Microsoft KB Archive/97749

= Adjusting PRINTSTA Parameters to Enhance Printer Speed =

Article ID: 97749

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006



This article was previously published under Q97749



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 at the command line to see which parameters it is currently using, or PRINTSTA /? 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

Keywords: KB97749

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