Very slow accessing printer shared from Windows Machine

Question

How do I go about debugging a networking problem where the office printer is shared off a Windows XP PC and is very slow from me to access? Print/changing any settings can take several minutes and applications often display "Not Responding" in this time.

My machine is a Windows Vista PC. The other PCs in the office are either Vista or XP and do not suffer from any printing problems.

I am not experiencing any other network related problems, I can access the web and e-mail fine.

The printer is a HP officejet Pro 8000

Answer 1

If deleting the printer and re-installing the latest driver does not work as Mark suggested, try to install the same drivers which are installed on one of the Vista machines not having the problem.

You can also quickly check for differences between the working machines and non-working machines:

• network configuration,
• 32 versus 64 bit OS,
• domain membership or workgroup name,
• do the users have the same user rights? (normal, administrators)
• do the UAC settings differ

Answer 2

Things to try:

1. Delete and readd the printer to your computer
2. Update the driver for the printer by going to the manufacturer's website and seeing if a newer driver is available.