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Resolved Printer Delay when Spooling

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by Ronny Ponny, 2010/01/16.

  1. 2010/01/16
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi
    I am using .....
    XP Pro, , with 4GBs of Ram .

    CPU = Intel Core 2 Duo E4500

    Video Card = Gigabyte 9500 GT PCI-E 2.0 .... 1 GB Memory

    My Printer is an EPSON Stylus PHOTO R310 with Latest available Drivers.

    Sometimes when using Paint Shop Pro 7 ( I have been using it for years ) , I cannot Print without a Very Long Delay , sometimes will not Print at all unless I turn off the PC and restart , ......which then activates the Printing of the list of the Items that I had waiting to Print, and will Print the Items waiting . without opening PSP.

    I still have a Delay , even if I am Printing a small email note with a few Lines, and No Attachments or Pics from Outlook Express, usually a minute or so if it is only a small Job,

    Even after I updated the Printer Driver and I wanted to "Print Test Page " I had Trouble before the Print Preview would Show .

    If I set up the Print management to "Print Directly to the Printer" ,and Not to the Spooler, I have No Delay, but I can not access PSP to work on other Images, because the Screen isn't Normal and only become accessible when the Printing is Finished.

    I have Checked and Emptied the Clipboard , to remove anything that maybe Sucking up some memory.

    This does not happen all the Time in PSP , It mainly happens in PSP, and it does happen in other Applications , but the Majority with PSP.... I have even closed Images that I had open in PSP , so as to use less Memory.

    I have a Ram/Memory meter that tells me MBs available, it always says that I have sufficient , even when having the Problem

    I thought it might be the Temp folder...C:\ Windows\Temp that stores the the list of jobs waiting to Print , and maybe having too much in it .

    Is there a limit on the Size of the "C:\Windows\ Temp" Folder ? and can I resize it ?

    So I made a New Folder C:\Windows\Temp 2 .

    But in the Maintenance Tabs "“ "Speed and Progress " Window The High Speed Copy Folder doesn't show the Temp 2 folder and there's no Option of directing Print jobs to it.

    I have run... CCleaner, "Avast Anti Virus ", "Malaware" and found no Problems.


    Maybe someone has some Ideas that I may Try.

    Cheers.....Ron
     
    Last edited: 2010/01/16
  2. 2010/01/16
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Welcome to WindwsBBS;)

    How often is sometimes?
    Approx how long is the delay?

    If sometimes is once a week - it could take a really really long time to figure out what is wrong...But, you can manually start a log. When the delay happens - write down ALL of the things you did with the pc for an a hour or so before you tried to print? Maybe you can find the common thing that causes the delay.
     

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  4. 2010/01/16
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for your Help Steve,

    Steve Says...
    How often is sometimes? .......Lately it has been doing pretty much all the time

    Approx how long is the delay? ....... I just went to Print the website Page and it took 1 Minute to get to the Print Preview, Then I went to PSP and Printed an Image and it took 3 mins to get o the Print Preview, and then it Printed staright away ,.... But whilst waiting for the PP to appear, there was a White Square the size of the Print Properties Box that I just clicked OK in stopping me from continuing with work in PSP, this lasted until the PP appeared .

    I just opened up a few Images again in PSP and Printed an Image, and the Same result as just above, .... Now this when it is working Good , Not Best but Better than when I have a Long Delay and have to Reboot to Print.

    This has been happening now for the last 6 Months, (maybe more )

    I feel that it is not accessing all the Memory that I have or the Temp File is full.

    Thanks in advance.... Ron
     
  5. 2010/01/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Ron

    I think you are mistaken in stating that the print jobs are stored in the C:\Windows|Temp folder - AFAIK they are stored in the Print Spooler, the default location for which is C:\Windows\System32\spool\Printers.

    It may be that the print spool is corrupt - try making a folder on the hard drive - Print Spool and pointing Windows to it .....

    Printers & Faxes > File > Server Properties > Advanced and enter the new location in the Spool folder box.

    I am not at all sure that this is the root cause of the problem as Print Preview is the result of the combination of the Image editing program and the printer driver, but whether or not the print job is spooled before previewing I don't know for sure, but I suspect it is as as soon as I hit print in the Print Preview dialogue (Photoshop) the printer starts.

    As the problem occurrs in other apps too this adds weight to a problem with the print spooler
     
  6. 2010/01/16
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi Pete,

    Pete says.... Printers & Faxes > File > Server Properties > Advanced and enter the new location in the Spool folder box. ....... I can't change the Location.

    In the Maintenance Tab/ Speed and Progress, There is the "High Speed Copy Folder " Window ,
    It shows = C:\Windows\
    Temp\ _Avast4_

    The Temp is Highlighted and being used , the only Option is the "Windows" or the C:\ or the _Avast4_ Folders. As I said in my first Post , I made a new Folder "Temp 2 ", but it doesn't show up in the Choices window , just the ones mentioned above

    I did a Print to the Stage of Print Preview, and the "Windows\Temp File " gets an Extra 10 Files in it whilst Printing and the "Windows\System32\Spool\Printer" has 2 Empty File/'Folders in it and is Empty until I call up a Print job as above and then the 2 Files/Folders get Data in them.

    In the Printer Properties Box , I set the Options to ....

    "Spool , Print Documents so Program Finishes Printing faster.. that is Ticked.

    " Start Printing Immediately " ....That is Ticked .

    " Print Spooled Documents First, Enable Advanced Printing Features " ... That is Ticked.

    What does "AFAIK " mean ??


    Pete Says....whether or not the print job is spooled before previewing I don't know for sure,..... Yes when I hit Print , the Spool Folder gets Data as Does the Temp Folder just as the Print Preview and the Spool Icon down on the Right Hand Task Bar comes up.

    Just typing the Above reminds me that when I have the delays the The Jobs will be in the Spool Window ( if that's what you call it ? ) and the Top one and 1st on the list will say "Printing "... but it could take a Day to print or maybe not print at all until I Reboot the PC.

    I hope this may give you a little more to work with.

    Thanks again ... Ron

    EDIT: I also noticed that in the "Speed and Progress " Window .....

    There are 3 Options ,
    [1] "High Speed Copies " This is Ticked .
    [2] "Show Progress Meter " ... This is Ticked
    [3] " Always Spool RAW datatype" This UNTICKED.
    .
     
    Last edited: 2010/01/16
  7. 2010/01/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    This is going to be interesting :) ....

    I am running Windows 7 Pro x64 with an Epson R2400 attached and Photoshop CS2, 3 & 4, but my other desktop has XP Pro x32 installed and my Netbook XP Home, so I have a cross reference although there are no printers installed on either of those 2..

    On the XP Pro box - Print Server Properties > Advanced I have no problem changing the location of the spool to, in my case D:\Print Spool - a practice I used for some years on previous PC's. I don't see why you are apparently unable to do this.

    It would have been helpful if you had indicated that the Maintenance Tab > Speed and Progress was under Printing Preferences for the printer - I had to think a bit about that :)

    I have installed the 2400 on my XP Pro box and the location of the High Speed Copy Folder is as you say (It is different in 7). I created a new folder in Windows - simply New Folder. Double clicking on Windows in the folder tree under High Speed Copy Folder expands Windows and I can set New Folder as the High Speed Copy Folder. Have you tried that?, not that it really matters as the C:\Windows\Temp folder will simply expand/retract in size depending on requirements. It cannot get 'full' given that the hard drive space is available.

    All the content in C:\Windows\Temp can be safely deleted - a couple of files may be in use and cannot be deleted.

    Although the wording is slightly different for the 2400 the Property box settings you note are the defaults.

    In the Speed & Progress Window the default settings for the 2400 replicate those you note - there are other options too, but these are unchecked.

    AFAIK - As far as I know. If you are not familiar with such acronyms a quick Google works wonders :)

    So your print settings appear to be OK, but you are apparently unable to move the location of the spool. This may or may not be significant. I suggest you have another go at this - you may need Administrative Rights, but I would have thought that a message to that effect would have been shown - Access Denied or similar.

    In a case like this one of the first things I would do would be a repair of PSP or if that is not possible a complete uninstall/reinstall. I have solved a number of PS issues on my computer and on friends computers via that route.
     
  8. 2010/01/16
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks Pete for your help,

    Please see hilighted Text above.

    I still have a Delay in any Program and it is locking that Program , even if I am Printing a small email note with a few Lines, and No Attachments or Pics from Outlook Express, usually a minute or 2 even if it is only a small Job, In some cases it partially "Whites Out" the Screen to size of the Print Preference Window or to Size of the Image Window that was open when I chose to print, the Program itself becomes unaccessible until the Print Preview Pops Up.

    This is why I think it is something to do with Memory , Processing Speed , Video Card Memory,........ Is there a way of Testing Perfomence of the above.???
    ....

    But then again even after the Print Preview and the Jobs have been Logged into the Spooler and are waiting to be printed, and the PSP has been Closed, they still may not Print until PC is Rebooted
    .

    The above in Blue hasn't happened for a Week or so, because I can't keep Printing out stuff that I don't need.

    Whilst I have been Writing this I have been Sussing out a few Print Jobs and the Results,...

    The Ink Levels are Not showing in the Preference window , and when I call them up thru the Maintenance window, they are taking 5 Mins to Pop up and the Individual Inks are Blank, and I also Noticed that Print Icon on the Lower Right Task Bar wasn't there, it hasn't been there yesterday and today ,...even after PC Reboot ,

    It is there now , but I can't call up the Monitor any quicker than at least 2 mins and then the Inks are blank and sometimes get "Communication Error "

    I think I will Uninstall the Printer and do a Reinstall and also reinstall the latest Driver, because it is happening with any Program, ( PSP is one I print from the most )............ and I am having problems with Printer Software when I am not in any Program trying to access the Basics.

    I wish I had another Printer Hooked up too , that would give me something to work with in relation to " Is it the Printer Set Up" ? , "Is it the Program, "? "Is it Windows ??? "

    I will let you know how I go , if you think of something after reading the above , Please let me know .

    Cheers... Ron.
     
  9. 2010/01/16
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi All,

    I have Uninstalled the Printer and Reinstalled it from the original CD, and everything is working Great :)

    * I have Printed from the Outlook Express
    * Printed from Paint Shop Pro


    I am currently Printing 6 separate A4 Sheets with Plenty of Images on them, and doing it continuously without Print Preview ( So I don't have to be in front of PC to click the PP window.) and they are All Lined up in the Spool Window and are all printing... the 6 Pages have Printed whilst typing this ( Slow Typer :) )

    I have not updated to the Latest Driver, ( 3 yrs old ) which I downloaded Last week..... Maybe let sleeping dogs lie for the time being.

    There is such an improvement in the Printing overall, that I think this problem may have been resolved, I didn't realise that the Printer Software could be corrupt like that and still be able to Print,...... even if it took forever, I definatly thought it was to do with Memory or something like that because of the Loss of Screens and Windows during the Printing.

    I will now have to find out how to Mark this Post as "Resolved ".

    If there are any changes I will Post again .

    Thankyou for everybody's Help.

    Regards ... Ron ( A Very Happy Ron)
     
  10. 2010/01/17
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Glad to hear you have resolved the problem :)

    I misinterpreted your initial post ....
    to read that you had already updated the drivers - my bad, otherwise a reinstall of the printer would have been suggested.

    Software can always become corrupt - recent case in point .....

    Friend running PS CS2 with an R1800 printer had problems with the colours not printing out right.

    I recalibrated the monitor, reloaded the printer drivers, checked printer settings, paper profiles, etc all to no avail.

    Not knowing if it was a printer problem or PS problem I took over my laptop and printed from that to his printer - perfect colour :)

    This indicated that the problem was rooted in PS, not the printer or driver. Made a repair install of CS2 - perfect prints :)

    Software can continue to work with a degree of corruption and a reinstall is always an option when all else fails.
     
  11. 2010/01/17
    Ronny Ponny

    Ronny Ponny Inactive Thread Starter

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    Pete Says........... I misinterpreted your initial post ....to read that you had already updated the drivers - my bad, otherwise a reinstall of the printer would have been suggested.

    Re The Above...
    * I had the Problem, Then someone suggested to update to latest avilable driver from Epson , I did that.

    * I still had the Problem , then I have been Posting here.

    * I did Uninstall ........and Reinstalled with my Epson CD that came with the Printer and the Old Driver .

    Now everything is Cool :) And it still has the Earlier Driver, As I said in my previous Post I'll "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie " for the Time being.

    Cheers ...Ron.
     

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