• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Computer Print Server?!

M

mad0maxx

Senior member
Ok I got a low end P4 1.8GHz processor with 512MB old RD-Ram and damn too exspensive to upgrade to more ram.

I also have two printers installed on the computer and my family is complaining that it is slowing down the computer since I do not want the printers on my computer LoL

Would a print server help alleviate the slow computer if so what print server would you recommend?

Thanks ^_^

P.S. I did not know what forum to post it under so sorry if it is under the wrong forum.
 
A print server would naturally alleviate the performance issues, since the computer would no longer have to be doing any of the actual work controlling the printer, which could be a big performance hog on older USB machines and terrible with parallel ports. I can't suggest any models in particular though. Are they both USB printers?

Newegg has quite a few listings for USB print servers. The cheapest 2 USB port model is 62 plus 6 shipping (also has a parallel port). A little cheaper gets you a single USB and parallel port if that's all you need, or two parallel ports and a USB.

Oh yeah, don't forget to make sure the printer properties are configured for "start printing after last page is spooled". This can sometimes make a difference in how snappy the system feels as it lets the computer release the application more quickly so the printing gets pushed to the background. Controlling cheap "Win-printers" via USB can still be a strain on the CPU though.
 
Yeah I have two USB printers so it would help alot

But I heard that some printers do not work with the print servers... one of my printers are a multi printers so will that be a problem?
 
Not sure about support for particular printers. The print server is unlikely to support anything except the printer feature, any other things on a multi-function device like scanning or faxing won't work most likely. Heck I don't even know how USB print servers support any printers since most USB printers use the PC CPU and drivers to process data. Presumably each brand of print server provides documentation on a website that you could look at to verify whether your printers will work beforehand.
 
Originally posted by: mad0maxx
Ok I got a low end P4 1.8GHz processor with 512MB old RD-Ram and damn too exspensive to upgrade to more ram.

I also have two printers installed on the computer and my family is complaining that it is slowing down the computer since I do not want the printers on my computer LoL

Would a print server help alleviate the slow computer if so what print server would you recommend?

Thanks ^_^

P.S. I did not know what forum to post it under so sorry if it is under the wrong forum.
Click to expand...

NT4 and later OSs (including 2000 and XP) will be able to print to most printers, whether USB (2000 and higher only) or parallel (all of the above), without issue. Drivers will automatically update on the clients when you update the driver on the 'server', a convenience, assuming the XP p4/1.8 box is your server.

I can't imagine a print job, even a huge, complicated one, makeing a p4/1.8 even bat an eye. Have you actually tested this and confirmed the computer slows down in the middle of a print job? Can you actually feel a difference? I find that very surprising.

I don't see why using the P4/1.8 as the print server itself isn't completely reasonable, as long as it's kept on most of the time. If electricity cost is a concern, then a small printserver device (from Linksys or DLink or someone) would be cheaper for electricity, but would cost you in the purchase outlay.
 
Well the thing is that the computer is not only used as a print server but my mom likes to play her Sims 2 game and always complains that the computer runs so slow... so only thing I can figure it the printers are slowing down the computer...
 
Then watch what happens when you print. Don't do anything else - just run Task Manager, and click the Performance tab, and then print a job from another computer onto that computer. Does the (print server) computer go to 100% CPU utilization for seconds at a time while printing? *And* do you routinely print while she's playing Sims? Unless both of the above are correct, the PC being the printer server isn't the problem.

I find it doubtful the PC being the print server is the problem on a P4/1.8. It's possible, but it seems unlikely. Can you shed more light on this?
 
Well the printers usually come with a crapload of printer software you have to load and have to have the stupid printer icon in the tray or the printer will not work so I thought those programs were taking up the little 512 megs of ram and slug the computer down... is this correct?
 
XP will page out anything that isn't in use, so again, try the test I detailed above and see. How long would a simple test take? We're all guessing - _you_ can actually run a good test. 🙂
 
Ok, well right now I have to wait to reinstall windows on the old P4 1.8GHz computer because I was having problems with my computer so I took the hard drive out of there to test if my hard drive was bad... LoL

Thanks for all the input...
 
Most printer manufacturers do make drivers available that don't have all the extra software included. At worst they may come with extra "management" software that is reached through the printer properties for doing things like cleaning printheads and aligning them. A few though, like Lexmark, like to make large driver packages I think which you can't just install a driver.
 
Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
A few though, like Lexmark, like to make large driver packages I think which you can't just install a driver.
Click to expand...

Yeah and just my luck one of the two printers is a Lexmark All in One >< LoL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top