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Q305713: "Margins Do Not Fit Page Size" After You Switch Printer Driver

Article: Q305713
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 2000,4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbenv kberrmsg kbprint kbtoolkbbuglist kbfixlist
Last Modified: 08-MAY-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition 
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you print a Microsoft Excel 2000 document that has the "Fit To [1] page(s)
wide by [1] tall" option enabled on the Page tab after you changed the printer
driver by clicking New Driver on the Advanced tab of the printer properties, you
may receive the following error message:

  Margins do not fit page size

CAUSE
=====

When you switch the driver for a printer, the system attempts to merge the
device mode settings for the old printer driver with the device mode settings
for the new printer driver. This is to try to preserve the device mode settings
for the old printer driver so that they can be reinstated if you switch the
driver back. However, some settings are not supported by some drivers, and this
approach can lead to inconsistencies.

Excel 2000 interrogates the printer's device mode settings to determine whether
it should perform its own scaling (relatively slow), or use the printer's
built-in scaling capabilities (relatively fast). Excel 2000 uses the printer's
scaling capabilities, if present, as this improves performance.

However, if you switch from a PostScript printer with scaling capabilities, to a
PCL printer that does not have scaling capabilities, the end result of merging
the device mode settings is that Excel 2000 concludes that the PCL printer can
perform its own scaling, when in fact it cannot.

This may cause Excel 2000 to submit a page of data to be printed that is too big
for the physical page, expecting it to be scaled to fit the page in the printer,
and this can cause the symptom that is listed in the "Symptoms" section of this
article to occur.

NOTE: Although this article includes Excel 2000, this problem can occur with
other programs.

RESOLUTION
==========

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to
correct the problem described in this article and should be applied only to
systems experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the
fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and
information on support costs, please go to the following address on the World
Wide Web:

  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are normally incurred for support calls may
be canceled, if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific
update will resolve your problem. Normal support costs will apply to additional
support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in
question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or
later:

  Date         Time   Version  Size     File name    Platform
  -----------------------------------------------------------
  21-Aug-2001  17:05  0.2.0.0   73,104  Rasdd.dll    Intel 
  21-Aug-2001  17:05  0.2.0.0   75,536  Rasddui.dll  Intel 
  21-Aug-2001  16:59  0.2.0.0  129,488  Rasdd.dll    Alpha 
  21-Aug-2001  17:00  0.2.0.0  140,560  Rasddui.dll  Alpha 

NOTE: Because of file dependencies, this hotfix requires Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
Service Pack 6a or Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.

This hotfix is only applicable when Windows NT 4.0 Version-2 printer drivers are
in use.



WORKAROUND
==========

If you have documents that require a specific printer driver (PCL or
PostScript), the best solution is to install two printers for the target print
device. One printer would use the PCL driver, and the other printer would use
the PostScript driver, and you would then select the appropriate printer when
you print.

This is a more efficient and effective solution than having a single printer
driver for the printer and swapping the printer driver from PCL to PostScript as
required.

However, if your print server architecture precludes this approach, download the
hotfix that is described in the "Resolution" section of this article.

For pure Windows NT 4.0 installations, install the hotfix on all print servers.

For installations that include Windows 2000 print servers, configure the Windows
2000 print servers to use only Version-2 (Windows NT 4.0) printer drivers, and
then install the hotfix on all print servers.

For additional information about how to force Windows 2000 to use Version-2
printer drivers, click the article number below to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q290874 Windows 2000 Printer Driver Does Not Push Printer Configuration
  Changes to Windows NT 4.0 Driver

By default, Windows 2000 uses Version-3 (Windows 2000) printer drivers if they
are available. However, it is not possible to provide a hotfix for this problem
in the architecture that is used to support Version-3 drivers.

Because of this, if you need to address this problem on Windows 2000 print
servers and cannot use the preceding workaround, you must force the Windows 2000
print servers to use Version-2 drivers, and then use the hotfix.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are
listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbenv kberrmsg kbprint kbtool kbbuglist kbfixlist
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000DataServ kbwin2000DataServSearch kbwin2000Serv kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbwin2000ServSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbNTTermServ400 kbNTTermServSearch kbWinAdvServSearch kbWinDataServSearch
Version           : :2000,4.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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