Windows 7 + Acrobat + Xerox – half-page reduction problem

Does your Adobe Acrobat/Reader always print on your Xerox Phaser 8550 (or other Xerox) with half-size output locked into landscape even when you force orientation to portrait? An illustration will explain the problem better:

half-page xerox/adobe reduction problem

It appears that this is a legacy driver problem. Here is the fix I used:

  1. Goto Devices and Printers → remove the offending Xerox printer!
  2. Goto the Xerox website → download the Xerox Global Print Driver (dated 9-Nov-2012 at the time of writing). Make sure it is WHQL certified.
  3. Select Install from Web.
  4. Delete the old drivers → highlight another printer → click Printer server properties at the top of the Control Panel window
  5. Click Drivers → highlight your Xerox driver(s) → click Remove → select Remove driver and driver package.
  6. Reboot.
  7. Run the set-up program (in my case Setup.5.273.23.2.exe).
  8. The set-up program should detect your printer which you should then select and click Next.
  9. Select your required option(s) and click Install (I chose Postscript).

Thank you to those who took the trouble to post their solution in the Adobe Community.

Manually Installing (Side Loading) Apps On Your Android Device

One of the obvious benefits of the Android platform is its openness. Android is, therefore, ideal for dipping your toe into the “app” world.

Here’s the method I use to install an app on an Android phone without going through the hassle of having to publish it on Google’s Play Store:

  1. Goto Settings → Applications and tick Unknown Sources so that any applications can be installed, rather than just ones from the Google app store.
  2. Plug in phone and set it to USB storage mode (mount as a disk drive) so that you can view the device’s SD Card as a disk drive.
  3. Copy your application file (.apk) to the phone and note the location.
  4. Disconnect the phone.
  5. Use a File Manager app to find the file and install your .apk file.