100% CPU usage problem with Win XP Professional & Vista Business

  • Thread starter Thread starter NUS
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NUS

Hi all

Please note that we have found 100% CPU utilization in some of the PCs in
our LAN, due to which PCs are working dead slow. We investigated the problem
and found .SPL & .SHD files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS directory.
If we delete these files, the CPU utilization goes down to low level and PC
becomes fast again.

Is it some kind of a virus and from where these files came to that
directory, because there is no impact on any services after the deletion.
Please advise in this regard

Thanks & regards
 
NUS said:
Hi all

Please note that we have found 100% CPU utilization in some of the PCs in
our LAN, due to which PCs are working dead slow. We investigated the
problem and found .SPL & .SHD files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS
directory. If we delete these files, the CPU utilization goes down to low
level and PC becomes fast again.

Is it some kind of a virus and from where these files came to that
directory, because there is no impact on any services after the deletion.
Please advise in this regard

Thanks & regards
Click to expand...

"For each print job there are two spool files generated by the Windows®
NT/2000 spooler. One file with the .SHD extension for job settings, and one
with the .SPL extension for the drawing commands."
http://www.undocprint.org/formats/winspool/spl
 
NUS

The production of SPL & .SHD files is part of the normal process of
printing a document. They are there temporarily until the data has been
passed from the computer to the printer.

When the user chooses to print a document the document is placed in a
queue for passing to the printer and then printed in the order received.
This process is called spooling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spooling

Your problem could arise for a number of reasons. How many computers are
sharing the same printer? Does the printer have the capacity to handle
efficiently the flow of documents it is being asked to produce? What
type of documents are being printed? Specifically are they text only or
containing graphics as this directly impacts on file sizes, which the
CPU is being asked to handle.

If you select Start, Printers and Faxes and open the default Printer
you can see the print queue and how it is being processed. I am not sure
how this works if more than one computer is sharing the printer.

Scanners also come into the loop and because they create graphics the
files tend to be large. These can take a time for a printer to handle.

What is the printer make and model? What cabling is connecting computer
to printer?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thanks for ur replies. We are sharing printers in our LAN, but this is not
happening with every computer. We have different types of laser printers like
HP 1300, 1200, 1320, P2015, 2600n etc. I know about spooling, but is there
any solution for the PCs working dead slow other than deleting files from
this directory.

Here are few observations
1. once we delete these files, I have not seen them come back again although
we are still continue to print in sharing environment
2. It all started after we upgraded our computers from Win 2000 to Win Xp
with imaging
3. Deletion of these files has no impact on spooling & printing, only it
makes the dead computer fast, processor comes back to normal

Please advise...

Thanks & regards
 
I forget to mention the type of cabling. We are mostly using USB cable to
connect PC to Printer ofcourse with DOT4 printing support

regards
 
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