A couple of months ago I briefly unplugged my faithfull old HP Laserjet 4
which I've had since about 1993 because I couldn't find anywhere else handy
to plug my electric shaver charger into. On plugging the printer back in
later in the day it was dead as a dodo. I got as far as checking the fuse in
the plug with my multimeter but the thought of pulling the printer to bits
was too much to bear and not really needing to use it I left it alone until
today when I finally decided I really ought to do something about it.

No idea what had happened but after trying some deeply technical measures
like hitting it several times and opening and shutting all the flaps and
doors in case a microswitch wasn't working it burst into life again. It then
did the most extraordinary thing. After running its little self tests,
flashing a few lights on and off and booting up fully it printed out a sales
invoice of mine from 1995!!!!!

I wasn't even running the accounts software at the time and haven't done for
weeks so it was nothing to do with what was on the pc. I can't even remember
what pc I would have owned back then to have composed that invoice on in the
first place. Some old Intel 386 running Dos long since chucked out I
imagine. I clearly remember still only using Windows 3.1 (i.e. Dos
basically) on a 486 when I first got on the internet in 1998 and didn't even
get round to trying 'proper' Windows i.e. 95 for another year or so when AOL
stopped supporting 3.1.

So HTF did a laser printer have stored inside it the details of a 13 year
old sales invoice which I'm absolutely sure I haven't opened on the pc since
then or at least not for a very very long time? I still remember the
customer but I've had no reason to look at that invoice since then and
clearly none at all to want it printed out again. I didn't think printers
stored anything after they'd finished printing them out but god knows what
lurks inside this one now. I'm totally gobsmacked.
--
Dave Baker