"Cannot Print" with Too Many Files in Root Directory

ID: Q75099

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11
Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0

SUMMARY

If the root directory is set as the location for .TMP files or there is an invalid temp directory, causing the root directory to be the temp directory, the number of file/directory entries contained in the root directory may cause printing problems when it approaches a total of 512 entries. The location for .TMP files is set to the root directory if the following line is in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

set temp=c:\

To correct this problem, do the following:

Open the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in a text editor and make sure it contains a SET TEMP= statement pointing to a valid directory. A sample line might be:
set temp=c:\windows\temp

Quit Windows, then delete all .TMP files from the root directory while in MS-DOS. Windows must NOT be running when you do this. (If you are unfamiliar with MS-DOS, see your MS-DOS manual for instructions on how to delete the files.)

The same error message may occur if you're printing to a network printer and the share named has changed on the printer. In this case you must reconnect to the printer using the correct share name.

MORE INFORMATION

If you print from Microsoft Word for Windows when the root directory is being used as the temp directory, the following error message may be displayed:

Cannot print

This error may occur when the Print Manager attempts to swap temporary files out to disk while printing. The Print Manager will try to exceed the maximum number of file/directory entries in the root directory, causing this error message to appear.

The same problem might also cause Microsoft Write to give the following error when attempting to print:

Delete one or more files to increase disk space and try again

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 1.0, page 378

Additional query words: w4wprint w4werror 1.10a print hard disk files space tshoot temp 3.00 3.00A 3.10 3.11

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:1.0,1.1,1.1a,2.0,3.0,3.0a,3.1,3.11
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :