Printer Performance and Troubleshooting Printers Revised May 22, 2013 2013 ImproMed, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of ImproMed, LLC.
Contents Overview 3 Understanding Print Functions 3 Issues with Printing 3 Printer Configuration 4 Identify the Printers 4 Shared Workstation Printers 4 Print Servers 5 Terminal Servers 5 All-In-One Printers 5 Drivers 5 Troubleshooting 6 Printers 6 Printer Port Problems 6 The Software 6 Performance 7 Installing Shared Printers 8 Before Installing a Shared Printer 8 On the Computer the Printer is Installed Locally 8 On the Workstation to Print From 9 Summary 10
Overview Overview Using this document will help operators understand print functions, suggested printer configurations, printing issues, troubleshooting, and Windows Printer Sharing. Understanding Print Functions Infinity or Triple Crown (hereinafter referred to as Software ) will work with any type of printer that is Windows compatible. Businesses can purchase printers from anywhere, no matter who the manufacturer is, as long as the printer driver is compatible with all workstation operating systems on the network. Over time workstations and printers typically get moved around and/or upgraded, which requires files used to control them to be updated. If the printer files are not maintained properly, printers may not connect to workstations, which can cost the business time and money. On top of maintaining printers, proper maintenance of workstations helps to prevent and resolve downtime in printing as well as many other issues, including a few described in this document. Important! Proper maintenance of workstation printers helps solve lags in printing and other problems listed in this document. Drivers and Fonts When previewing a print job through the Software, the actual item being printed is built on screen using the fonts installed with the printer controls (drivers). If a font being used is not supported by the printer, the printer itself will replace it with one that is supported. Workstations also perform the same font replacement function. When printers or workstations perform these functions, problems can arise in which print jobs do not look normal when printed. For troubleshooting information please see Troubleshooting on page 6. Issues with Printing The issues and problems surrounding printing can be caused by a combination of printer settings. The ImproMed, LLC Customer Support Center really does understand the needs and demands of the Veterinarian Industry. A business clients deserve a clear understanding of the charges, take home instructions, and other communications they receive. Here is a short list of issues related to printing: Unconventional characters Sizes of characters vary in the different sections of invoices, medical records, etc. Reprinting items are still not printing correctly Printing is slow to respond Out of memory errors 3
Printer Configuration Printer Configuration 4 Identify the Printers From the Software, please determine what printers are used for printing these specific items: Label Printers for Prescriptions, EasyTime Check-In and Appointment Labels, and Patient Labels. Invoice Printers Report Printers To do this, please follow these steps on all computers: 1. Open the Software. 2. Click File Workstation Preferences. Note: For Infinity v5.x click and for Triple Crown v3.x click to access the File menu. 3. Click the Printer Locations tab. This will display the Software Application Printer and the assigned Device Name. 4. Select the drop-down next to the Software Application Printer to assign each of the special print jobs to specified Device Names. IMPORTANT! If any Device Name is left blank, the Software will send the print job to the Windows default printer. ImproMed recommends that the Windows default printer is set to a laser printer. Shared Workstation Printers As printers are replaced and moved around in an office, the files for these printers remain on the computer and can conflict with new printers connected to the workstation. Deleting printers from the Printers section of the Control Panel, then removing any drivers associated with them by following the steps below will help prevent some issues. Delete all printers no longer being used: 1. Click Start Settings Control Panel or click Start Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Printers folder. 3. Click File Server Properties or click Organize Server Properties or click Print Server Properties. 4. Click the Drivers tab. 5. Highlight and click Remove on any unused printer driver listed. 6. Click OK when finished. 9 9 The fonts used by a workstation are the result of the programs installed on the workstation itself, along with the drivers installed by the printers connected to the workstation. Some non-standard fonts can conflict when the software programs and printer driver fonts do not match properly. When creating templates in the Software, ImproMed recommends using a standard font for the best results. Microsoft and HP web sites can be great resources for understanding how fonts interface with printers. If an HP Printer is being used, HP provides a universal print driver that can be downloaded and used.
Printer Configuration Print Servers These are dedicated devices made by manufacturers, such as a HP or D-Link, that connect one or more printers to a network. Install printers directly on each workstation to print to the print server s IP address. Printing in this manner offers better reliability and performance when printing. When a workstation needs to be repaired or replaced, using print servers will allow all other workstations to continue printing without interruption. Also, the drivers for the printer are installed directly in their original state on each workstation, instead of the drivers being copied from a workstation that has a printer shared. ImproMed does not recommend installing printers on the SQL Database server. Printers that are shared from the SQL database server will affect performance. When a document is printed, the workstation s resources are used to create the document and then transmit it to the printer. Since the SQL database server is already working to share the Software s data with all workstations in the office along with running backups, scheduled maintenance, and any additional tasks assigned depending on the size of the office, sharing printers from this computer can drastically slow down the SQL database server. Terminal Servers ImproMed has found printing from the remote business works best when print servers are installed at the remote business. In conjunction with using print servers, ImproMed recommends using a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Any printer used at a remote business needs to have the driver installed on the terminal server at the host business to work properly. All-In-One Printers The all-in-one printer drivers are difficult to keep updated, because scanner / copier / printer combos have thick drivers. These drivers, like the printers themselves, are a combination of smaller components. Essentially they are multiple drivers in one, a driver for each function the printer can perform. This, along with the software that sometimes installs with the driver installation, can use workstation resources to perform functions not needed at your office. When these files are updated, they are normally updated to one function or program at a time. These updates increase the amount of space used for the software to operate the printer and, as a result, more resources are used which causes a decrease in performance. Drivers Printer drivers come in two different modes: Printer Command Language (PCL) and PostScript (PS). These modes affect how the printer functions when jobs need to be processed, therefore the fonts used by these drivers are different. PCL is a standard font used by the Software. 8 8 Make sure all printer drivers are configured with PCL. Mixing PCL and PS drivers will produce a wide variety of printer fonts and will also affect performance. 5
Troubleshooting Troubleshooting 6 Printers Remove all printers that are no longer installed or in use at the workstation. Doing this will help speed up the printing process and removes any unnecessary drivers. Remove all unnecessary printer drivers: NOTE: In the cases of remote business configurations, assistance from the IT Professional responsible for maintaining hardware is required as some drivers are needed for satellite offices to function. 1. Click Start Settings Control Panel or click Start Control Panel. 2. Double-click the Printers folder. 3. Click File Server Properties or click Organize Server Properties or click Print Server Properties. 4. Click the Drivers tab. 5. Highlight and click Remove on any unused printer driver listed. 6. Click OK when finished. Printer Port Problems Printers can use connection types: 1) Parallel; 2) USB; and 3) Network. USB and Network are very simple to troubleshoot as long as they were configured correctly when they were originally set up. The Parallel connection can be a little more difficult. Here is a tip to help configure parallel ports properly: Make sure the workstation s BIOS settings are configured to meet the needs or the port. Parallel ports have three possible options: 1) standard (or Centronics) mode, ECP (Extend Capabilities Port) mode, and EPP (Enhanced Parallel Port) mode. When you change a BIOS setting, you will want to choose something that is not currently selected, restart your workstation, and then try to print again. If you need any assistance changing your BIOS settings, please contact the ImproMed Customer Support Center at (800) 925-7171. The Software When opening Workstation Preferences in the Software, watch the Loading Settings bar at the bottom of the window. If this loads slowly there could be a printer assigned incorrectly. For example, the EasyTime Appointment Label Printer needs to be assigned to a Label Printer. ImproMed recommends having any of the Software Application Printers that have Label in the name assigned to a label printer device with the exception of Laser Labels. Leave Laser Labels blank so they print to the default document printer. When operators are switching modules in the Software to or from Medical Records, the screen can go white at the top because one of the printers installed has a bad driver or the printer location is incorrect. If the Invoice Template is printing incorrectly, copy the default template and change all fonts on the new template to Arial. Operators will also have to set the new template as the default. Try not to use spaces in Shared Printer names, as this could cause problems. 9 9 Reprinting an invoice with a different driver will cause the invoice to look completely different. If this happens, ImproMed recommends exporting the invoice to a PDF file and printing from the PDF file.
Troubleshooting Performance Watch the system to try to isolate which workstation is causing problems. 7 Add RAM to any workstation where the printer is physically attached. Add RAM to the printers. Wireless devices, including print servers, will not print at the same speed as a LAN based printer. When slowness occurs in the Software, in most cases it is due to the amount of work being completed to perform the last request. Pay attention to what you are doing when the slowness occurs. Are you only printing certain items; or loading certain screens? Is it only occuring on one workstation, or printing to a printer shared from one specific workstation? Use Windows Updates to ensure the operating system has the latest patches from Microsoft. Print spoolers can contain failed print jobs, and lost or torn pages of documents. Therefore, using spool cleaners can help improve performance. If the computer has USB 1.1 ports installed, these can slow down the communication between the workstation and printer. USB 2.0 ports can be purchased and installed on older workstations to increase the communication speed. The out of memory error on a printer is referring to memory in the printer itself, not the workstation sending the print job. Changing how the print job is processed can correct this error, which help jobs to process more smoothly and use less printer memory. Please follow these steps (for Windows 2000, Vista, and Server 2003): 1. Click Start Settings Printers and Faxes or click Start Control Panel then double-click Printers. 2. Right-click on the Printer causing the error. 3. Left-click on Properties. 4. Click the Graphics tab. 5. Set the Graphics Mode to Use Raster As Graphics. 6. Click OK. 7. Click the Advanced tab. 8. Un-check all options except Log spooler warning events. 9. Click OK until returned to the Printers window. 10. Click the to close everything. Please follow these steps (for Windows 7, Server 2008): 1. Click Start Devices and Printers. 2. Right-click on the Printer causing the error. 3. Left-click on Printer Properties. 4. Click Preferences. 5. Click Advanced. 6. Set Graphics Mode to Send Graphics as Raster. 7. Click OK. 8. Click the Advanced tab. 9. Un-check all options except Log spooler warning events. 10. Click OK until returned to the Printers window. 11. Click the to close everything.
Installing Shared Printers Installing Shared Printers 8 When connecting to a shared printer on Windows Vista / 7 / Server 2008 you may get an unrecognized error message. To work around this error you will need to install the printer locally to the computer. The procedure outlined below will walk operators through installing printers in Windows Vista / 7 / Server 2008. Before Installing a Shared Printer 1. Confirm that both the workstation where the printer is locally installed and the workstation attempting to connect to the printer are members of the same domain or workgroup. a. Click Start Control Panel. b. Double-click on System Properties. c. In the System Properties window, under the computer name, you will see the current computer name and its Workgroup/Domain. 2. Ensure Windows has an active license. This can be done in most cases by running Windows Updates, if your copy of Windows is not activated or not valid, you will receive an error from Microsoft regarding activation or Windows Genuine authentication. 3. If the computer is part of a workgroup, ensure that each computer has the same operators installed and enabled to include the Administrator user. User passwords must be the same between computers, for example, user Win1 on computer WS1 needs to have the same password as the user Win1 on WS2. If this is not done, you will be asked to log in when connecting to a shared printer or folder. Operators that log into a workstation with a user name (and password if required) that are not on all workstations can cause: delays when printing; failure in connecting to the requested printer; and possible issues with the installed driver when copied from this workstation. On the Computer the Printer is Installed Locally 1. Log into the computer as Administrator or as an Administrative User on the computer. 2. Click Start Control Panel. 3. Double-click on Printers. 4. Right-click the printer to share. 5. Left-click on Properties. 6. Click the Sharing tab. 7. Click Change Sharing Options. 8. Check Share this Printer. 9. Enter the Share Name of the printer with the following recommendations: The name should have NO spaces or miscellaneous characters. Naming the printer something identifiable, for example: ÆÆ ÆÆ ÆÆ RX for the prescription label printer Checkin for the label printer at the front desk Invoice for the laser printer at the front desk ÆÆ Report for the printer in an office 10. Click Apply and OK when finished. 11. Log on as the normal Windows user.
Installing Shared Printers On the Workstation to Print From 1. Log into the workstation as Administrator or as an Administrative User on the workstation. 2. Click Start Control Panel. 3. Double-click on Printers. 4. Click on Add Printer. 5. Select Add a Local Printer. 6. Select Create New Port. 7. Select Local Port as the type of port. 8. Click Next. 9. Enter the name of \\workstation\printersharename. Workstation is the computer name that the printer is physically connected and PrinterShareName is the name that the printer was shared as. 10. Click OK. 11. Select the Manufacturer and Model of printer or click Have Disk and browse to the location of the printer drivers (on the disk from the manufacturer or on the network). 12. Click Next. 13. Enter the Printer Name and select if this should be set as the Default Printer. 14. Click Next. The printer will install. 15. Click Finish when the wizard ends. 9
Summary Summary The information in this document is based on years of experience by the ImproMed Support Department working with Microsoft on similar issues. It should be understood that the operation of printers, print spoolers, and drivers are a function of the Microsoft Operating System. As such, they are an ever evolving entity whose maintenance and troubleshooting techniques are evolving and being updated through the Microsoft Support site. Should any questions arise regarding these changes please feel free to contact ImproMed and inquire about our Windows Operating System support which is being offered as a result of being a member of the Gold Certification Program. This program gives us direct access to Microsoft and its advanced support, when required. 10