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This article was excerpted from: Windows XP Headaches: How to Fix Common (and Not So Common) Problems in a Hurry, Second Edition

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Cause Print jobs should be handled by a process called the Windows spooler, which processes and holds print jobs until they are printed. This frees up the computer so that you can continue to work and play while the printer is working. If the spooler is not used, however, the computer will not respond until the print job is finished.

The Pain Killer To make sure you are using the spooler, follow these steps:

1. Click Start | Control Panel | Printers and Faxes. (These steps assume you are using the Classic view of Control Panel.)
2. Right-click the desired printer icon and click Properties.

3. Click the Advanced tab. Make sure the Spool Print Documents So Program Finishes Printing Faster option is selected—not the Print Directly to the Printer option.

   

You can see on the Advanced tab of Printer Properties that if you choose the Spool Print Documents So Program Finishes Printing Faster option, you can select one of two radio buttons: Start Printing After Last Page Is Spooled and Start Printing Immediately. The default setting is Start Printing Immediately, which allows the printer to get started and returns the application to you faster. However, this setting could cause you to experience communication errors in some cases. If you want to make sure that the entire print job gets to the spool before printing starts, choose the Start Printing After Last Page Is Spooled radio button. This will slow down the return of your application, however. For most users, the Start Printing Immediately setting is best.

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