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Q97749: Adjusting PRINTSTA Parameters to Enhance Printer Speed

Article: Q97749
Product(s): Microsoft LAN Manager
Version(s): 
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 30-JUL-2001

SUMMARY
=======

You can set several parameters from the command line to speed up network
printing on MS-DOS workstations when using PRINTSTA.EXE. Type "PRINTSTA"
(without the quotation marks) at the command line to see which parameters it is
currently using, or "PRINTSTA /?" (without the quotation marks) for a brief
description of each parameter.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Some parameters that are most useful for enhancing printing speed are are:

/T:1 Timer Priority   This sets the priority for PRINTSTA as to how
                     often it can use the system's processor. Setting
                     this to 1 gives PRINTSTA its highest priority.

/B:20                 Number of network buffers for use with PRINTSTA.
                     20 is the maximum. Each buffer uses 128 bytes.

/I:50 Timer Loop      This sets the number of processing cycles PRINTSTA
Iterations            uses before relinquishing control. You can assign
           whatever value you want to this, but setting it too
           high can cause problems. If you change it and
           problems develop, look to it first as a probable
           cause.

/O:1024 Number of     This should be matched to the value set for the /M
Characters to Print   parameter.
in Each Pass

/M:1024        The amount of cache memory to be reserved for
                     each permitted spool file.

Giving your protocol stack more NCBs seems to help. You need at least 8 for the
stack to function properly, 12 is better, and if a lot of people are trying to
connect at the same time you may want even more.

Additional query words: 2.20

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Keywords          :  

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