Win98SE and Canon i550 printer working OK. I print a lot of multi-page articles from different sites and I want to always print in "draft" and "reverse order" mode unless I tell it otherwise (which would be rarely). I know how to do this on an individual basis (Properties, etc.), but it takes a dozen+/- mouse-clicks and quickly reverts back to what I guess are the default settings. I'm willing to use power tools if necessary. Thanks for listening.

Good question twinsdad. Darn Lexmark o' mine does the same irritating thing! I'm clickin' to have responses to this thread emailed to me so I don't miss the answer I do not have. (track this topic)

Those are great questions, twinsdad.

The first one is easy. They do not want you to. It can be done, with a registry edit, that a new default will be set, so that you do not have to change it to draft everytime. After the first few times, I would still check to make sure that the setting is still the way you want it. I can help you out with that, is you can help me out with a few of these:

Is the exact make/model number Canon i550?

What version of Windows are you running?

Do you know how to post a screenshot?


The next one is a little tricky. I would have to find the exact entry in your registry that will enable that feature. I am sure that it can be done though.


Edited: Thanks for mentioning Win98SE. The other answers will be helpful too.

Jason: Thanks for looking at this. (1) The printer is described in the Canon literature as their model i550, no other make/model description provided. I do have the serial number if you need it. (2) I haven't a clue as to how to post a screenshot.
But before asking you to do more, if your guess is that we can only "fix" one of my two needs: (a) print always in draft and ( always in reverse order, I'll still need to do the mouse clicks for the other and it's not that much more mousing to do both. This isn't life or death and I don't want to abuse your time/trouble if there isn't a ready fix for both. I'll leave it up to you if you want to proceed further. Regards, Bill.

Correction: Don't know how that Smilie got in the middle of my last message, should have read: (b)always in reverse order.

That happens to me every time I use a standard outline technique, too. The "bee" in combination with the "parathesis" and particular spacing is code (maybe that period or semi-colon, too). I guess. ( Sometimes ya' learn when ya' least suspect it. (b

No problem on the model number. I just wanted to make sure that it was not like i505-RG or something like that.

OK, I have your printer model number, and your OS. It is ok that you do not know how to post a screen shot. I will walk you through that part as well.

What we are going to do is make a registry edit. If at any step, you are not sure, or I post something different then what you see on your screen, then let me know. The differences between 98SE (that you have) and XP Home (that I use) are little. Also, the fix for both of them will be right there together. Lastly, you want to make a back-up of the registry, which will be provided with the directions.

Currently, I am walking through the directions to assure they work. I will post back tonight.

Jason: I'll await instructions. Thanks.

For now, I am going to wait to walk you through a screen shot, and post it if you need it.

To start regedit (Registry Editor), go to START -> run -> regedit and <enter>.
You will see a screen that look similar to this:
Click the folder that is named HKEY_CURENT_USER, click the + next to Software, and find the folder Canon. Click the + next to this folder, and then the folder. First, we are going to make a backup copy of this folder, so that if something goes wrong, you will have something to go back to. While the folder is highlighted, click File, and export. On the save screen, save it to the desktop, and call it Canon backup. From this point on, if anything goes wrong (only with this folder), you can go back simply by double clicking this file, and saying yes to the merge.

As much as I hate to leave you with just this, I have to go away for a while. I wanted to at least post this so that you can get a feel for the registry in general. As long as you do not modify or save any setting, you can look around in the different folders. The easiest way to leave regedit is to click the red x in the upper right hand corner, and if it comes up do you want to save the changes, click no. Upon my return, I will be able to finish the rest of it.

Jason: Followed your instructions and found a folder for Canon i550, but seemingly only one item contained therein.... titled in the "name" column as: (default) and with (value not set) in the "data" column. Is that what you expected?

FYI, I've got the Canon i550 setup CD that came with the printer....am I stupid in thinking that even if I botch-up something in the driver settings that I can just uninstall it and then reinstall using the CD?

Take your time responding....I'm OK the way it is.

Now, you are not crazy. It is likely placed in another folder as well.

Do you have a listing for it under HKEY_USERS or HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG?

It may be a litlle easier to find it if you press CTRL+F and enter Canon for the search.

Jason: Now I've got to go...will do the search in the AM and let you know. Thanks, Bill.

Jason: I think I've found a way to perform my special printing needs without taking a chainsaw to my registers. A friend just referred me to a tab within Printer Properties titled: Profiles. (His actual words: Hey dummy: don't you know about profiles?)

When you open "Profiles", it allows one to set up all kinds of weird printing combinations (orientation, size, draft mode vs. standard, reverse order, etc.) and save them for future use. The bad news is that the beast seems to reset to default settings after each printing, but it's much less mousing to bring it up again from Profiles vs. changing each setting individually each time. It also doesn't require dummies (like me) to mess around in the scary parts of their computer and perhaps cause the destruction of the Internet.

I'm probably one of only two folks on the planet who didn't know about "Printing Profiles", but hoping this info might help the other one.

Big time thanks for your assistance, no doubt I'll be bothering you folks again soon. Regards.

I'm the other one. It helps. See, there ya' go. BC gets more info just like that.

perhaps cause the destruction of the Internet. I'll know who not to email when someday I can't.

Sometimes the easiest answers are the ones overlooked.

Thanks for posting back your solution.