How to resolve network print speed issues from Vista to XP

A common issue that arises when both Windows XP and Windows Vista are in use on the same network is an unacceptable degradation of network printing speed. This degradation is noticeable primarily in the print driver options where one goes to set print quality and other options. Also, generally speaking, the print process is very slow while actually spooling to the networked printer. Although this issue can be seen while printing from an XP machine to a shared printer connected to aVista machine, the incidences where a Vista machine is printing to a shared printer on an XP are far more common. Chalk this up to another one of the bazillion bugs we have to “live with” as part of our enslavement to Microsoft.

I have only one quick and reliable fix for this problem, although I am sure that other solutions exist: Set up the shared printer as a local port on your remote machine. In Vista:

1. Go to Control Panel / Printers

2. Click “Add Printer”

3. Click the “Add a local printer” option

4. In the “Choose a printer port” dialog, click “Create a new port”

5. Select “Local Port” from the “Create new port” combo box.

6. Click “Next.”

7. In the “Port Name” dialog box, enter the UNC Name of the shared printer to which you want to print. For example: enter “\\acomputer\acomputersHP” to print to a shared printer on acomputer's machine. Make sure you type this in correctly.

8. Go ahead and print a test page to make sure you got it right.

9. In almost every case, you now should be able to print normally to that shared printer.

Keep in mind that this solution applies to cases where you are printing to a printer that is connected to someone else’s computer, NOT for printers that are directly connectedd to your network