Can't print some Excel files

Question

Kurtismonger 0 Junior Poster in Training

16 Years Ago

This is the strangest thing I have seen. Computer running Vista 32, Office 07. User reported strange printing. Some PDF's would print, others not, some Excel files would print, others not. Same for Powerpoint files. This computer prints wirelessly to a Ricoh network printer on a domain. Throws an error "Your file could not be printed due to an error on \\{path}. There are several possible reasons:
- There may not be enough memory
- If you use a network for printing, there may be a problem with the network connection or printer driver
- There may be loose cables.

This is an HP laptop with 4GB of Ram. Some large files would print, while other simple, small files would not. Tried Ethernet with the same result. Tried deleting and reinstalling the printer. Also downloaded the the latest driver and installed. Now the only thing that wont print is some Excel files, indicating it was the driver. However no one else in the office has this problem. If I copy the contents of the spreadsheet to a new sheet and print the new sheet, it prints fine.
What's even stranger is that it throws the error even if I only do a print preview or try to change the layout from landscape to portrait. This suggests to me it's some kind of Office issue?

office-suite pc-peripheral:printer wifi

6 Contributors
9 Replies
8K Views
9 Months Discussion Span
Latest Post 15 Years Ago Latest Post by greggh

Dani AI

Generated 1 Year Ago

When Excel errors even in Print Preview, it is rendering through the printer driver. Because the same workbook prints on other PCs and copying its cells to a new sheet works, you are likely hitting a mix of worksheet PageSetup corruption and a queue/driver quirk on this laptop.

Quick isolation: temporarily set the default printer to Microsoft XPS Document Writer, reopen the problem workbook, and try Print Preview. If it now previews, focus on the Ricoh queue settings on this PC: in Printer Properties > Advanced, uncheck Enable advanced printing features and set Spool print documents to Start printing after last page is spooled. In Ports > Configure Port (for Standard TCP/IP), uncheck SNMP Status Enabled; also uncheck Enable bidirectional support. Restart the Print Spooler service or reboot. These changes force cleaner RAW spooling and avoid status polling that can trip up certain drivers.

If it still fails with XPS, reset the workbook’s stored print settings (common with files passed between users). Run this once in the affected file:

Sub ResetPageSetupAllSheets()
    Dim sh As Worksheet
    For Each sh In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
        sh.ResetAllPageBreaks
        With sh.PageSetup
            .PrintArea = ""
            .Zoom = 100
            .FitToPagesWide = 1: .FitToPagesTall = 1
        End With
    Next sh
End Sub

Also try Excel safe mode (excel.exe /safe) to rule out COM add-ins that hook printing.

All 9 Replies

mjdodd 27 Posting Pro

16 Years Ago

It may be that I am teaching egg sucking, but if the only program causing the problem now is excel... have you by chance set the print area in excel to be outside the printable area or vice versa? Sorry if this is too obvious but I often forget it!
M

mjdodd 27 Posting Pro

16 Years Ago

sounds like a different thread but and a big but is that a very long time ago I learnt the hard way that backup is important. A simple maxim to remember is 'how much work am I prepared to redo since the last backup / saving'. battery backups can help re power failure but a regular and repeated practice to save and back up will save a lot of heart ache!
M

Reply to this topic

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.

db8693 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 1 · 2010-03-09T23:30:13+00:00

This is the strangest thing I have seen. Computer running Vista 32, Office 07. User reported strange printing. Some PDF's would print, others not, some Excel files would print, others not. Same for Powerpoint files. This computer prints wirelessly to a Ricoh network printer on a domain. Throws an error "Your file could not be printed due to an error on \\{path}. There are several possible reasons:
- There may not be enough memory
- If you use a network for printing, there may be a problem with the network connection or printer driver
- There may be loose cables.
This is an HP laptop with 4GB of Ram. Some large files would print, while other simple, small files would not. Tried Ethernet with the same result. Tried deleting and reinstalling the printer. Also downloaded the the latest driver and installed. Now the only thing that wont print is some Excel files, indicating it was the driver. However no one else in the office has this problem. If I copy the contents of the spreadsheet to a new sheet and print the new sheet, it prints fine.
What's even stranger is that it throws the error even if I only do a print preview or try to change the layout from landscape to portrait. This suggests to me it's some kind of Office issue?

The problem is not with MSOffice, the default Ricoh driver does not render spreadsheets or pdf files correctly - go to the Ricoh site and download the PS or PCL driver for your model printer - this will correct your problem.

carolsmith62 -2 Newbie Poster · Answer 2 · 2010-03-12T17:03:11+00:00

Excel worksheets can get corrupt or damaged at any point of time. Just imagine working on important financial figures and power goes off. And when power comes back, you cannot access your worksheet or the excel file fails to open. Now what to do?

Kurtismonger 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 3 · 2010-03-14T00:51:12+00:00

The problem is not with MSOffice, the default Ricoh driver does not render spreadsheets or pdf files correctly - go to the Ricoh site and download the PS or PCL driver for your model printer - this will correct your problem.

We are not using the default Ricoh driver. We are using the RPCS driver which is what all the computers on the network use, and which has worked without a problem for 6 months.

Kurtismonger 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 4 · 2010-03-14T00:52:21+00:00

Excel worksheets can get corrupt or damaged at any point of time. Just imagine working on important financial figures and power goes off. And when power comes back, you cannot access your worksheet or the excel file fails to open. Now what to do?

This spreadsheet does not appear to be damaged. It prints fine from other computers.

Kurtismonger 0 Junior Poster in Training · Answer 5 · 2010-03-14T00:53:33+00:00

sounds like a different thread but and a big but is that a very long time ago I learnt the hard way that backup is important. A simple maxim to remember is 'how much work am I prepared to redo since the last backup / saving'. battery backups can help re power failure but a regular and repeated practice to save and back up will save a lot of heart ache!
M

Not worried about backups. This spreadsheet was sent by someone else. They've resent it and I've tried printing it on other computers.

sefadin_muqaj 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 6 · 2010-11-30T21:49:01+00:00

Before printing excel files follow this procedure: Go to menu command File then Print then open Printer Properties. Choose Layout Option, there select the "Fit to Page" options and this will do the trick.

I had the same problem and it was making me very nervous then i tried this and it work.

All the best from Kosovo!

greggh 0 Newbie Poster · Answer 7 · 2010-12-03T06:23:57+00:00

kind of old topic already but this issue just happened to me in Excel 2003. What was missing (blank) was the FILE - PAGE SETUP - PAGE TAB, PRINT QUALITY.

Can't print some Excel files

Dani AI

Recommended Answers Collapse Answers

All 9 Replies

Recommended Answers