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Windows XP and DOS - Print Spooler Information in a Batch File

SUMMARY: Diagnose printer errors and determine how many documents are waiting to be printed on remote servers using Windows XP.

If you are a system administrator, there may be instances where you need to diagnose printer or print spooler errors. Or, to satisfy accounting requirements, you may need a mechanism to record the average use of printers. To help satisfy these needs, the Windows 2003 Resource Kit (Windows 2003 Resource Kit download/install instructions) comes with a utility called Spooler/Printer Info. This can be run as 'splinfo' from the command prompt or a batch file, and normally displays:

* The number of local printers
* The current Windows version
* Number of processors
* Total jobs spooled
* Total bytes printed
* Average bytes/job
* Browse list requested
* Browse printer added
* Spooler up time
* Server up time

The parameter "/d" displays more debugging information, possibly useful for diagnosing spooler problems. Use the parameter "/d /d" to also display the local time and server uptime. Option "/v" displays more verbose information about all installed printers, and "/z" zeroes counters displayed in verbose mode.

To connect to a remote server to view its printer spooler information, use the command-line option \\SERVER_NAME.

For example, the following command will display verbose printer spooler information for server \\REMOTE:

splinfo /v \\REMOTE