I had an epson Workforce multifunction for general use and it kept clogging despite Qimage's unclog routine and its being in daily use.  I put it down to third party inks though their manufacturers denied this.  I got a second Workforce and used only Epson inks and it clogged irreparably just like the first.  I now have a Brother MFC which never gives trouble - tempting fate. I don't pretend these multifuntions are photo printers.

I also have had an Epson 3880 since not long after they came out.  No issues, a brilliant printer so Epson CAN do it.

So, to answer the question how often to run unclog?  Depends on the printer.  For the 3880 - never run unclog seems to work fine! Otherwise try an expensive Epson perhaps using the same class of inks as their 3880 or try a different maker.

Sandy

I am assuming that you have Win 7 and XP on the same PC and inadvertently loaded into XP.  Just install again into Win7.  I have Win 7 and Win 10 on this PC and Qimage is on both, though I rarely use it on Win 7 and I don't (can't) use both at once.  I also have an ancient PC with Win 10 which I have kept only in case this one "explodes".  Qimage is on that (but it is not used).

My understanding is that Mike lets you run one copy of Qimage on several computers - so long as only one is used at a time.  So you don't have to uninstall from XP.  If you do want to use Qimage from XP from time to time you should be able to use the same folder for Application data (see Utilities, migrate/copy application data).

Apologies if I have misunderstood your problem.

Sandy

Most screens are set much too bright as default - especially laptops (in my limited experience).  However, the problem is my prints aren't generally viewed outside or beside a window in daylight, therefore I tend to over brighten so they look better in real life viewing conditions.  I know this is heretical, non-PC, etc and less tolerant forums would flame me, set the trolls loose and ban me.   The nice helpful bunch here will sigh and shake their heads, then patiently and politely educate me.

Sandy

Some years ago an Epson guru said his routine answer was to tell the enquirer to put the print under a stronger light.  The print and screen operate differently  -  reflected light vs transmitted light so inconsistencies, especially re light/dark, are going to be part of the deal.  The appearance of prints will vary substantially with the light under which you view them. 

Sandy

Just for the record, I use Avast (free - I'm Scottish) and never have any issues downloading Qimage.  However, there was a time when Avast insisted on checking Qimage for malware, but in a few seconds the download was allowed to proceed.  It doesn't do this check now.

Sandy

Welcome to the forum.  I gave you a provisional answer on DPReview, guessing crop lock might be the issue.  There is a video on this - go to the Qimage site  http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/ and select videos.  The one on Aspect ratios and cropping could help.  If this doesn't work, let us know and one of the many with more expertise than I will respond.
Sandy

Sometimes there is a page binding option so one margin is wider allowing the print to be central after binding.  Is that selected?

Sandy

My OS and all programs are on my SSD.  My Qimage data folder is on an HDD.  I didn't notice any difference in speed relative to having the Qimage data file on the SSD and it stops that being full/cluttered up.

Sandy

The printer is too often just the down payment and ink is the real cost.  nb if (as has been said) all the colours are in one cart, as soon as one colour runs out you have to buy a new cart and waste the unused ink so opt for a separate cart for each colour.  I bought the excellent Epson 3880 - well outside your budget but it came with all the carts full which was worth a lot.  The large carts mean cost per print is (relatively) low and will go a long way towards saving the extra outlay.  Think about alternative ink suppliers.

I recently bought an Epson all in one WF-3640 for day to day stuff, copying etc.  I've never compared its colours etc with the 3880.  It would hardly be fair!  I'm running that on in from an alternative supplier.

I have had a few HP printers over the years and all did well.  The last was a HP Photosmart that I passed to my daughter and is still going strong but its output is not remotely in the Epson 3880 class.

Sandy

I too use Comodo and have a minor issue with it.  Whenever I update Qimage it insists on Print to File unless I disable Sandbox and keep it disabled ie it won't allow using the printer.  I'm trying to remember the error messages/prompts I used to receive.  Might be worth checking.  If that turns out to be the issue and you want to keep sandbox enabled I'll check what I did to allow that (I don't enable sandbox currently).

Good luck

Sandy

That makes sense.  I now remember there was an update to add a power off timer.  However, although the maintenance mode shows that heading on my 3880 there are no timer options.  A Google search indicated it is not functioning on older 3880 printers (such as mine) which is why I had forgotten about it.

Sandy

There is a thread in DPReview under Printers and Printing that asks about a method of preventing a printer (Epson 3880) developing clogs during a long absence.  I suggested considering QU Unclogger.  However, there seemed to be concern that the printer would not automatically switch on from sleep when the print was requested.  I thought it would do so automatically - unless it was switched off.  Of course the PC would need to be switched on.  I have the 3880 and never have an issue of starting automatically after a couple of weeks unused.  No clogs either!   Any thoughts?
Sandy

I've just been doing some first aid to try to control heating the "easy" way ie spring clean with blower, brush and vacuum cleaner.  I also moved the video card further from the CPU.  I would like to take the cooler out (Coolermaster V8) and really clean it and renew the thermal paste but I would have to take the motherboard out to get at it and my recollections say it's a pain to remove old thermal paste - so that's for another day.  However, at 100% CPU usage the temperatures are now maxing out at about 70C during thumbnail/cache building which could be better but shouldn't result in a BSOD.

I might add that the BSOD/crashing didn't occur on small numbers of files for caching but on larger numbers and once the building/caching had been going on for a few minutes.  I'm running an AMD Phenom x4 970 processor which is far from the best but was good value for its performance at the time - and quite adequate for my usage.

Many thanks for the help from both Fred and Mike - hope Mike pays you well Fred!

Sandy

I did a bit of following up on the 0x...124 theme.  I checked CPU temperatures (I haven't done that for much too long and they were high.  I put a fan infront of the motherboard and did the RAW cache - no problems.  So overheating is the issue.  I'll play around on that basis, look out the thermal paste, check fans, etc.

Interesting, Fred, what you said about Epson.  I hadn't located a mention of Epson when I Googled the error codes but I hadn't followed up the ...124 links in any detail.  I do have an Epson printer (3880) and its drivers are up to date.  However, since I'm not sure when this problem started it could have coincided with an inappropriate update though I'm not sure how that might correlate with overheating issue - I wasn't printing at the time.

Thanks again.

Sandy

Thanks as ever for the quick replies.  The thumbs hyperthreading had been set as one - not my intention but it crashed the PC.  I changed it to 4 and got the BSOD on that.  I'll try to attach a photo of the screen.  I'll try again with 1 and 2 cores working. 

I had tried to Google the error codes but didn't get much help that way.  nb I sometimes get a "Version error in UCF" after re-starting post crash.  I think this refers to Debian(?) programmes but I don't think I have any on the PC - but I'm sure you will know better than I on what UCF means.

Sandy