Horribly, wretchedly SLLLOOOOOWWWWW printing of queued documents in Win98

  • Thread starter Thread starter usenetdg
  • Start date Start date
U

usenetdg

I have a Dell computer; 550 MHz processor, 512 meg of memory, 20 gig
hard drive with 5 gig free, running Windows 98.

The printer is connected to the computer using a USB cable (whatever
the "old" USB is). This is the only computer supported by the
printer, an HP 920. Okay, let me be more accurate - the USB cable
goes into a USB hub, which it shares with my digital camera and
scanner, neither of which are generally connected tot the computer.
That is, the hub has three things feeding into it: the cable going the
printer (always connected), a cable for the scanner (usually not
connected), and a cable for the camera (usually not connected). The
cable for the printer feeds into the first port on the hub.

When the computer has been in use for any length of time - nothing
heavy, just some web browsing, email checking, stuff like that -
printing a simple document, even a one-pager, from MS-Word, is an
experience in torture. The printer icon will appear at the bottom of
the screen, opening the icon up shows that that document is
"printing," but nothing will happen from the printer. The document
won't print, and the printer won't even make the noise indicating it's
gotten a signal from the computer.

Yes, I've checked, and the print queue is not paused.

I've seen this behavior a bit from other programs, but it's Word from
which we do most of our printing.

If I do a Windows restart, when the computer reboots, the first thing
that happens is it asks if I want to print the queued documents, and
they zip right off the printer with no problems.

What is going on here?

It's not the cable. I had the same problems when I was using a
parallel cable with the printer. And as I said, it prints fine all
the time once I turn the computer off and back on.

It's not the printer driver. The driver on the HP web site, dated
12-11-01, was on the printer's install disk, and I've even tried
redownloading and installing it off the web site.

It's not my computer's memory. I had 128 meg up until a couple months
ago before going to 512 meg. If anything, the delay is worse now.
But I can run way more things concurrently, and never hear the disk
spinning for virtual memory access like I used to. Yes, Windows
recognizes all 512 meg.

It's not what I'm printing. It displays this awful behavior if I'm
printing a 5k text-only document, or if I'm printing a 300k thing
crammed with graphics and tables. And the 300k document will print
quickly after a restart, just as the 5k one will.

Because it is a sometimes minor, but often huge, pain to restart my
computer just because I want a printed document now, I'd like to get
this matter fixed.

Suggestions, please?

Again, my documents show up immediately in the print queue. They just
don't print right away unless I've essentially just started Windows.
 
Try it with the printer plugged directly into the PC instead of through the
hub. The idea is to eliminate possibilities.
 
Jeff Richards said:
Try it with the printer plugged directly into the PC instead of through the
hub. The idea is to eliminate possibilities.
Click to expand...


Hi Jeff,

I've unfortunately not been able to replicate the problem since
posting. I do think it does have something to do with the hub though.

A bit more information for you and others to chew on:

1.Another post in microsoft.public.win98.printing talks about a
problem slightly similar to mine, and the poster is referred to
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;240075&Product=w98
- but the conditions described there don't apply to me. I don't have
an AMD processor, or the other thing mentioned in that article.

2. I have a Belkin F5U021 hub. It's a four port USB hub. It's a
powered hub, and I have the self/bus switch set in the "self"
position, meaning that it's drawing its power from the AC electrical
source.

3. My OS is specifically Win98SE.

I'll post more on this problem when I can get it to repeat. Keep
ideas coming.
 
If your problem was happening with the parallel cable, and the USB, then
it's not an issue with the hub. My thinking is that there is a problem with
your spooler in Win 98. Win 98 has a difficult time managing several
services at once, ie. your digital camera, and multiple devices attached to
the machine (not to mention that you have multiple devices attached via the
same usb hub) So if you run into the problem again, my suggestion would be
to either : troubleshoot the printer more on another machine if you have
one. OR just upgrade to Win 2K. Win 2K is much more stable, you have the
RAM for it. Before do this however, get a generic diagnostic utility or the
diagnostics that came with the machine to make sure that you don't have
motherboard or other hardware problems.... then upgrade.
 
usenetdg said:
I have a Dell computer; 550 MHz processor, 512 meg of memory, 20 gig
hard drive with 5 gig free, running Windows 98.

The printer is connected to the computer using a USB cable (whatever
the "old" USB is). This is the only computer supported by the
printer, an HP 920. Okay, let me be more accurate - the USB cable
goes into a USB hub, which it shares with my digital camera and
scanner, neither of which are generally connected tot the computer.
That is, the hub has three things feeding into it: the cable going the
printer (always connected), a cable for the scanner (usually not
connected), and a cable for the camera (usually not connected). The
cable for the printer feeds into the first port on the hub.

When the computer has been in use for any length of time - nothing
heavy, just some web browsing, email checking, stuff like that -
printing a simple document, even a one-pager, from MS-Word, is an
experience in torture. The printer icon will appear at the bottom of
the screen, opening the icon up shows that that document is
"printing," but nothing will happen from the printer. The document
won't print, and the printer won't even make the noise indicating it's
gotten a signal from the computer.

Yes, I've checked, and the print queue is not paused.

I've seen this behavior a bit from other programs, but it's Word from
which we do most of our printing.

If I do a Windows restart, when the computer reboots, the first thing
that happens is it asks if I want to print the queued documents, and
they zip right off the printer with no problems.

What is going on here?

It's not the cable. I had the same problems when I was using a
parallel cable with the printer. And as I said, it prints fine all
the time once I turn the computer off and back on.

It's not the printer driver. The driver on the HP web site, dated
12-11-01, was on the printer's install disk, and I've even tried
redownloading and installing it off the web site.

It's not my computer's memory. I had 128 meg up until a couple months
ago before going to 512 meg. If anything, the delay is worse now.
But I can run way more things concurrently, and never hear the disk
spinning for virtual memory access like I used to. Yes, Windows
recognizes all 512 meg.

It's not what I'm printing. It displays this awful behavior if I'm
printing a 5k text-only document, or if I'm printing a 300k thing
crammed with graphics and tables. And the 300k document will print
quickly after a restart, just as the 5k one will.

Because it is a sometimes minor, but often huge, pain to restart my
computer just because I want a printed document now, I'd like to get
this matter fixed.

Suggestions, please?

Again, my documents show up immediately in the print queue. They just
don't print right away unless I've essentially just started Windows.
Click to expand...

Check availability of system resources; resources are probably low when
printing. Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Resource Meter. Win98
needs 70-80% free resources and will choke as you observe with printing
when resources get to 10-20% available. Slow printing is a typical sign
of low resources. Resources are not RAM, but memory reserved for
system pointers, references to system objects like icons and fonts and
system files. Win9x has fixed resource stack independent of installed
RAM; it cannot be resized.

Making resources available:

Empty C:\Windows\temp. Run Disk Cleanup or delete temp internet files
with IE or control panel Internet settings (I forget what it is called
in Win9x). Minimize number of desktop icons and files. Clean up C:\,
just the files in the root of C:; leave the system files and move or
delete log files and other files stored here. The folders, of course, do
not count. Do not use any desktop wallpaper or screen saver. Reduce the
fonts folder to 30-40 fonts.

From Start/Run/type: msconfig [enter]. When msconfig opens, select the
startup tab. Find osa.exe, the so-called Office startup application and
uncheck the box. Check all of the other startup apps and uncheck those
that should not be started. Use this site as a guide for startup apps:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php . Close msconfig. If
using the Office Bar, disable it,or at least close it before opening any
Office application. It is a resource hog of the worst kind. Reduce
display color to 16 bit. Reboot to force the changes made.

Also, the HP printer interface programs or printer monitors, are not
necessary for printing with HP printers, and these heavily consume
resources with no real benefit. If the HP print monitor is running in
either msconfig or in the startup folder, remove it. If it is in
Add/Remove Programs, deinstall it. I believe that terminating it after
it starts will often not restore the resources that it consumes.

Defrag simply because it helps Win9x run better. Use the resource meter
to verify that available resources has improved.
 
I is hard to say what might be slowing up your printing but to speed up your
computer in general you should defrag and scandisk frequently, perhaps once
a week and you should clean out all the spyware that could be messing up
your computer by running a program like Spybot after you have been on the
net. Also clean out temp internet files and cookies and clear the history.
Doing these things should allow the computer to work more efficiently.
 
usenetdg said:
"Jeff Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message Windows.


Hi Jeff,

I've unfortunately not been able to replicate the problem since
posting. I do think it does have something to do with the hub though.

A bit more information for you and others to chew on:

1.Another post in microsoft.public.win98.printing talks about a
problem slightly similar to mine, and the poster is referred to
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;240075&Product=w98
- but the conditions described there don't apply to me. I don't have
an AMD processor, or the other thing mentioned in that article.

2. I have a Belkin F5U021 hub. It's a four port USB hub. It's a
powered hub, and I have the self/bus switch set in the "self"
position, meaning that it's drawing its power from the AC electrical
source.

3. My OS is specifically Win98SE.

I'll post more on this problem when I can get it to repeat. Keep
ideas coming.
Click to expand...

My W98SE printing was really slow - took minutes to start from Word97.
Then I upgraded to XP and the whole thing was transformed. Fast start
and fast completion.

Upgrade!
 
Professor said:
I is hard to say what might be slowing up your printing but to speed up your
computer in general you should defrag and scandisk frequently, perhaps once
a week and you should clean out all the spyware that could be messing up
your computer by running a program like Spybot after you have been on the
net. Also clean out temp internet files and cookies and clear the history.
Doing these things should allow the computer to work more efficiently.
Click to expand...

I'm not a big defragger; probably 4-6 times a year. My disk is deemed
to be around 20% fragmented by Norton when I do defrag. That doesn't
sound too bad.

I have current Ad-Aware and Spybot on my computer and run both twice a
week, after updating their reference files. For the most part, my
machine stays free of spyware.

I am reluctant to clear out cookies as they generally improve my web
experience. Anyway, Netscape is my usual browser, and I don't know
that Netscape cookies and history are as integrated an issue of
Windows performance as IE cookies and history would be.
 
VANGO Communications said:
If your problem was happening with the parallel cable, and the USB, then
it's not an issue with the hub. My thinking is that there is a problem with
your spooler in Win 98. Win 98 has a difficult time managing several
services at once, ie. your digital camera, and multiple devices attached to
the machine (not to mention that you have multiple devices attached via the
same usb hub) So if you run into the problem again, my suggestion would be
to either : troubleshoot the printer more on another machine if you have
one. OR just upgrade to Win 2K. Win 2K is much more stable, you have the
RAM for it. Before do this however, get a generic diagnostic utility or the
diagnostics that came with the machine to make sure that you don't have
motherboard or other hardware problems.... then upgrade.
Click to expand...

At 512 meg (I think that's the maximum supported by Win98), I should
have plenty of memory to upgrade OS's, should that need arise.

I use Norton Utilities and their diagnostics a few times a year and
have never encountered an adverse finding.

An important clarification on the cables - when I was using a parallel
cable I would have slow printing (that is, docs would queue
immediately, but actually hit the printer after longer and longer and
longer delays). My present problem (documents often just plain NOT
printing until restart) only began after the hub came into play.

My digital camera never gives me a problem.

With my scanner, unless it's connected at bootup, the computer can't
"find" it until I unplug the cable from the USB port, then plug it
back in. The next time I see odd print behavior, I'm going to try
doing the same thing with the printer cable to see what will happen.
 
Quaoar said:
usenetdg said:
I have a Dell computer; 550 MHz processor, 512 meg of memory, 20 gig
hard drive with 5 gig free, running Windows 98.
Click to expand...
Again, my documents show up immediately in the print queue. They just
don't print right away unless I've essentially just started Windows.
Click to expand...

Check availability of system resources; resources are probably low when
printing. Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Resource Meter. Win98
needs 70-80% free resources and will choke as you observe with printing
when resources get to 10-20% available. Slow printing is a typical sign
of low resources. Resources are not RAM, but memory reserved for
system pointers, references to system objects like icons and fonts and
system files. Win9x has fixed resource stack independent of installed
RAM; it cannot be resized.

Making resources available:

Empty C:\Windows\temp. Run Disk Cleanup or delete temp internet files
with IE or control panel Internet settings (I forget what it is called
in Win9x). Minimize number of desktop icons and files. Clean up C:\,
just the files in the root of C:; leave the system files and move or
delete log files and other files stored here. The folders, of course, do
not count. Do not use any desktop wallpaper or screen saver. Reduce the
fonts folder to 30-40 fonts.

From Start/Run/type: msconfig [enter]. When msconfig opens, select the
startup tab. Find osa.exe, the so-called Office startup application and
uncheck the box. Check all of the other startup apps and uncheck those
that should not be started. Use this site as a guide for startup apps:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php . Close msconfig. If
using the Office Bar, disable it,or at least close it before opening any
Office application. It is a resource hog of the worst kind. Reduce
display color to 16 bit. Reboot to force the changes made.

Also, the HP printer interface programs or printer monitors, are not
necessary for printing with HP printers, and these heavily consume
resources with no real benefit. If the HP print monitor is running in
either msconfig or in the startup folder, remove it. If it is in
Add/Remove Programs, deinstall it. I believe that terminating it after
it starts will often not restore the resources that it consumes.

Defrag simply because it helps Win9x run better. Use the resource meter
to verify that available resources has improved.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I wasn't even aware of the resource meter.

Right now, with the following open on my computer:

- Resource meter
- Netscape 7.1 with two browser tabs open
- Forte Free Agent newsreader
- Find Files or Folders
- Windows Explorer view of c:\windows\temp (84 files; 2.3 megs)
- Two Word documents
- IE 6.0 on Windows Update
- The Printer Control Panel
- The HP Print Queue monitor (queue is empty)

here is what the resource monitor is showing:

- system resources 55% free
- user resources 58% free
- GDI resources 55% free

There are 436 files in my fonts directory. I'm reluctant to remove
any though.

I have a 600k picture as desktop wallpaper.

I ran msconfig and disabled the OSA. I don't use the Office Bar.
24-bit color has always worked great on my computer, so I'm reluctant
to change that (we really don't print that much, but we ALWAYS are
looking at the monitor).

Yes, I normally have the HP Print Monitor running, but all I get from
that is the (usually inaccurate) ink level information.

The annoying thing is that I posted after this problem occurred for
three consecutive days. Now I've been unable to make it happen again
- even though I'd seen it before.

Based on the information above, wouldn't it seem that I'm okay
resource-wise?

Next time I have a problem printing, I'm trying two things:

1. Get a read on the resources (and ideally, some accounting of what
software had been in use).

2. Unplug the cable from the printer at the USB hub, then plug it back
in.

I'm hoping that (1) answers some questions and that (2) makes the
printer print. It won't be the cure-all answer I'm looking for, but it
will be a start.
 
usenetdg said:
Quaoar said:
usenetdg said:
I have a Dell computer; 550 MHz processor, 512 meg of memory, 20 gig
hard drive with 5 gig free, running Windows 98.
Click to expand...
Again, my documents show up immediately in the print queue. They
just don't print right away unless I've essentially just started
Windows.
Click to expand...

Check availability of system resources; resources are probably low
when printing. Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Resource
Meter. Win98 needs 70-80% free resources and will choke as you
observe with printing when resources get to 10-20% available. Slow
printing is a typical sign of low resources. Resources are not
RAM, but memory reserved for system pointers, references to system
objects like icons and fonts and system files. Win9x has fixed
resource stack independent of installed RAM; it cannot be resized.

Making resources available:

Empty C:\Windows\temp. Run Disk Cleanup or delete temp internet
files with IE or control panel Internet settings (I forget what it
is called in Win9x). Minimize number of desktop icons and files.
Clean up C:\, just the files in the root of C:; leave the system
files and move or delete log files and other files stored here. The
folders, of course, do not count. Do not use any desktop wallpaper
or screen saver. Reduce the fonts folder to 30-40 fonts.

From Start/Run/type: msconfig [enter]. When msconfig opens, select
the startup tab. Find osa.exe, the so-called Office startup
application and uncheck the box. Check all of the other startup apps
and uncheck those that should not be started. Use this site as a
guide for startup apps:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php . Close msconfig.
If using the Office Bar, disable it,or at least close it before
opening any Office application. It is a resource hog of the worst
kind. Reduce display color to 16 bit. Reboot to force the changes
made.

Also, the HP printer interface programs or printer monitors, are not
necessary for printing with HP printers, and these heavily consume
resources with no real benefit. If the HP print monitor is running
in either msconfig or in the startup folder, remove it. If it is in
Add/Remove Programs, deinstall it. I believe that terminating it
after it starts will often not restore the resources that it
consumes.

Defrag simply because it helps Win9x run better. Use the resource
meter to verify that available resources has improved.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I wasn't even aware of the resource meter.

Right now, with the following open on my computer:

- Resource meter
- Netscape 7.1 with two browser tabs open
- Forte Free Agent newsreader
- Find Files or Folders
- Windows Explorer view of c:\windows\temp (84 files; 2.3 megs)
- Two Word documents
- IE 6.0 on Windows Update
- The Printer Control Panel
- The HP Print Queue monitor (queue is empty)

here is what the resource monitor is showing:

- system resources 55% free
- user resources 58% free
- GDI resources 55% free

There are 436 files in my fonts directory. I'm reluctant to remove
any though.

I have a 600k picture as desktop wallpaper.

I ran msconfig and disabled the OSA. I don't use the Office Bar.
24-bit color has always worked great on my computer, so I'm reluctant
to change that (we really don't print that much, but we ALWAYS are
looking at the monitor).

Yes, I normally have the HP Print Monitor running, but all I get from
that is the (usually inaccurate) ink level information.

The annoying thing is that I posted after this problem occurred for
three consecutive days. Now I've been unable to make it happen again
- even though I'd seen it before.

Based on the information above, wouldn't it seem that I'm okay
resource-wise?

Next time I have a problem printing, I'm trying two things:

1. Get a read on the resources (and ideally, some accounting of what
software had been in use).

2. Unplug the cable from the printer at the USB hub, then plug it back
in.

I'm hoping that (1) answers some questions and that (2) makes the
printer print. It won't be the cure-all answer I'm looking for, but it
will be a start.
Click to expand...

It's been a long time since I futzed around with Win98 printing
problems, but GDI resources is the point of failure AIRC. 55% free is
pretty healthy with what you have open. When the printing is slow, is
there a lot of HD thrashing? If you commonly have many apps opened when
the problem occurs, it might be the paging file that is full and the
first sign is constant HD access to do the print spooling in available
virtual memory.

Q
 
Back
Top