Network Printer Going OFFLINE

Recently some network printers especially seems to go offline automatically. Of course, this can be rectified just by doing a "troubleshoot" and the OS will just reset the print spooler and your printer will be back online again.

Here are some methods that can help your Network printer to come back online when it automatically goes offline. 

Method 1:

1. Check to make sure the printer is turned on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC. Your printer's built-in menu should show which network it's connected to, or check your printer's manual for more info. 
2. Verify that your printer is not in Use Printer Offline mode. Select Start  > Settings  > Devices > Printers & scanners. Then select your printer > Open queue. Under Printer, make sure Use Printer Offline is not selected.

 
Method 2:

1. Unplug wait for 30 seconds to a minute and restart your printer. '
2. Check cables or wireless connection
3. Uninstall and reinstall your printer
4. Install the latest driver for your printer
5. Run the printing troubleshooter
6. Clear and reset the print spooler by going to the taskbar, select services and restart the print spooler. 

Method 3:

1. Untick your SNMP Status Enabled. 
2. Go to your Printers and Devices under the Control Panel
3. Select the printer that often goes OFFLINE
4. Right Click and select Printer Properties
5. Click on the Printer and select Configure Port
6. Untick the box that says SNMP Status Enabled.  

Installing Printers that aren't detected on older Windows PC thru Network Connection

I came across an old PC. Its still runs on Windows XP Home. And its connection to the internet thru a local area network (LAN). It has a network linked printer. I can detect the printer via command prompt (C:\ping 192.168.1.xxx) by pinging on the network IP printer. But when I tried to install the printer from the Windows XP Control Panel = Add Printer Wizard window, it doesn't detect the printer. Nor will it access the network printer via Run command "\\192.168.1.xxx". 

I can't just go and tell my customer that "oh, its an old PC with out dated Windows XP Home, probably you should just get a new Windows 10 PC".  Customer says, "The PC was working fine just yesterday and only today it doesn't connect or cannot detect". So long as the printer has a driver for Windows XP and above, it should work.

So, this solution that I found is to install the printer not from network search (because its not detecting the printer IP), but from the normal "Local Printer attached to this computer" option.

Make sure you un-tick the option that says "Automatically detect and install my plug and play printer".  

(Download the correct printer driver first before hand). When you click next, go to the printer driver folder and select the printer driver .inf file. 

It will pop up stating the printer's name. Choose according to the printer that is hooked up on the network. 

Have it installed successfully. The printer icon should appear on the printer window. That's not the end. Now we have to make it connect to the IP address that has been assigned to the printer. 

To do this, go to the printer properties (right click on the printer icon). 

Click on the Add Port, Select the Standard TCP/IP Port . Then key in the IP address under the label "Printer name or IP address". Click next and Apply or OK to finalize the settings. 

There you have it! Its all done and now the printer should be able to print again. Always do a Test Print to make sure. 

If it still doesn't work, it has to be either the network is not connected or could be the printer driver is not installed with the correct driver.