ATX crashes when printing

[Brenda B]

When I print a return I get an error message that the software has encountered an unexpected error and has to close. Anyone have a fix?

I have to reboot my computer to even get back into ATX. And then there’s no guarantee it will not immediately happen again.  It’s infuriating. 

[Pacun]

If you have another printer, please change your default printer. 

Update the drivers for your printer. 

To isolate the issue, make a pdf printer your default, print the return to pdf and then print the pdf file. Also, open 2019 and print from there. If ONLY ATX 2020 is the one with the issue, you might have to reinstall.

What version of Windows 10 are you using?
How much RAM does your computer have?

 

[Lee B]

If you search the board you will find many lengthy threads about this problem in past years.

Assuming it's the same problem as in years past, basically the ATX program fills up your print buffer with garbage,

then it crashes when the buffer overflows. When you reboot your system, your print buffer is cleared allowing you to use the program again.

If you search the old threads there are more direct ways to address the problem.

[Pacun]

Based on the suggestion above, stop and start the print spooler then:

Right-click the Start button.
Click Run.
Type services.msc
Right-click Print Spooler — you might have to scroll down to find it.
Click Stop. Do the same to start it.

or open the command prompt as an administrator and type: net stop spooler and then net start spooler. 

[Abby Normal]

If you have any crappy software installed that came with your printer (printer monitor, etc.) uninstall it.

Close ATX and reopen before printing.

[Randall]

I've had this happen in the past.  I never had to reboot the computer but I have had to restart the ATX program.  I'll see if it happens for 2020.

 

[Pacun]

The reason you have to restart the computer is because ATX 2020 stays resident... o when you click on the icon to open it again, nothing happens. You have to run task manager and "end" ATX 2020.  Then you will be able to open it without  rebooting.

[Jack from Ohio]

Time for a new printer.  Simple as that.

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

"encountered an unexpected error"

I would still report this to the software vendor.  Proper programming "catches" and prevents this message - this is the message shown when the application does not handle an error - it is the OS's way of showing "something" before the application crashes/fails/exits ungracefully.

Any time you come across a repetitive printer error, it is a good time to "clean up" your Windows registry.  Unfortunately, there are almost always "remnants" in the registry.  With printer "remnants", strange things can happen.  I have never found an automatic way to clean printer remnants (maybe because I know how to do so manually?), but just a few days ago, I had to again.  I use an outdated label printer.  The software for the label printer is also outdated.  From time to time, the software cannot "find" the printer correctly, and loses not only my saved addresses, but the label parameters as well.  When I remove all remnants of the label printer, the printer software suddenly starts working correctly.

If you are comfortable using regedit, you can search for a printer you know you have installed ("brother" as an example).  When you see a registry item for the search term, you can examine the rest of the node to see if there are "old" items, and delete them.  Or, you can remove all printer items, then reinstall your current printer/printers.

[Jayson]

We are having the same issue. Our printer and driver are very new. ATX (CCH) must have an update to the software. All of our workstations are encountering this crash. When we restart the the program, that’s when it can print fine. Very frustrating!

[schirallicpa]

I continue to have this problem too.  Usually on the bigger returns or ones that have multiple states.

 

[TAXMAN]

I still have the same problem. Occurs mostly after I have printed big return or several small returns. Both printers are loaded with memory. ATX should be able to fix this without us doing a whole lot of unneeded actions.

[Lee B]

This is not a new problem, it's the same  problem that had existed for years when I switched from ATX to Drake, 3 years ago.