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Delay between print jobs on W2K server

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by jeep4jb

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I am in the process of moving our prints queues from a Novell 4x server to a Windows 2000 server. I've moved several queues over and set them up with HP TCP/IP ports to share the printers. I'm finding that all of the printers I have moved now pause for about 2-3 seconds between each print job. The spool settings are set to start printing immediately. This delay is an issue because we use a couple of the printers for mass printings so this delay adds quite a bit of time. I've noticed the delay on both Win9x and Win2k machines. Your help is greatly appreciated!

8 replies

by jamrock

W2K HAS HAS A STANDARD TCP/IP PORT U AMY WANT TO TRY THAT INSTEAD. I AM CURRENTLY IT WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS.

by jeep4jb

I actually had already attempted using just the standard TCP/IP port and this did not resolve. Thanks for your input!

by mrjay67

Also make sure that only the neccessary protocols are being used. If you no longer are using novels ipx/spx make sure it is turned off on the printers. If you dont need it I would make sure that no more than tcp/ip and dlc/llc is turned on. Also make sure that its taking the shortest route. I had an odd setup before that went through several hops and long distances before getting back to the printer and caused huge delays. After that i can only say to make sure yo uhave the latest drivers and perhaps update the flash(bios) on the jetdirect(NIC) of the printer.

by jeep4jb

I've verified all the unnecessary protocols are turned off. Thanks for your input!

by acattr

Microsoft made a change that delays all DOS print jobs on any printer connected to a Windows 2000 system by 15 seconds. Why the hell they did this, I've no idea. Here's how to fix it:
Launch a registry editor (either REGEDIT OR REGEDT32)
In \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\WOW,
there should be a key named "LPT_timeout", set to a default value of 15 seconds. Change the value of LPT_timeout from 15 to 1.

by jeep4jb

I finally got a resolution from HP support today after several calls. Basically I'm using older Jet Direct 170x external boxes. They advised I change the parallel port communication type from bi-directional to one-way (Centronics). This did the trick as apparently the server was waiting for the printer to return a ready status before sending the next job. My users are now happy! Thanks for your input and time!

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