Friday, January 23, 2015

Cats, Computers, and Crazy Connections

You might think I am just mentioning cats to create an article with greater appeal and that could be partially true, but there is a tiny common thread.  For my work in technology I just moved a computer printer from one location to another, but much like my experience in moving two cats to another location the transition did not goes as well as I had expected. The cats went into hiding, the printer attached to the different computer did not want to install properly. Eventually over time the cats have become more sociable adapting to their new surroundings, I doubt the printer would have started working on its’ own no matter how long it was connected to the new computer.






Experience tends to teach one that things are way more complicated than it may appear on the surface and what should work easily sometimes doesn’t. The beginning of next week will be 20 years of computer work at my present job and I had several years of experience before that at a different employer. Much you can learn by reading but some expertise is acquired by trial and failure. Just because something absolutely should work doing it one way but does not, trying slight changes might lead to success.


Computer Became Bored With Install and Failed


Back to installing the printer driver for the printer at the new location; I had the CD in the computer and left the USB cable unplugged until prompted to plug it in, and watched the messages go across the screen. After clicking on a couple of prompts the whole process should have been automatic and complete in a couple of minutes. A message on the screen warned this could take several minutes and considering this wasn’t the newest computer I didn’t get too excited about the slow progress. Finally as the bar completed its’ slow progress across the screen an error screen quickly popped up telling me that the install had failed because the process took too long. Now how could that be?  What else did the computer have to do that it would get bored with the tedious process of installing a printer driver.

As the rest of the message suggested I tried the whole process again, and again received the same error. By now what should have taken a couple of minutes had wasted close to an hour. I took a new approach and downloaded the printer driver from the Internet with the installer and one without. Using the installer appeared to start the same install program as before. I stopped this which started an uninstall process which took more time.

Trying the Add Printer Option for Install



After another reboot I installed the driver without the install using the Add Printer option from the Control Panel. This went quick but there was no option for the USB connection. Not sure if getting the driver to at least appear as installed helped, but I started the driver with the install that had been downloaded and the process went pretty fast and was successful.


This Time I Made Sure ALL Drive Components Installed


At this point I feel like I should have a moral to the story but I really don’t.  Other than my somewhat pessimistic view of expect the unexpected. Before moving the two cats my mother had I moved the older cat and she accepted the move fine until she had to be put to sleep. Most of the time installing a printer is a really quick task that anyone can do.


Bill Kuhl



3 comments:

  1. Your experience sounds a bit like mine installing a Canon PIXMA MG2920 printer. All was going well until it came time to check / align the print heads. It told me to make a print of a certain kind (which I did) then to put the print onto the platen and make a scan of the print-out. The problem was that there had been no instructions to that point on how to use the scanner!
    This was on a Sunday of course, but I phoned the Canon assistance line on Monday. The fellow whom I got on the line was wonderfully knowledgeable and he stepped me through several steps that I can't recall and would not be able to duplicate, but he left an icon at the bottom of the screen for making a scan, so the printer does what it is supposed to. Now.....the printer is supposed to operate with either a cable or a router (wireless), and I successfully connected it with a cable. Should I venture to try wireless using the same install disc that gave me trouble before??? I could tell from the incorrect grammar that the "translation" had been performed incorrectly, for I used to work in a Tokyo head office and saw first-hand the faults committed in the translation process.

    Ian M

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  2. Emilie this was the mean cat that at one time would hiss at me. Time and patience have improved her attitude towards me. Of course being that I am the one feeding her probably helps also.

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