Network printer issue

Hey guys, I've got a quick (kinda) question about some print problems I've been having. The local server box(Windows Server '03) is all-inclusive (DHCP, DNS, AD, file, blah blah...and print). The way the network is set up:
WAN ->Router ->Switch1 ->Switch 2 & 3 -> PC's n printers

The WAN connection coming off the router enters S1's 1st Gig port. The connection to the server is coming out S1's 2nd Gig port. The printers all come out out of Fast Ethernet ports. The issue here is that when print spooling is enabled, the printers frequently crash. By frequently, I mean every single PowerPoint printed, and larger doc, and a lot of PDF's all crash the printer. If I disable spooling, and print directly to the printer, the issue doesn't show up.

My question is: Could this be a result of the server being connected to a Gig port, while the printers are not? I've seen the error dozens of times, but cannot replicate it at will.

Some background/more info: I work for a college. The only things coming off S1 are staff and faculty machines, the server, and links to the other switches. We recently migrated all student machines (about 120 in my building) to Windows 7. All software is up to date. This problem never happened until we moved to Win7.

Any ideas? I can get around the issue, but I'd like to fix it instead of using a workaround forever.

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demonfurbie

ok so your trying to run a network printer for 120 people

you may need a print server by its self it can be done with cups on linux really cheaply just make sure you have a good bit of ram

Claymoore

Why bother the server with print queueing responsibilities at all? Why not have the workstations print directly to the IP printer?

Deploying TCP/IP Printers with Group Policy Preferences Clay Moore’s Blog

Qord

Claymoore wrote: »

Why bother the server with print queueing responsibilities at all? Why not have the workstations print directly to the IP printer?

Deploying TCP/IP Printers with Group Policy Preferences Clay Moore’s Blog

Why queue? I don't have that answer. I get paid to work, not think. : ) 3 computer labs each has their own printer. We use GPO to set default printers based on location of workstation due to an extreme amount of paper waste from people printing repeatedly to the wrong printers. We also use GPO to distribute drivers for said printers as users log on. The main issue with managing printers like that is that we have over 3000 students on 12 campuses that span the whole state, and every user needs to be able to log in at any location, on any machine, and have the ability to print to any printer in the building they are located in.

When I set "Print directly to the printer" in the printer preferences, the problem does go away. However, we still want to figure out why it showed up in the first place.

I'm still very new to GPO, so if you think I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about, you're probably half-right.

demonfurbie wrote: »

ok so your trying to run a network printer for 120 people

you may need a print server by its self it can be done with cups on linux really cheaply just make sure you have a good bit of ram

There's actually 6 printers, but only 3 for students. The others have not seen this error....yet. Cups box: Always an option, but we'd rather fix it and not get around it.