HP 4500/4550 Printers have a lot of little basic bugs, but if you know how to deal with some of the more habitual problems you will make the printer your friendly companion to your tasks and projects.
Problem: HP 4500/4550 Printer Printing Fade Print Pages
Possible Causes and Solutions:
Light print on right half of page - one color or all colors. We have found a few cases of a dirty scanner motor mirror causing this problem. Remove the top cover, then the shield plate over the scanner then the scanner cover. Look at the scanner mirror and see if there is a build up of toner on the right side. Clean the scanner mirror and reassemble the printer!
If it is a printer communication problem then Turn off the printer, unplug it from the electrical outlet, plug it back in, and then turn it on again. Turn off the computer for about five minutes, then restart it. Reload your printer drivers. Close all programs except the program from which you're attempting to print. Close the program you're trying to print from and then attempt to print from another application. Try to print a test page from the printer itself. This ensures that the problem is definitely software-related and not a printer hardware problem.
If you've connected the printer through a scanner or other peripheral, reconnect the printer directly to your PC. Replace the printer cable with a cable you're sure is functional. If all else fails, try the printer with a different PC to make sure it works. If that doesn't help, try a different printer with your PC to ensure that your computer isn't the problem.
