Printer won't print but will scan and copy

tuisginideach

As always, I begin by saying I only know how to use a working computer - any problem flummoxes me.

Epson WF-2650 printer here - wifi to home PC. All well til 2 days ago - it won't print. It'll still scan and copy.

When I try to print a Word Doc, my printer no longer appears on the list of printers/printers properties and when I try to add it, I get the error message ' The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable'.
The 'My Epson Portal Settings' is blank - I can't add my printer.

Any suuggestions or is it the end? Thank you

FanadMan

tuisginideach wrote: »

As always, I begin by saying I only know how to use a working computer - any problem flummoxes me.

Epson WF-2650 printer here - wifi to home PC. All well til 2 days ago - it won't print. It'll still scan and copy.

When I try to print a Word Doc, my printer no longer appears on the list of printers/printers properties and when I try to add it, I get the error message ' The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable'.
The 'My Epson Portal Settings' is blank - I can't add my printer.

Any suuggestions or is it the end? Thank you

You could try this https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-networking/clicking-find-printer-shows-error-the-active/52bfd961-ff62-4397-b8cf-a0708f0cb3d2

munchkin_utd

i presume youve done the obvious restart of computer and printer.
Failing that, if connecting by wifi, restart the router

tuisginideach

Thanks to both of you - yes, disconnected the printer and turned off pC etc but no luck. I might leave both off longer (does that make any difference in clearing memory?) over weekend... that link doesn't work for me Fanadman?

FanadMan

tuisginideach wrote: »

Thanks to both of you - yes, disconnected the printer and turned off pC etc but no luck. I might leave both off longer (does that make any difference in clearing memory?) over weekend... that link doesn't work for me Fanadman?

Strange link doesn't work. I got it from a simple Google search for "The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable"
https://www.google.ie/search?q=The+Active+Directory+Domain+Services+is+currently+unavailable&oq=The+Active+Directory+Domain+Services+is+currently+unavailable&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64l3&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Was the first Microsoft result

tuisginideach

Fanadman - you have led me to this - maybe this is the answer - though it only disappeared two days ago ... I'll have a good read over the next few days. Many thanks.

tuisginideach

Couldn't get any of the online solutions to work for me - contacted Microsoft Technical Support today - a very nice lady in th Philippines solved the problem 'remotely' for me!

FanadMan

tuisginideach wrote: »

Couldn't get any of the online solutions to work for me - contacted Microsoft Technical Support today - a very nice lady in th Philippines solved the problem 'remotely' for me!

What was the fault in the end?

tuisginideach

I don't know - never thought of asking that question - just happy to get it sorted. Definitely the wireless 'connection' was lost in some way between the PC and the printer; although the printer was listed, it wasn't connecting for some reason. But the wifi was working everywhere else so it wasn't a problem with that. It seems from your earlier posts that lots of people were having similar problems since upgrading/being upgraded to Windows 10.

Johnboy1951

tuisginideach wrote: »

Couldn't get any of the online solutions to work for me - contacted Microsoft Technical Support today - a very nice lady in th Philippines solved the problem 'remotely' for me!

What did she do to solve the problem?

tuisginideach

Took over my PC remotely - went into the Printer options as I had done but after that, i don't know what exactly she did.

karasu

tuisginideach wrote: »

Took over my PC remotely - went into the Printer options as I had done but after that, i don't know what exactly she did.

I suspect your printer might have disconnected and was given different network address.

Check printer network settings by displaying status message on the printer. Note printer's IP.

Go to your printer properties and in "Ports" tab, check what type of port is set up. It will be either WSD or TCP/IP. If TCP/IP is selected, check if it's using the same ip address. If not, create new port using IP displayed on the printer.

Now, to prevent the same error in the future, you need to force printer to use same address everytime it reconnects.

Type in ip address in Firefox's address bar. If you get security error, you will have option to continue in dropdown menu.

In Network Setup -> IP Address settings (exact wording may vary) entet following:
DHCP - off or static
IP: address you got earlier
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: your router's IP address (to locate, press Win+R, type cmd followed by enter in run window, then type ipconfig /all followed by enter.

Or windows update broke it

smuggler.ie

Setting printer on static IP is good, but then router has to have DHCP exclusion for that IP, as it will be given to other device if printer not online at that time.This was most likely the issue.
two options to go for:
1. set printer for static IP and exclusion on router for same IP
2. modify DHCP range on router to give away less IP's(say from .10 to .50) and set printer on static IP outside that range. Hardly can see household using more than 50 IP's, if you do , you most likely advanced user and able to manage networking issues or you should become one.

tuisginideach

Thanks - she sorted it for me. It's an error that is caused by Windows 10 according to lots of other online posts.

smuggler.ie

Happy days

tuisginideach

This came in a follow-up email :

Thank you for choosing Microsoft Support. It was my pleasure to work with you on your Printer that's connected via Wireless to your PC with the service request number ......


I’m glad that we were able to resolve your concern on your first contact with us. Our goal is to ensure that your experience with Microsoft Answer Desk leaves you delighted with our products and services.

Here is a summary of the key points for your records:

Action: To connect the Printer to the PC again

Result: Successfully resolved

Cause: Getting an error message "THE ACTIVE DIRECTORY SERVICES IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE"

Resolution: Configuring the updates of the Printer