Open box, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks) and then click OK. 3. Locate the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Word\Options 4. Double-click the Options key to open it. 5. With the Options key selected, on the Edit menu, point to New and click String Value. 6. In the right pane, type "NoWideTextPrinting" (without the quotation marks), and press ENTER. 7. With NoWideTextPrinting selected, on the Edit menu, click Modify. 8. In the Value Data box, type the value "1" (without the quotation marks) and click OK. 9. On the Registry menu, click Exit, and then restart Word. For additional informationabout SR-1, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q172475 OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1 Word 97 (Non-SR1) Version: If you have not yet installed Word 97 Service Release 1, but have the original (non-SR1) version of Word 97, follow these steps: 1. On the Start menu, click Run. 2. In the Open box, type "regedit" (without the quotation marks) and then click OK. 3. Locate the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Word 4. Double-click the Word key to open it. 5. Under the Word key, click to select your printer name. NOTE: If your printer name is not displayed under the Word key, then follow these steps: a. On the Registry menu, click Exit. b. Start Word. c. On the File menu, click Print. Under Printer, select your printer in the Name list, and then click Close (the "X" on the right side of the title bar). If the appropriate printer is already selected, then click Cancel. d. On the Tools menu, click Options. e. Click the Print tab, and then click OK. f. Start method 1 again at step 1. 6. With the printer key selected, on the Edit menu, point to New, and click String Value. 7. In the right pane, type "Flags" (without the quotation marks), and press ENTER. 8. With Flags selected, on the Edit menu, click Modify. 9. In the Value box, type "8192" (without the quotation marks) and click OK. The printer should now print the extended characters correctly. Method 2: Printer-Specific Workarounds -------------------------------------- The following information describes workarounds that are available for specific printer drivers. NOTE: Not all printer drivers have a specific workaround (in this case, method 1 is the only available workaround). HP DeskJet 1600C: To work around this problem, follow these steps: 1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Printers. 2. Click the HP DeskJet 1600C ColorSmart printer icon. 3. On the File menu, click Properties. 4. In the HP DeskJet 1600C ColorSmart Properties dialog box, click the Details tab, and then click Setup. 5. In the ColorSmart Setup dialog box, click Advanced. 6. In the Advanced dialog box, select "Use LaserJet III font scaling" and click OK to close each of the open dialog boxes. HP LaserJet 4 Series PCL: To work around this problem, follow these steps: 1. On the Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Printers. 2. Click the HP LaserJet 4 printer icon. 3. On the File menu, click Properties. 4. From the HP LaserJet 4 Properties dialog box, click the Fonts tab. 5. In the Fonts dialog box, under "TrueType fonts", select "Print TrueType as graphics" and click OK. STATUS ====== Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. MORE INFORMATION ================ ASCII characters are represented by the values 0 to 127; ANSI includes ASCII but adds characters 128 through 255. In all languages, the ASCII characters are exactly the same, but characters 128-255 are used for characters specific to a language, based on the code page associated with the language. This approach handles the character differences for most languages in the world. Some languages (specifically, East Asian languages such as Japanese Kanji, several dialects of Chinese, and Korean) cannot be represented with only 256 characters. The written characters in these languages are entire words rather than individual letters, so there are typically over 6000 different characters. Unicode was introduced to handle these languages. Unicode uses two bytes per character, instead of the standard one byte per character. For additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q159471 Word 97: How to Install the Far East Support Files Q99884 Unicode and Microsoft Windows NT Q130052 Ideas to Remember as You Convert from ASCII or ANSI to Unicode For additional information about this issue in Microsoft Excel, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q191191 XL97: Problems Printing Unicode (Extended) Characters REFERENCES ========== The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability. For information about how to contact your printer manufacturer, click the appropriate article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K Q60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P Q60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z Microsoft Support Options ------------------------- If you cannot resolve this issue, several support options are available to assist you. Quickly Find Answers Yourself Online: Use Microsoft Online Support to search the Microsoft Knowledge Base and other technical resources for fast, accurate answers. You can also customize the site to control your search. To begin your search, browse to the following Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/support/ Microsoft Product Support: Contact a Microsoft Product Support professional to assist you with troubleshooting problems. For more information about obtaining help with troubleshooting Microsoft Windows, click Help Topics on the Help menu in Windows Explorer. On the Contents tab, double-click to open the Troubleshooting book. Then double-click to open the Contact Microsoft Technical Support book to view your support options. For more information about obtaining help with troubleshooting Microsoft Word, click About Microsoft Word on the Help menu, and then click Tech Support. For additional information about Microsoft support services, please click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q102344 Microsoft Product Support Options Q&A Microsoft Solution Providers: Microsoft Solution Providers are independent organizations that have teamed with Microsoft to use technology to solve business problems for companies of all sizes and industries. To locate a Microsoft Solution Provider in your area in the U.S. and Canada, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. If you are outside the United States, contact your local subsidiary. To locate your subsidiary, see the Microsoft World Wide Offices Web site at: http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/default.htm Additional query words: 8.0 8.00 dj1600c hpclj5 hplj4 ACTT Russian Greek Cyrillic foreign symbol font SR1 release ====================================================================== Keywords : kbenv kbprint kbdta winword word97 kbfaq Technology : kbWordSearch kbWord97 kbWord97Search kbZNotKeyword2 Version : : Issue type : kbprb ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2002.