Dell 1700N printer - light print after moving to Windows 7

[goombawaho]

So, a customer has a Dell 1700N printer connected via USB. Replaced her XP computer with a Windows 7 64-bit computer. Now the printouts seems to be lighter especially on some PDFs generated by her boss. Consumables have been replaced (Drum, toner cartridge), no difference.

I can't find any setting that seems to improve things. So, given that the old computer is long gone, is the best test to hook up my old Windows XP laptop and load the driver and test print the same file? I guess that's the only test that could rule out everything else (operating system, file) other than the printer.

One more thing: Windows 7 shows the printer as 1700N XL (V) which is kind of strange. Tried different drivers but it shows up that way no matter which one I choose. I tried allowing Windows 7 to install the driver originally and then tried this Dell driver Link

Customer is cranky. I'm even crankier.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

At the company where I work, we've had all sorts of random issues moving from XP to Win7. What I've found is that even with the correct driver selected, the printer properties panel shows a lot more settings than XP ever did. More often than not, many of these extra settings are set incorrectly. For example, whenever we install an HP LaserJet (various models), it almost always enables "Job Storage" and "Mopier Mode", both of which can cause printing delays and failed print jobs when the printer is unable to support them. No idea why Microsoft decided to enable these by default!

So I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I strongly advise you go into the "Printer Properties" panel, click the "Device Settings" tab, and take a good look at the list. If you see the following, make sure they have the correct settings:

[ul]
[li]Printer Hard Disk - should say "Not Installed"[/li]
[li]Job Storage - should be set to "Disabled"[/li]
[li]Color Printing Mode - For monochrome lasers, this should be set to "Off"[/li]
[li]Mopier Mode - set to "Disabled"[/li]
[li]Device Type - makes sure this one matches the type you're working with[/li]
[/ul]

The one that stands out the most for your situation is probably "Color Printing Mode". Set incorretly, some text and graphics may appear lighter than they should.

-Carl
"The glass is neither half-full nor half-empty: it's twice as big as it needs to be."

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[gbaughma]

Additionally, some of the printer property pages I've seen have "Eco mode" or "Toner Saver" or other some such wording, which makes me think perhaps that would cause lighter printing.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

 

[goombawaho]

Those are good ideas but I guess I'll try the XP test first to get a baseline analysis of the printout. If XP prints dark with the same source file, then it has to be a Windows 7 driver setting issue. It's not a fancy printer, but there ARE a lot of options in the Windows 7 menu.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[goombawaho]

So, my ancient XP computer prints out a fine copy of the document whereas the Windows 7 PC prints that document very light. I installed the XP driver from the original CD that came with the printer. There are so many more options in the Windows 7 driver, but nothing that stands out to adjust.

Wondering if I could run the installer from the printer software CD in "XP SP3 compatibility mode" and get it to install on Windows 7?

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

Nope, that won't work. The XP compatibility mode option barely works for some software and doesn't work at all for drivers. Not only do you need a compatible Win7 driver, but you also need one that's 64-bit.

 

[goombawaho]

^^^^^Rain on my parade. I swear I've seen people advising to use the Vista driver for some printers and install that way.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[cdogg]

LOL

Well, actually some Vista drivers do manage to install and work in Windows 7. I know I've used a few myself. That is a little different though, since Vista and Win7 are very similar OS's.

 

[goombawaho]

That's what I was thinking of. XP drivers and 7 drivers are too far apart, no doubt.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.