word printing is S...L...O...W

[Bruce]

Word 2003 printing to a LOCAL printer (HP P3005 monochrome LaserJet -
not multifunction) connected via parallel cable. When print
multiple copies of a multi-page ( 5-10 pages) job containing 3-5 1/3-
page images, the job starts and System CPU usage goes to 100% and
stays there for ~5 seconds FOR EACH COPY PRINTED. Thus, the system
will stall for 5 seconds, then be OK for 5 - 10 seconds, stall for 5
when the next copy is sent, and so on. This is driving the user
nuts!

Is there a way to fix this? More RAM in the printer, different
settings in Word, send these jobs to Kinko's ? I have updated the
printer driver and tried most of the permutations of spooler settings
on the print driver with no change. If I send 1 copy of a 100 page
document, it prints fine and fast, but multiple copies seem to be sent
1 at a time, even if they are only a small page of text. Your
thoughts?

 

[Terry Farrell]

If you send a multi-page document to a printer and want it Collated (that is
print the documents so that you get doc 1 followed by doc2, etc. rather than
10 page 1s, followed by 10 page 2s, etc.), then Word creates a print run for
each copy of the complete document. Because it is doing it so slowly
suggests that you have insufficient system memory, a slow processor or a
slow communication path to the printer.

But most likely is that you have insufficient memory for the print spool.
The spool is just a holding area of memory where the whole print job is
created quickly. The job is then spooled to the printer at the speed the
printer can accept it. Of course, this is all done in background so that you
can continue to use your computer providing you haven't disabled background
printing.

This is all assuming that you have a locally connected printer and are not
using a print server.