JSI Tip 5041. Network printer selection in a Microsoft Office program or in Internet Explorer causes a delay?

When you select a network printer on the Print dialog box of a Microsoft Office program, or in Internet Explorer 5.x or greater, there is a delay before the list of available printers is displayed?

You do NOT experience this delay in non-Microsoft programs.

Most Microsoft programs query each network printer to determine its' availability and to determine the driver functionality and available fonts.

To minimize this delay, map your network printers to a local LPT port, using a logon script or batch:

NET USE LPTx: \computernamesharename /PERSISTENT:YES

Windows 2000 and Windows XP define LPT1, LPT2, and LPT3. You can add LPT4 up to LPT9 to both operating systems:

How can I add additional LPT ports in Windows 2000?