WD2002: Unexpected Behavior When You Print a Graphics Document (273996)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q273996

For a Microsoft Word 2000 version of this article, see 220570.

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to print a document, Microsoft Word may appear to stop responding (hang), and it may take a long time (several minutes) to print the document.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur when you print a document that contains graphics to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) 4500 series Postscript printer on Microsoft Windows 98 and Microsoft Windows 95. Word has not actually stopped responding; it is waiting for the graphic to load into the printer memory.

Note If you are printing multiple copies of the document, copies subsequent to the first copy will print rapidly.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, print a graphics document to a Printer Control Language (PCL) printer. As a general rule, it is faster to print a single document to a PCL printer, but it takes less total time to print multiple copies of a document to a PostScript printer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

To download and install the latest printer driver for your printer, go to the following Hewlett-Packard Web site:

http://www.hp.com

For information about how to contact Hewlett Packard, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/27/2006
Keywords:kbbug kbnofix KB273996
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.