printer issue

[pace59]

I have a zebra lp2844 printer connected directly to my computer, and a networked laser jet printer also hooked up. Two days ago, everything worked fine. CAme in the next day and now I cannot print to my zebra printer unless I change my system default to that printer. The laserjet will work if I continually say print to that printer. The problem I am having too is only with the Fedex site. I cannot print from there anymore. I can print from notepad or word to the zebra, but not the program that matters the most.

Can anyone help? I cannot keep switching between default printers all day. O/S is xp.

[Suspishio]

We need to be more precise. Is this what happens?

1. The Zebra is not the default printer
2. You use IE on Fedex site
3. You select the Zebra on the Printer menu
4. You hit the print button

Then what happens:

a. Nothing - no message?
b. What happens if you go to the Zebra's properties - is your document in the queue and if so, what does the queue say?
c. Is the Zebra conencted USB or parallel?
d. What happens if you use a different browser?
e. What has changed in your configuration or drivers?

[pace59]

We need to be more precise. Is this what happens?

1. The Zebra is not the default printer
2. You use IE on Fedex site
3. You select the Zebra on the Printer menu
4. You hit the print button

Then what happens:

a. Nothing - no message?
b. What happens if you go to the Zebra's properties - is your document in the queue and if so, what does the queue say?
c. Is the Zebra conencted USB or parallel?
d. What happens if you use a different browser?
e. What has changed in your configuration or drivers?

The zebra is not the pc default.
I use IE on fedex site.
The zebra does not have to be selected from file/print. It is already set up on the fedex site.
I hit the print button right on the fedex website, not on the tool bar at the top of the IE window.
I do not get an error message, the print queue just hangs and says printing.
The zebra is connected by parallel.
I have not tried a different browser.
The everything was working fine when left work on Friday, and then Monday I was no longer able to print directly from the website. It makes a real inconvenience to have to keep switching default printers when I want to print. I can print from the website to a laser jet printer, but just not the zebra. The zebra will work from the fedex site only when specified as the pc default printer.

[cguan_77]

hi, go to printers choose the zebra printer right click on it and choose "printing preferences" and press the "default" to make sure that all settings are the default one... and try again..check if it will help...

[Suspishio]

He's already reported in his first post that it works when it is the default printer.

Anyway, thank you pace59 for the comprehensive reply. What I've inferred from you've told me is that:

1 IE receives a print command from the web site
2 The web site is sending you very specific data (i.e.not printing a general page)
3 The print spooler accepts the request and shows the Zebra as printing
4 The (non-default) Zebra hasn't picked up the print request

All my experience tells me something's changed. Is the Zebra so specialised that you can't print to it from another website with a printable form or something? If you can do this when the Zebra is not default, then the change that has occurred is unlikely to be at your end.

The Fedex site could have changed a control or moved to a different IP version or something like that.

These problems are horrible as it's at a nitpicking detail level.