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WinXP Speed Problem using shared network printer

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22 replies

by it

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Most of my shared printers on my network is attached to Win98Se computers.
If i install any of the network printers on any WinXP Sp2 computer, the respons from the printer and installation is so slow, even seems to freez and not respond, but wait long enough and the installation is complete.

Install by means of Install Network Printer, Browse For Printer, Choose PC, Choose Printer..

After I select the printer, my PC seems to freeze, but if I wait long enough will select that printer and finally will print.
I tried new and original drivers, and changing printer settings.
I have searched all over, but did not find any solution...
This is getting a big problem in my network!

Can someone please help?
Thanx

22 replies

by bfilmfan

How much RAM is in this Windows XP box, which is serving as a print que?

Is anyone using this PC for other functions?

Sounds to me as if you have an over-utilized PC, as the print jobs spool to the system and then to the shared printer and this requires resources (memory and CPU) on the that PC.

by it

None of the network printers is physically connected to any WinXP Pc.
Like the HPLazer 1010 is connected to Win98Se Pc by usb cable, and the Xp PC(256RAM) freezes for a while when choosing that printer to print.

When going to printer settings on XP Pc, freezes a while before going into printer settings.

by unni_kcpm

The problem can be (in my belief) any of the below or something else ;
1. Memory of the Target pc (Win98SE) in which the
Printer is connected and/or the memory of the
Printer itself. Printer memory is a common
issue.
Or
2. The Target PC is pre-occupied by multitude of
tasks which has taken up chunk of the memory
and/or the Printer is spooled with other
printing tasks.

3. The specification of cable crimping done i.e.
crimping for 10mbps/100mbps supported NICs.

4. Whether using a Hub or Switch.

5. Whether there's a Server in the Network thru
which all Desktops are routed.

6. Printer settings.

7. Or any other issue.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by brewbaker

Hello,
I have had a similar problem with a network problem. Try the following:
Remove the network printer from Settings>Printer/Faxes,
Go to Server properties in the above area and go to File>Server properties and remove the driver
Go to the Ports tab and remove that port that has the network printer on it.
Note: If you are unable to do this you may have to do the following:
a. Remove the directory from Windows Explorer
b. Unhide all files and delete all the files associated with the NP
c. Delete all the entreis from the Registry
d. Reboot
Once you have removed the Network Printer (NP) do the following:
1. Rmove the IPX/SPX protocol (if it is installed for you, it is for us)
2. Remove the TCP/IP protocol
At this point since I have a Novell network I must rove the Novell Client for Netware (you may not have it but if you do, do this)If you have a Novell network you will also have to rmove the NICI client, and the Novell Software for Microsoft, and the NMAS Client) None, some or all of this may apply to you so skip if necessary.
Reboot
Reinstall all of the protocols first
Reinstall Client Services for Netware (if applicable)
After rebooting reset the server and the tree connection (if applicable)
Load the Novell Client (if applicable)
Load the IPX/SPX Protocol (if applicable)
Reinstall the NP drivers in Settings>Printer/Fax

I realize this may be a pain for you and I am just help. It took me weeks to figure this out on my own. Best of luck.
craig@dynic.com

by messwithdeagle

installation is the only problem? or you are using too much memory for qued printer tasks through your print spooler? i had a problem with an xp machine attempting to connect to a misconfigured network printer where print jobs got stuck in the spooler process and never got sent slowing the computer down to near stopped.

by it

None of the network printers is physically connected to any WinXP Pc.
Like the HPLazer 1010 is connected to Win98Se Pc by usb cable, and the Xp PC(256RAM) freezes for a while when choosing that printer to print.

When going to printer settings on XP Pc, freezes a while before going into printer settings.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by unni_kcpm

Continuation to my earlier mail ...

If the Firewall (ICF) of Win XP is enabled,
there are chances of Networking problem.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by yodatech

This type of issue is often due to the basic differences between the structures of the 2 windows versions. You did not mention the network settings of the network properties on the 98 machine or its patch level.win98 SE amy help. Adding netBeui to the protocols on all of the computers will help devices find each other. if you are using TCP/IP the host and the LMhost files must be correct on ALL machines.
James Yearnd

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by thomas.peary

If your windows XP machine has service pack 2 installed than it could be you need to adjust a setting in the windows firewall. See the link below.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0204.mspx#EEAA

You may want to hook the printer up to the xp machine and share it with other 98 machines. The 98 machine may not have the resources available.

you mention that it is an HP 1010. This is a USB 2.0 printer. if you do not have a USB 2.0 port on the 98 machine, then it is not working to full potential. If your windows xp machine is a new computer, then chances are it has a USB 2.0 port, so connecting the printer to it may be a better choice.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by olojtd4

I had the same problem sometime ago. After installing the printer on the local PC to be shared, it will work for some days; after which the PC will drop the printer driver. I will have to re-install the driver to get it to work again. This happens off and on until I decided to put a network drop for the printer.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by eric.purwoko

Hi,

I had similiar problem with you before. I used to share a HP LJ1300 i win98se while another clients use WinXP Sp2.

From my experiece, my problem is at win98se itself. When I ping on win98 with "-t" the result was 0%lost. But then I realized that even the ping result was perfect, but i cannot access win98's folder using \\. I think the problem is from win98's sharing service (not sure how to call services in win98).

Lucky my client was going to buy a new PC. So no more win98. All works fine now.

Cheers,
EP

by theonetheykeepinthedungeon

Have you installed the Win98 drivers (located on the "share" tab under the Additional drivers button)on the XP machines? This should improve performance greatly. Also, on the Advanced tab----Print proccessor, make sure Winprint is selected and RAW is the default data type for printing to a 98se connected printer. Made a world of difference here. In a lot of print cases, you can still expect at least a 2-3 second delay (sometimes, up to 7-10, depending on amount of graphics sent). Run a test under Wordpad, which seems to send text the fastest. Then try printing something with complex graphics.

by it

It happened today again.
It all starts like this:

New Xp Pro SP2 Pc.
I want to use one of my network printers,that is connected to a Win98Se pc, on this XP Pro Sp2 pc.

So i go...
1. Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Add Printer>Network Printer>Browse Network
3. Choose PC with printer attached
4. Select Printer
5. Prompts for driver disk
6. Choose driver from Cd
7. Win is installing printer...

And it freezes there for about 3 to 5 minutes,
sys not responding, and the suddenly goes on with the setup...
Prompts if i want to make this my default printer, and then install is Done.

I then go to my Printers and Faxes. On the new installed printer, Right click, Properties...
And then freezes for 1 to 2 minutes, and opens properties.
I then do a print testpage, and it prints in about 20 seconds...

It is this printer then that when i want to print from some other program, takes ages to select the printer when i go File>Print> in say Word..

by brandon.aiken

I would check to make sure that both the 98 systems and the XP systems are concifugred to use NetBIOS via TCP/IP. XP doesn't have NetBIOS available as a protocol by default (you must install it from the CD).

However, you're using Windows 98SE as a print server. Multiple, actually. You're having problems setting up mapped network printers from Windows XP Pro SP2 systems to these Windows 98SE "print servers". And you're surprised you're having problems? Windows 98 is NOT a server OS! It's not even reasonably stable enough to use for a corporate desktop. I'd highly suggest getting a copy of Linux (for printing via Samba) or at least Win2k Pro and using that (since XP SP2 limits concurrent TCP/IP connections).

by cmgf

I had the same problem here.

No idea what causes this behavior, but DOS can give us a hand here to overcome the situation and buy us some more un-stressed time to further investigate the problem.

Just open a COMMAND console (Start/Run and type cmd) and then type (all in the same line):

net use LPT2 \\your_win98_server_name\shared_printer_name

This creates a direct connection to the printer and associates it with the LPT2 system device. You can use any of the LPT ports (LPT1 to LPT4), but make sure no device is using it already.

Then, type EXIT to close the console.
Test your printing performance now, and you may well feel a diference.

To have this command run on each boot, just type it on a text file, save it with a .BAT extension and place it in the Startup folder.

Hope this works for you as it worked for me.

Carlos Fonseca

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