Timed Print Stream Truncation in Windows 95

Tech Note on Windows 95 DOS Printing

Some DOS applications may have problems printing under Windows 95. The symptom is that a program may send output to a network printer, but there will be no output on the server side until some time later. If you exit the application, then the output is sent immediately.

The problem occurs because, for some DOS applications, Windows 95 cannot tell when the application has finished printing. Normally, after 45 to 60 seconds, DOS application print jobs will be truncated and sent, but you can also vary this time by adding the following to the SYSTEM.INI file:

[IFSMGR]
PrintBufTime=45

Simply replace the "45" in the above line with the number of seconds you want for print truncation. 45 seconds is the normal default.

Please note that print truncation in Windows 95 is controlled by Windows 95 itself and not by the network. Also, the time you give for print truncation is approximate. Due to the way Windows 95 handles multitasking, the actual print truncation time can vary and is usually longer than specified.

Note: If you are using the original version 4.00 of Invisible LAN (file date 08/10/96), you need to upgrade to a later version for timed print stream truncation to work.

Notices: Copyright 1996 by Invisible Software, Inc. Invisible Software and InvisibleLAN are trademarks of Invisible Software, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

This document was prepared on 09/16/96, and was believed to be accurate as of that date. Procedures, specifications, and compatibility may change without notice, and therefore this document may be out-of-date and/or inapplicable to current product versions. Invisible Software provides this document "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances shall this document be construed as creating or expanding any warranty of product performance.

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