Excessive Processor Usage on Print Servers

 Last reviewed: March 11, 1998
Article ID: Q182333
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

Print servers show high processor usage (70 percent to 90 percent) in Performance Monitor. The print servers also receive RPC Server Too Busy errors, and clients report slow printing problems.

CAUSE

These symptoms occur because named pipe connections and server sessions are not timing out and disconnecting, which causes an excessive load on the server. Other symptoms of this issue are a high handle count for Spoolss.exe (more than 15,000) and a high number of named pipes or spoolss sessions for any one user connected to the server.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the following fix or wait for the next Windows NT service pack.

This fix should have the following time stamp: 

   03/10/98  05:00p                79,632 Win32spl.dll (Intel)
   03/10/98  04:56p               135,440 Win32spl.dll (Alpha)
This is a client fix that will result in idle pipes from the client to the print server being closed. The more clients it is applied to, the more relief the print server will experience.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information. 

Keywords          : kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00 NTSrvWkst
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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Last reviewed: March 11, 1998
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