Printer problem

[stan319]

I have a dell computer and a brother printer. Whenever I wanted to print something a window would open that said "print". I clicked on it and it printed.
Today, it said "save" and I don't think I did anything.
These damned computers are driving me crazy ( okay, it's only a short walk ).
I tried the re-booting thing and got nowhere, then, I did a system restore and still nothing.
Any ideas?

[Geek-9pm]

Does anybody else use this computer?
When the Brother Printer was connected to the computer the first time a installation of the needed software should have been done automatically.
The Brother printer ought to be set to be  the default printer. If tha has not been done, Windows will send the print to a file that can be read later, if need be.
The thing might be called "Microsoft XPS document" or something like that.
You may need oared this:
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000251.htm

When trying to print a document, you might receive an error message that your printer is not set as the default printer. Or, you may find that Windows is attempting to print to another device. To configure Windows to use your printer as the default printing device, follow the steps below.

Click on the link above for the full article.

[stan319]

Nobody else uses the computer.
The Brother printer is not new and it has worked great up until today.
The print window has a little icon that says "print". It now says "save" and it goes to a PDF. I just want it to print again.
I don't think I did anything.
The printer scans' copy's and prints. If that helps.

[stan319]

Update.
I did the "default" thing and it didn't help.

[patio]

You realise usin your email addy as a user name on a Public Forum you are gonna own allota *censored* and fake Rolex watches...correct ?

[stan319]

I didn't notice and I don't know where it came from, but it's not my email address.

[Mark.]

have you tried starting from scratch.
go to Control Panel, Programs and Features and remove the Brother printer.go to the Brother website and download the latest software for your make/model.install that and see what happens.

[BC_Programmer]

The print window has a little icon that says "print". It now says "save" and it goes to a PDF. I just want it to print again.

You mention later you "did the default thing", but from what you've described it really does sound like Geek-9pm was on the right track, as it seems like you or somebody else (or another program you installed) also installed a "fake" Printer which will output to PDF.

If you start Notepad and choose File->Print, you should get a dialog like this one:



It shows all the "printers" you have installed and available. As you can see, I have a green checkmark on my HP LaserJet 200. If I press Print, it will go through and print it.

Can you verify that your Brother printer is appearing in the same way?

[stan319]

I have a green check mark on my brother printer.
There is no other devices.
I know the problem is somewhere between the computer and printer. The printer is not getting the command to print.
I just want to change it back to a printer.
I have not added any programs that I know of.
I'm 67 and know enough about computers to be dangerous.
I'm going to try deleting everything and start from scratch.
The printer is about a year old and has worked fine up to now.
I may have done something to cause this. If I did, I just want to undo it, but I don't have any idea how.

[stan319]

One other thing.
Everything else on the computer seems to work fine. I don't know if this matters, but I thought I'd report it.
It's this kinda thing that drives me nuts.
If I did something wrong, okay, what do I do to reverse it?

[Geek-9pm]

With the kind of problem you describe, the easy way is to ...
- install the printer again.

Trying to understand what happened is the long path. You would have to trace the events logs to see if there is clue. That sort of thing is best left to the people who develop software.

Please install the printer again.

For what its worth, issues with Brother printer installations are not easy to reserve. If you get an error message while doing installation again,please report it here. Others here might know what it means. 

[patio]

And if it's a USB connected printer here's the procedure:
Remove printer software in Add / Remove...
Uninstall printer in Device Manager.
Unplug printer.
Re-install printer software which includes drivers.
The app will tell you when to re-connect printer.
When done re-boot and yer good to go...

[stan319]

I re-installed it and everything is back to normal.
Thank you, one and all.

[patio]

Great news...we love success stories...