HP DeskJet 5550 suddenly gone into Very Slow Printing Mode

[Hikermann]

Windows 7 / HP Deskjet 5550: Printer has been working fine, but for some unknown reason it has decided to change over to Excruciatingly Slow Printing Mode: instead of hearing the carrier busily scurrying back and forth, it now trundles once across, then takes a long rest, then heads back the other direction. Now, I'm getting on up in those "senior years" and so my walk-abouts and hikes are becoming more and more like that too . . . but after running HP Print & Scan Doctor and trying every reset procedure I know of, the 5550 is not up to speed here; replaced the USB cable, but that made no difference; have gone through the "HP Printers - Slow Printing (Windows)" page of instructions, but nothing there made any difference.

Any suggestions toward a solution?

Many thanks. Appreciated.

 

[Alec_t]

Welcome to EP!
Are you trying to print larger files than before the problem arose?

 

[kellys_eye]

Run system monitor (alt-ctrl-del and choose it from the listed options).

Check to see which processes are running and see if there is anything 'hogging' the CPU. It should be easy enough to spot the process that controls the printing too.

Report back with your findings.

 

[Hikermann]

Crazy: After trying all of the this-n-thats recommended on several forums, I simply changed the black ink cartridge and . . . YUP! Problem Solved. Hadn't considered that one!

Anyhow, many thanks for comments, suggestions and discussions. Very much appreciated. Now go and have yourselves a particularly refreshing end of the year holiday season!

Blessings.