During the initial phase of troubleshooting a high-end office printer, users report that the printer occasionally produces pages with blurry, smudged images, although most documents print perfectly. This occurs with various document types and regardless of the printing mode selected. Printer maintenance and cleaning routines have been performed regularly, and no error messages are displayed. Considering all user reports and the observed printer behavior, which of the following is the most appropriate initial troubleshooting step?
Replace the paper in the printer with a different brand to rule out media quality issues.
Update the printer firmware to the latest version to correct potential software bugs.
Clean the fuser unit thoroughly in case insufficient fusing is causing smudging.
Check the printer's toner cartridges and imaging drums for defects or leakage.
The most appropriate initial troubleshooting step is to check the printer's toner cartridges and imaging drums for defects or leakage. Intermittent print-quality problems such as occasional smudges or blurriness often originate from consumables. A worn drum surface or a cartridge that deposits excess toner can affect some pages but not others. Because the symptom appears only occasionally and there are no error alerts, starting with a quick visual inspection or reseating of these replaceable parts follows the CompTIA best-practice approach of questioning the obvious before moving to firmware updates, environmental adjustments, or component disassembly. Paper changes, firmware updates, and fuser cleaning can be considered later if consumables are ruled out.
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