USB Mac, print on PC Xerox issue

Problem: Can't print to Xerox printer/copier at work. Trying to troubleshoot and welcome any suggestions.

I have USB sticks which I format for MS DOS (FAT) on my Macbook Pro at home. I add a wide variety of files such as .doc, .pdf. xls. Some of these files are made by me on my Mac, some made on a PC and some are from other sources, especially pdfs.

These files print fine to my laser HP printer at home. They print fine from other older PCs at work to the various laser HP printers there. These older PCs are not connected to the Xerox or I would just use those. The files just won't print to the Xerox copier from the dedicated PC which is to be used to print to the Xerox copier for high volume print jobs. This dedicated PC is new and has the most recent Wndows, etc. Other people at work don't have the same issue, but I'm not sure if any of them have Macs at home. Our tech guy isn't very techie and says it's usually a problem with paper size, but I don't think this is the case as 8 1/2 x 11 should be the same everywhere. (we don't use A4, but the files aren't A4 either) I don't think they will call in service just for my problem, as I can go to another office, use the older machines and print to the other HP printers, then walk to the copier and make volume copies. The dedicated PC, however, is near my desk, so it would be much handier to be able to print from there. The dedicated PC only prints to the Xerox as default and no other printers are available to it.

My Xerox print jobs just don't get to the Xerox machine, I get no error messages on the PC and the Xerox doesn't show my unprinted or pending in it's que from the dedicated PC.

Sorry this is so long. I've tried to add all the possible relevant info.

Looking for any ideas or suggestions, other than "quit your job". Thanks a lot.

Diane

It really shouldn't matter if the files you're trying to print were made on a Mac or PC. What program on the dedicated PC are you trying to print from? I'm assuming here that you're transferring the files from USB flash drives to the dedicated PC and from there sending them to the printer?

Keep in mind that when you transfer files from your Mac on to a USB flash drive that has been formatted to FAT, you are also transferring the Mac hidden files that are normally tagged on and can't be seen on your Mac unless you unhide them. In the past, I have found that these hidden files can cause problems with PC (Windows programs). I usually remove them with special software that I have before doing any transferring.

I don't know if that's what might causing the "no print" but it's something to think about.

Thanks for the reply. I don't transfer the files from the USB to the PC, just open them. So if it's a Word file I click on it and it opens on the PC in Word. Then I give it the print command. Same with pdf, and other files.

Perhaps on Monday I will try a test and copy to the PC, then open and print.

Or maybe try opening the file on the PC and re-saving it (after a small change) on the USB and the PC using the PC, then trying to print.

I am not exactly aware of the 'hidden' files, although sometimes I see a lot of greyed out files with the same name as the active files when I view the USB on a PC. Come to think of it, I may not have seen the greyed out files on the dedicated PC. I'll check this on Monday too.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know if I solve this.

Yeah! Success. My not very techie guy deleted then reinstalled the Xerox printer then rebooted everything and now I can print from the dedicated PC to the Xerox copier from all my USB sticks in all programs.

So it had nothing to do with Mac or USB at all!

Thanks for your help nevertheless.

Diane