TCP/IP Printing Causes File Cache to Grow

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SYMPTOMS

If you transfer large print jobs via LPR/LPD, either from a Windows NT computer to an LPD printer or from some other system to the LPD service, you notice a user interface performance degradation. The jobs need to have about the size of the physical memory of the computer.

If you look at performance counters while this happens, you find that the counter for the file cache (Memory: Cache Bytes) is very high while the process working sets decline (Process: Working Set, instance _Total).

CAUSE

While copying spool files, the TCP/IP printing components do not use the flag FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN to open the files. Thus, cache manager increases the cache size when data is read or written because it expects the application to need it again.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Keywords : kbprint NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 ntprint kbfix4.00.sp4 NTSrvWkst
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug