1. In an electronic control having a plurality of control elements for controlling a printing machine having a plurality of operating components including a photoreceptor cooperating with one another to produce images on support material, the electronic control including a hardware portion, a software portion, and suitable memory, the control being subject to software faults, said faults capable of causing machine misoperation, said control element connected to the operating components, a method of software fault detection prior to machine misoperation comprising the steps of: categorizing the conditions that cause software faults, storing said conditions in memory, monitoring the conditions that result in software faults, recognizing the occurrence of one of the conditions, and relating said one of the conditions to one of the operating components.