Cannot access print options. Use the Control Panel

December 7, 200421 yr

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right area to post this question but I wanted to find out why I received this message: "Cannot access print options. Use the Control Panel to set up an active printer."

History:

I was performing custom work for one of our clients and wanted to switch printers using File > Print Setup to adjust the layout to print properly with either a laser or inkjet. When I clicked on File > Print Setup, I then received the above message. I closed FileMaker and rebooted my pc. This task did not resolve the issue. I then created a test dbase to see if maybe something in the client files was corrupt. I received the same message.

I could change the printer by using File > Print and change the printer in the print dialog window. I noticed every time I did this that Winfax was appearing as the default printer in the print dialog window. I disabled Winfax but that didn't help. In the end I uninstalled FileMaker 6 Developer and reinstalled. This resolved the issue but am still curious as to why this happened in the first place. Any thoughts?

Thank you

December 7, 200421 yr

Set up another default printer.

December 7, 200421 yr

You have either a corrupt printer driver or a corrupt print spooler.

FileMaker uses the printer driver to display the screen, which causes a lot of printer problems show up in FileMaker more than in other programs.

If the default printer is a network printer, the print server may be distributing the corrupt printer driver (happens more than you think).

If it is a local printer, simply uninstalling and reinstalling the printer will not fix the problem - Windows will just use the corrupt driver. You will need to uninstall the printer and manually remove the driver(s) related to that printer - then reinstall it using good, known drivers.

To check for a corrupt print spooler, change the print option to print directly to the printer - if that fixes the problem, you have a corrupt spooler.