About Spool 32
We who work on computers often often get user complaints about the amount of time it takes to print documents. So we're always looking for ways to improve printing performance. Luckily, Windows allows some control of printing performance by adjusting the spool file settings according to the type of printing done.
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What exactly is a spool file?
Essentially, a spool file is a temporary file on your hard disk that holds documents as they’re printed. When you
print a document from an application, Windows creates a spool file on your hard disk and copies the document to
that file using a special enhanced metafile format. Once it has created the spool file, Windows returns control
to your application and then, in the background, it sends the document to the printer from the spool file.
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Spool file formating
While you shouldn’t ever need to adjust the spool file format, you might be interested in knowing a bit more about
it. Click here to find out more.
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Move the spool file
In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, you might be able to tweak the performance of the spool file itself by moving it
to a faster hard drive or another partition. (However, you can’t move the spool file in Windows 9x.) To begin,
you’ll need to create a new folder on the drive or partition. You can name it whatever you like. Then, access the
Printer And Faxes folder. From the File menu, select the Server Properties command. When you see the Print Server
Properties dialog box, select the Advanced tab. Type the path to the new folder in the Spool Folder text box. Then,
click OK. When you see the confirmation dialog box, click Yes and then close the Printer And Faxes folder.
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Accessing the spool file settings
To adjust the spool file settings, you’ll begin by accessing the Printers folder in your version of the Windows
operating system. In Windows 9x and Windows 2000, you’ll find it on the Start menu in Settings | Printers. In Windows
XP, you’ll find it directly on the Start menu as Printers And Faxes. (You can also access the Printers folder and
the Printers And Faxes folder through Control Panel.) Once you have the Printers or Printers And Faxes window open,
right-click on your active printer’s icon and select the Properties command. If you’re using Windows 9x, in the
printer’s properties dialog box, click the Details tab. Next, click the Spool Settings button near the bottom to
display the Spool Settings dialog box.
In Windows 9x, the print spool settings are found in the Spool Settings dialog box, which is accessed from the
Details tab.
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Boost printer performance by adjusting Windows' spool file settings
If you’re using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, select the Advanced tab and you’ll find the spool settings in the middle
of the tab. In Windows 2K/XP, the print spool settings are found on the Advanced tab.
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Spool print jobs so program finishes printing faster
The default setting for all versions of the Windows operating system is Spool Print Jobs So Program Finishes Printing
Faster. This setting configures Windows' printing operations so that control is returned to your applications while
printing occurs in the background. There are two subsettings that allow you to control how fast the background
printing operation begins.
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Begin immediately
The default subsetting, titled Start Printing After First Page Is Spooled In Windows 9x and Start Printing Immediately
In Windows 2K/XP, allows the Windows operating system to begin the background printing operation as soon as the
first page of the document has been sent to the spool file. While the operating system is printing the first page,
it continues building the spool file in the background. For most common printing situations, this is the optimal
setting. Of course, the advantage here is a quicker turnaround between the time that you initiate the print job
and the time that the last page rolls out of the printer. But there are two additional advantages. First, control
is returned to the application more quickly. Second, less hard disk space is required for the spool file and, subsequently,
there is less hard disk management overhead.
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A bit of an illusion
It’s important to keep in mind that returning control to the application quickly is a bit of an illusion. Even
though the application is available, it’s still working on printing the document. So the application might not
be as responsive as it would otherwise be.
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Begin momentarily
If the user is regularly printing very large documents or complex graphics, using the Start Printing After Last
Page Is Spooled setting may actually improve printing performance. When you select this option, Windows will focus
its full attention on spooling the entire document to spool file before beginning the actual background printing
operation. The advantage here comes from the fact that having the entire document available to the printer at one
time via the spool file can eliminate intermediate bottlenecks or other potential problem areas.
Another advantage of creating the entire spool file before printing begins would be in the case of a super fast
printer that might be able to print faster than pages can be spooled to the spool file using the immediate setting.
If that’s the case, the printer might be waiting on the spool file.
Of course, this option has the potential to cause extra delays—not only will the turnaround time be longer, but
it will also take longer for control to be returned to the application. Furthermore, this setting requires more
hard disk space than the default setting because Windows will need to place the entire document in the spool file
at one time.
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Print directly to the printer
In some printing situations, the spool file itself can be the cause of the delay. If neither of the spool file
settings improves printing performance, you can try the Print Directly To The Printer setting. As its name implies,
this setting completely eliminates the spool file and ensures that your print job has the printer’s full attention.
Of course, this will mean that your application will be busy during the entire printing process.
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Of couse that's good if the printer is working ok, but most of the trouble I've had is because of "spool32 errors." Click here to see how I usually get around them.
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