Canon Pixma 170 and bad printing

I bought a Canon Pixma MP170 machine about 9 months ago and, a few weeks
later, it seemed to me that the black printing was rather heavy. I used the
menu to decrease the intensity two steps and then it printed a weak washed
out brown color that is slightly red. I increased the intensity again but it
did not change the color of the printing, even if it was at the maximum
intensity. It still prints the same washed out red-brown color. Less than 50
pages have been printed so far. Today I did the nozzle check and everything
looks perfect - the black is really jet black and there is no smudging at
all.

When printing a greyscale image, I had settings: Plain Paper, Print
Quality - Standard, Greyscale Printing checked, borderless printing and I
even used the Print Advisor - with Fast-print all-black text. It always
prints the same color.

I found on the Maintenance Tab that I could specify the cartridge to be
used. I selected the Black only and when I tried to print, there was a
message which said that the Color cartridge would be used and my setting
would be disabled. Plain Paper was selected for the media type. It seems
impossible to tell whether the Preview image is greyscale or not, even
though I have a very good Sony LCD monitor. Can anyone think of a reason
this problem?

I checked today and the driver for this machine is still at V1.0.

Another question, if I may. Is there any way to change the default location
for saving the scans? I like them in an easy-to-get-at folder, like
C:\scans, instead of buried a mile down in Docs and Settings.

TIA

RF

Thanks Michael for the suggestion but it won't work. I bought the computer
in Europe. I may have to contact the supplier for help.

RF

"Michael Grey" wrote in message
. ..
Email or call Canon.You still have three months of toll free support.

"Red Fox" wrote in message
...
I bought a Canon Pixma MP170 machine about 9 months ago and, a few weeks
later, it seemed to me that the black printing was rather heavy. I used
the
menu to decrease the intensity two steps and then it printed a weak
washed
out brown color that is slightly red. I increased the intensity again
but
it
did not change the color of the printing, even if it was at the maximum
intensity. It still prints the same washed out red-brown color. Less
than
50
pages have been printed so far. Today I did the nozzle check and
everything
looks perfect - the black is really jet black and there is no smudging
at
all.

When printing a greyscale image, I had settings: Plain Paper, Print
Quality - Standard, Greyscale Printing checked, borderless printing and
I
even used the Print Advisor - with Fast-print all-black text. It always
prints the same color.

I found on the Maintenance Tab that I could specify the cartridge to be
used. I selected the Black only and when I tried to print, there was a
message which said that the Color cartridge would be used and my setting
would be disabled. Plain Paper was selected for the media type. It seems
impossible to tell whether the Preview image is greyscale or not, even
though I have a very good Sony LCD monitor. Can anyone think of a
reason
this problem?

I checked today and the driver for this machine is still at V1.0.

Another question, if I may. Is there any way to change the default
location
for saving the scans? I like them in an easy-to-get-at folder, like
C:\scans, instead of buried a mile down in Docs and Settings.

TIA

RF

Email or call Canon.You still have three months of toll free support.

"Red Fox" wrote in message
...
I bought a Canon Pixma MP170 machine about 9 months ago and, a few weeks
later, it seemed to me that the black printing was rather heavy. I used
the
menu to decrease the intensity two steps and then it printed a weak washed
out brown color that is slightly red. I increased the intensity again but
it
did not change the color of the printing, even if it was at the maximum
intensity. It still prints the same washed out red-brown color. Less than
50
pages have been printed so far. Today I did the nozzle check and
everything
looks perfect - the black is really jet black and there is no smudging at
all.

When printing a greyscale image, I had settings: Plain Paper, Print
Quality - Standard, Greyscale Printing checked, borderless printing and I
even used the Print Advisor - with Fast-print all-black text. It always
prints the same color.

I found on the Maintenance Tab that I could specify the cartridge to be
used. I selected the Black only and when I tried to print, there was a
message which said that the Color cartridge would be used and my setting
would be disabled. Plain Paper was selected for the media type. It seems
impossible to tell whether the Preview image is greyscale or not, even
though I have a very good Sony LCD monitor. Can anyone think of a reason
this problem?

I checked today and the driver for this machine is still at V1.0.

Another question, if I may. Is there any way to change the default
location
for saving the scans? I like them in an easy-to-get-at folder, like
C:\scans, instead of buried a mile down in Docs and Settings.

TIA

RF