A technician recently installed a new USB printer for a customer that is running Windows 7. Windows automatically installed the drivers. When the user prints, the printout has a bunch of symbols…

The correct answer is A. Install the vendor specific driver. When a printout contains garbled text, random symbols, or garbage characters, the root cause is almost always a driver mismatch - the printer is receiving data it cannot interpret correctly. Windows' generic (plug-and-play) driver may not fully support all the features and page…

Hardware and network troubleshooting

Question

A technician recently installed a new USB printer for a customer that is running Windows 7. Windows automatically installed the drivers. When the user prints, the printout has a bunch of symbols. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Options

AInstall the vendor specific driver
BReplace the printer
CCheck for Windows Updates
DRun antivirus application

How the community answered

(40 responses)

A
93% (37)
B
3% (1)
D
5% (2)

Explanation

When a printout contains garbled text, random symbols, or garbage characters, the root cause is almost always a driver mismatch - the printer is receiving data it cannot interpret correctly. Windows' generic (plug-and-play) driver may not fully support all the features and page description language (e.g., PCL or PostScript) of the specific printer model. Installing the vendor-specific driver from the manufacturer ensures the correct page description language and printer commands are used, which resolves the garbled output. Replacing the printer is premature and wasteful; Windows Updates and antivirus are unrelated to this specific symptom.

Topics

#printer driver#USB printer#Windows 7#print quality

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