Printing problems XP64 networked printers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim Helfer
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Jim Helfer

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We've just migrated to using shared network printers on a Server 2003.
We have 64-bit Windows XP workstations, so we have the 32bit and 64bit
drivers loaded on the server.

We're having some printing problems that seem mostly prevalent on the
64-bit machines. When you send a print command, sometimes they will
stall, and experience long delays of the application locked up before
they print.

I'm also getting "Thunking" errors.

Any ideas apreciated.

Jim
 
Re: Printing problems XP64 networked printers

Deare Jim:

For what it's worth, I've seen similar behavior on my small LAN. I
recently replaced a Windows 2000 machine with my "old" XP-64 machine and
bought a new XP-64 machine to serve as my main development machine.
My LAN is peer-to-peer with only 4-5 machines. My "old" XP-64 machine
now owns a Brother printer.

Delays initiating print jobs can be 30 seconds or longer, and sometimes,
print jobs just disappear. On the other hand, sometimes printing a
document from MS Word is nearly instantaneous. The whole setup is very
undependable.

Apart from this recent behavior, my experience with XP-64 has been
excellent over the past two years.

I hope someone has answers.

Regards,
Jim Henriksen


Jim Helfer wrote:
> We've just migrated to using shared network printers on a Server 2003.
> We have 64-bit Windows XP workstations, so we have the 32bit and 64bit
> drivers loaded on the server.
>
> We're having some printing problems that seem mostly prevalent on the
> 64-bit machines. When you send a print command, sometimes they will
> stall, and experience long delays of the application locked up before
> they print.
>
> I'm also getting "Thunking" errors.
>
> Any ideas apreciated.
>
> Jim
 
Re: Printing problems XP64 networked printers

the 64bit system uses a binary called splwow64.exe to thunk (who would
have ) the data between the 32 bit applications and the 64 bit spooler


Some custom printer properties may be unavailable in a 64-bit version of
Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902066/en-us

You cannot use the RUNAS command to print from a 32-bit program in different
user accounts in a single session on a computer that is running a 64-bit
version of Microsoft Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923357/en-us

if the splwow64 process is terminating, then you will not be able to print
until it is restarted.


Do you experience the delay when printing from 64bit applications (notepad,
IE).


--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Jim Henriksen" <mail@wolverinesoftware.com> wrote in message
news:uQ0$ZfBpIHA.4308@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Deare Jim:
>
> For what it's worth, I've seen similar behavior on my small LAN. I
> recently replaced a Windows 2000 machine with my "old" XP-64 machine and
> bought a new XP-64 machine to serve as my main development machine.
> My LAN is peer-to-peer with only 4-5 machines. My "old" XP-64 machine now
> owns a Brother printer.
>
> Delays initiating print jobs can be 30 seconds or longer, and sometimes,
> print jobs just disappear. On the other hand, sometimes printing a
> document from MS Word is nearly instantaneous. The whole setup is very
> undependable.
>
> Apart from this recent behavior, my experience with XP-64 has been
> excellent over the past two years.
>
> I hope someone has answers.
>
> Regards,
> Jim Henriksen
>
>
> Jim Helfer wrote:
>> We've just migrated to using shared network printers on a Server 2003. We
>> have 64-bit Windows XP workstations, so we have the 32bit and 64bit
>> drivers loaded on the server.
>>
>> We're having some printing problems that seem mostly prevalent on the
>> 64-bit machines. When you send a print command, sometimes they will
>> stall, and experience long delays of the application locked up before
>> they print.
>>
>> I'm also getting "Thunking" errors.
>>
>> Any ideas apreciated.
>>
>> Jim
 
Re: Printing problems XP64 networked printers

Dear Alan:

I tried several tests at the office this afternoon. Two attempts to
print from WordPad took about 20 seconds each. A third attempt failed
with a message along the lines of "unable to start print job." When I
quiickly retried, the printer responded immediately. Attempts to print
from Word were handled promptly.

Since WordPad is in the Program Files directory, not Program Files
(x86), am I correct in assuming that it's a 64-bit application?
Obviously Word is not.

Finally, let me restate that my printer responsiveness issues began when
I replaced the Windows 2000 machine that used to own the printer with
an XP-64 machine. The problem is an XP-64 to XP-64 problem.

Regards,
Jim

Alan Morris [MSFT] wrote:
> the 64bit system uses a binary called splwow64.exe to thunk (who would
> have ) the data between the 32 bit applications and the 64 bit spooler
>
>
> Some custom printer properties may be unavailable in a 64-bit version of
> Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902066/en-us
>
> You cannot use the RUNAS command to print from a 32-bit program in different
> user accounts in a single session on a computer that is running a 64-bit
> version of Microsoft Windows
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923357/en-us
>
> if the splwow64 process is terminating, then you will not be able to print
> until it is restarted.
>
>
> Do you experience the delay when printing from 64bit applications (notepad,
> IE).
>
>
 
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