I thought my desktop had recovered from the crash until I tried to print a document from Word and was told I had no printer. I restarted a couple of times to see if that would clear the problem but no luck. The Dell 1350 laser printer was listed in Devices and Printers but Word could not find it. I then tried to print a document from Acrobat and was told I would first have to install a printer.(!) I Coogled and found a printer repair utility on the Microsoft site and ran it. I was now able to print my document from Word but when I tried to print a second document I was told I had no printer. Same from Acrobat. I then deleted the printer and reinstalled it, allowing it to download a new driver from the internet. Same thing... I did not have a printer even though it showed up in Devices and Printers. I did a System Restore from way before the crash but it did not help. The printer showed up but I was told I had no printer! Oh boy, now what?
Shortly after I bought the computer I downloaded a copy of the free backup utility EaseUS Todo Backup. I have never tested this program but I had a full system backup about a week old so thought I would give it a try. I had nothing to lose. I opened the program, found the backup location, answered a couple of simple questions and hit "OK". It hummed away for about an hour, rebooted and EVERYTHING WORKS!
I did remember to back up my data so now I just have to wait for Windows to catch up with it's recent updates and I am away to the races. I can't say enough for this backup program! It is easier to use than the Norton Ghost I had on my Windows XP machines and it worked flawlessly! And best of all it is free to home users!
Get with it and backup onto an external hard drive! This could (will) happen to you!
Alamo, NV to Jackpot, NV
5 hours ago
Computers are all about smoke and mirrors. Once we understand this - it all becomes clear ;-)
ReplyDeleteWindows is just weird... My Toshiba Laptop never could find my wireless printer more than once. Every time I needed to use it I had to reinstall it even though it was in the Devices and Printers list. I've finally gotten fed up and resorted to running downstairs and plugging the laptop into the printer every time I need to print something. At least it works every time this way. My son says I should just buy a MAC. he may be right.
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