Memory Leak in Spoolss.exe Causes Performance Degradation

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

SYMPTOMS

Over time, the Windows NT system responsiveness appears sluggish, and clients may report a gradual decrease in system performance.

By tracking the amount of Private Bytes for Spoolss.exe, it can be observed that, over time, it increases without decreasing. This is viewable using Windows NT Performance Monitor by choosing the following counter to monitor:

   Object: Process
   Instance: Spoolss.exe
   Counter: Private Bytes 

CAUSE

The spooler leaks memory from the heap until all system memory is exhausted.

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.

Additional query words: private bytes slow print

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