Printers can be quite frustrating. Even if they have plenty of toner or ink, they can perform poorly or not perform at all. Luckily for you, printer related problems are often easy to discover and just as easy to fix. With minimal effort, you can have your printer up and running quite efficiently in no time. Here are a few examples of issues you, as a printer owner, may encounter.

Let’s start with the obvious. If your printer is not responding, make sure it is plugged in and all the cables are properly attached. Ensure your printer driver is installed on your computer as sometimes this becomes corrupt and needs to be reinstalled. If you recently installed an updated version of Windows, you may have to reinstall the driver.

You might encounter a printer that seems to run too slow. If you happen to employ a laser printer at work and you have an inkjet at home, we see the problem. Laser printers are generally much faster than inkjet printers. The problem doesn’t lie in your inkjet printer, it just seems slow because you are use to the faster laser printer. But if you want to speed up the printing process on your inkjet, try printing in normal mode instead of high-quality mode.

All printers are subject to the occasional paper jam. While some printers specifically tell you the problem, others merely blink at you and refuse to print. The good news is clearing these jams is really quite simple. By removing the paper tray or opening the back, you should discover the problem. When rectified, your printer will run like a charm.

If your printer runs out of ink, slap in a fresh HP CE285A black toner cartridge and you are good to go.