2K Printing Problem

I have 2K Pro with sp 3 and IE 6 with sp 1, PII 400 processor with 256 mb ram. I can print from Wordpad, Notepad and one installed program but the printer is very slow (about half as fast as on 98SE) and the cpu is maxed out. If I try to print from a program that uses templates (NTI jewel case maker, Media Face 4, MS Works 2000) the template is scrunched up and not centered no matter what the print preview looks like. When addressing an envelope in MS Works no matter where you put the text or what the preview looks like it prints at the same place everytime (end of the envelope). No matter what the printer is still slow and the cpu is maxed out. According to HP 2K has the latest drivers already bundled in it for my printer (Deskjet 697C). If anybody has any ideas on how to fix this I sure would appreciate it. Thanks,

 

Have your Windows 2K CD ready as well as the drivers from HP too. Do an uninstall of your printer... basically delete it. Reboot the computer so that it will have its new load up without the printer. Reinstall the printer drivers. I have seen that help a handful of Windows 2K workstations.

If that doesn't help, then you may want to check your print operation settings i.e. priority, queue set up, etc...

 

I tried all of the above with no success. The hp software will not install from the cd. I get 4 different error messages of things that want install and then it screws up 2k to where I have to replace it. Also the only way to install the drivers off of this cd is to run setup.exe. That's per hp. I've tried to let windows find them and I looked for them myself with no success.

 

download the latest drivers from hp for your printer and try them.

sam

 

Problem found. Got this from MS Knowledge Base Article-318273.
Symptoms: When you print on a LPT printer port, 100% CPU usage occurs until the print job is completed.
Cause: This behavior occurs because Windows does not have interrupt support for LPT printers.
Workaround: Print to a USB printer port. If printer does not have this capability, use a parallel-USB cable.
Status: This behavior is by design.
The information in this article applies to:
XP Pro SP1
XP Pro
XP Home SP1
XP Home
2K Pro
2K Pro SP1
2K Pro SP2
2K Pro SP3

 

Geo - good find and thanks for posting about it.

 

NP Newt. The thing that really ticked me off about this whole thing is that MS and HP both say that this printer is supported and should work on 2K. Nowhere in 2K help or trouble shooting or on HP's site do they mention this problem. I even had HP check out the printer on their site and they said everything was ok. I had the latest software and drivers installed. I tried a Belkin parallel/USB cable but their software wouldn't install as per instructions so I took it back. Saving for a new printer now, which won't be an HP.