PPT97: Turning off Background Printing Increases Print Speed (190388)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q190388

SYMPTOMS

When you print from PowerPoint, the print spooling operation may be slow.

CAUSE

Slow print spooling can be caused by two different conditions:
  • The background printing option is turned on in PowerPoint.

    -or-
  • The printer settings are not set correctly.

RESOLUTION

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. Click the Print tab.
  3. Click to clear the Background Printing check box.

MORE INFORMATION

Background printing is enabled by default in PowerPoint 97. There are two modes of printing: background and foreground. When you print with background printing turned on, you can resume work on your presentation very quickly. The print job is sent to the printer in the background. However, it takes longer to print a job in the background, and PowerPoint performs more slowly while a background print job is being spooled.

When you print with background printing turned off, you cannot resume work on your presentation until the entire print job has been spooled. However, the print job is sent much faster using this setting.

While you are printing in the background, a printer icon appears on the status bar. You can cancel the print job by double-clicking this icon. You can queue several PowerPoint print jobs to one or more printers. When a print job is in progress, a printer icon appears on the Windows taskbar. Double-click the icon to open that printer's queue.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/7/2001
Keywords:kbprb kbprint kbualink97 KB190388
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.