PC LOAD LETTER is a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

error message that has entered popular culture as a technology meme referring to a confusing or inappropriate

error message An error message is information displayed when an unforeseen occurs, usually on a computer or other device. On modern operating systems with graphical user interfaces, error messages are often displayed using dialog boxes. Error messages are use ...

. The error message's vagueness was mocked in the 1999 comedy film ''

Office Space ''Office Space'' is a 1999 American black comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. It satirizes the worklife of a typical 1990s software company, focusing on a handful of individuals weary of their jobs. It stars Ron Livingston, Jennifer ...

''. The message is encountered when printing on older HP

LaserJet LaserJet as a brand name identifies the line of laser printers marketed by the American computer company Hewlett-Packard (HP). The HP LaserJet was the first popular desktop laser printer. Canon supplies both mechanisms and cartridges for most HP ...

printers such as the LaserJet II, III, and 4 series. It means that the printer is trying to print a document that needs " Letter size" (8½ × 11 in.) paper when no such paper is available. "PC" is an abbreviation for "paper cassette", the tray which holds blank paper for the printer to use. These two-character codes are a legacy feature carried over from the first LaserJet printers, which could only use a two-character display for all printer status and error messages. "LOAD" is an instruction to refill the paper tray. "LETTER" is the standard

paper size Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents. The ISO 216 standard, which includes the commonly used A4 size, is the international standard for paper size. I ...

used in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Thus, the error is instructing the user to refill the paper tray with letter-sized paper. Other messages that might be seen include "MP LOAD LEGAL", meaning the "MP" (multi-purpose) tray needs to be filled with

legal size Paper size standards govern the size of sheets of paper used as writing paper, stationery, cards, and for some printed documents. The ISO 216 standard, which includes the commonly used A4 size, is the international standard for paper size. I ...

(8½ × 14 in.) paper. Users confuse "PC" with "

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

", "LOAD" with some action you might do to that computer, and "LETTER" with a short document (in particular outside the United States and Canada, where most paper is A4 size, and users don't know "LETTER" is a paper size at all). The error can be fixed (other than by filling the paper tray) by emptying the print queue and printer buffer or pressing "Shift+Continue" and, in extreme cases, restarting the printer and repeating. The LaserJet 5 introduced a "GO" button to override the warning message. The LaserJet 5, 4000, and later models added number labels on paper trays and displayed a new message, "TRAY LOAD PLAIN aper size where is the tray number.

References

{{Error messages Computer error messages Computer humor Computer printers Internet memes HP LaserJet printers

See also

References