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SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! If you do not currently receive LSM you can easily do so totally free of charge by clicking the 'subscribe' button and entering your email details on the following page.	We're Back ! Ed – Jonathan Burnside We're sorry we’ve been away for so long! There have been many changes happening at this end, I won’t bore you with the details but basically we have made transition to a more reliable technology as well as modernising the lottbridge.com website. To say we have been busy is an understatement, but now we're back to bring you even more, interesting articles! Printer problems can drive you mad! We’ve all been there, after finishing a new document we send it to the printer and then suddenly we get an error on the screen, in some cases we may not get an error… either way we didn’t get our document! In this issue we look at printer problems and what you can do to put them right. Our second article on the issue asks the question: Why do you need a website? You may be surprised but many companies that have websites have no real reason for having one, neither they nor their customers benefit from it. NOTE: Due to a technical problem in the previous issue the 'Subscribe' and 'Unsubscribe' facilities were not working, you may wish to use them in this issue.


Troubleshooting Printer Problems by Barry Shultz Printers are great when they work but when something goes wrong all of a sudden they are "crappy printers", "piece of junk" and so forth. Actually the technology is pretty impressive and if you ask me I think it's nothing short of magic. All that said lets explore some of the more common problems that cause the 45% of the help centres phone calls. If nothing has occurred since the last time you used your printer chances are the problem is straightforward. As obvious as it sounds check to make sure the printer is turned on. Somebody may have turned it off while you were away from your desk or computer. Make sure there is power to the printer. All printers have some kind of light or LED to let you know that it is powered up. If it is turned on but has some flashing lights then check with your owners manual to see what the lights mean. Most of these indicators will be related to either: paper, toner or ink. Make sure there is paper in the printer. If it's empty then refill the paper tray. Make sure to "fan" the paper stack before you put it in the printer. Fanning the paper merely involves flipping through the paper stack with your thumb. This ruffling separates the paper thereby reducing paper jams. When the paper stack is cut at the factory sometimes it causes the pages to stick together. If the paper is full then check for a mis-feed or paper jam. Remove the paper stack and check the feed area for jammed paper. You may have to open several panels to make a thorough inspection. Even a small piece of paper stuck inside the printer can cause problems. You might have to use tweezers to remove small pieces. Be careful not to damage any mechanical parts with the tweezers. If all seems well with the printer it's time to check the wire that connects the printer to the computer. You may be using a parallel or a USB connection. Make sure the cable is connected properly. Turn the equipment off and remove and re-insert the connection on both the printer and the computer to ensure a solid connection. If you are at work and your printer is connected to what appears to be a telephone wire then it's time to call your resident network expert. If the printer works but only prints garbage then that is a good indication of a printer driver problem. The printer driver is a software program that translates the computer instructions into something that the printer can recognize. Try re-booting the computer and turning the printer off and on before messing with the driver. Sometimes that's all it takes. If after doing that you still have the problem it's time to replace the printer driver. Your printer’s manufacturer has a web site where you can download another printer driver. They are free to download and usually are updated as well. Follow the instructions given by the manufacturer to replace your driver. If you have a scanner it may be interfering with your printer. Try reinstalling the software for both BUT install the printer driver first, then the scanner driver. EDITIOR:- If you are using Windows XP it may be that the 'print spooler' encountered a problem. If this has happened you will need to restart it. In-order to print the 'print spooler'. You can check by clicking on: 'Start'>'Control Panel'> NOTE: If you can't see 'Control Panel' then you will need to speak to your Network Administrator. If your control panel is in the 'Category View': 'Performance and Maintenance'>'Administrative Tools'>'Services' If your control panel is in the 'Classic View': 'Administrative Tools'>'Services' Once in here you can scroll down until you find the 'Print Spooler' if it has 'Started' in the status then it is working correctly, if it doesn't then you need to right-click on it and select 'Start'. Now retry printing. If nothing I've said results in a solution then it may be time to call the printer manufacturer. Make sure that you are near the printer when you call and have all your warranty information available. Barry Shultz is the author of Atlascopy News, and President of Atlascopy, Inc. Atlascopy specialized in affordable alternatives to the high cost of printer supplies. Sign up for the Atlascopy Newsletter and get 10% coupons every week in your email. http://atlascopy.com/signup_new.htm Go to Atlascopy to save a bundle on your printer and refilling supplies. http://atlascopy.com

Why do you want a website? by Andy Staveley (c)2004 What on earth do you want a web site for? Before you leap in at the deep end give this some consideration. Look carefully at the product you have. Is it likely to sell over the internet? We all know that CD's, books and software are prolific on the web and tend to do well but if you are selling brass candlesticks is this likely to be the next internet hot potato in terms of sales? Possibly not, however, the internet is full of surprises so we could be wrong. You need to consider the logistics of delivery across the UK and possible enquiries from abroad. How would you have sent those candlesticks to Ma Baker in Michigan? Is Ma Baker going to pay you in Ecu's ? No, she won't want to do that. She will want to pay online with her credit card. Having said that, whilst the candlesticks may not be the best selling product on the internet they may be the best way of encouraging people to visit your shop having seen the beauty of their design and the keen prices that you offer. So, if your web site is for selling a product then you need a lot of careful planning and consideration before you get started. Now, it may be that you fall into the category of the wannabee's who just have to have that web site because Joe Bloggs across the road has one and you are miffed because you don’t. You feel out of touch and missing out on things and besides you want to dip your toes in the water and register your company domain name before someone else grabs it. That’s fine but don't spend a fortune doing it. Start off with something very basic and read the rest of this article to find out more about how it all works. Perhaps your company would like to save money over the internet? Does this sound daft? Well, a web site designed the right way and for the right purpose can cut company costs considerably. For example, if you send out a thousand leaflets by post this would cost you around £250. By comparison if you sent them by email and depending on the means by which you send them you are talking pence not pounds. The saving is enhanced every time someone rings your company and is directed to your web site to view your products rather than waiting days for the post to arrive and the chance of losing an order. The internet is not just about web sites either. Email is the fastest and most efficient means of forwarding information possible. If you are sceptical about web sites please do yourself a favour and purchase a computer even if only for email purposes. In this day and age you will get left out without it. Your customers will not be impressed either. Personally, the very thought of walking over to a fax machine, inserting a piece of paper, dialling the number and waiting until connection and the slow trundling of paper begins just makes us come out in goose bumps. How old fashioned. We can send 20 emails to 20 different companies in the time it takes you to walk to the fax machine and dial the number. Now how important is your time? You should also consider the cost difference between the sending a fax vs. email. Consider the graphics designer in Solihull who was driving to Halesowen twice a week to deliver his precious documents for printing. Although a graphics designer he was just coming round to the wonders of IT and the internet. Costs for petrol and time per annum spent travelling were estimated at £2,200. Enter one low spec computer at a cost of £300 and an internet connection with a local ISP. No more travelling to Halesowen. The graphics were forwarded by email. Problem solved. The golden rule in setting up your website is to establish what you want it to do for you. Time spent now in formulating a plan is money saved later.

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Vol 2, Issue 4: Thursday,5th April 2005