Disabling snmp status probing on tcp/ip printer ports

Question

Disabling snmp status probing on tcp/ip printer ports

Harry Taylor 0

Printing to a printer configured with an IP-based local port hangs indefinitely, eventually causing the print spooler to stop responding to other clients. System traces indicate that tcpmon.dll remains stuck while waiting for SNMP status responses from the network printer.

This behavior can occur when SNMP communication is blocked, delayed, or unsupported by the printer or network environment. How can we disable SNMP status probing on the affected TCP/IP printer ports and allow printing to proceed without relying on SNMP status checks ?

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Answer 1

Hi @Harry Taylor

Yes. If these are Standard TCP/IP printer ports, you can disable SNMP status monitoring without disabling TCP/IP printing itself. The Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor uses SNMP primarily to obtain printer configuration and status information; RAW/LPR handles the actual print data.

For a single printer, the simplest method is:

Printer Properties → Ports → select the TCP/IP port → Configure Port → clear “SNMP Status Enabled.”

For servers with multiple affected ports, Microsoft provides the prnport.vbs script. For example:

cd /d %windir%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-US
cscript prnport.vbs -t -r IP_192.168.1.50 -md

-t changes an existing port, -r specifies the port name, and -md disables SNMP. Microsoft documents -m{e|d} specifically as enabling or disabling SNMP on a Standard TCP/IP printer port.

You can first list the configured ports with:

cscript %windir%\System32\Printing_Admin_Scripts\en-US\prnport.vbs -l

If you're doing this across many machines, I'd use the supported port configuration mechanism rather than directly modifying TCPMON registry entries.

After changing the affected ports, restart the Print Spooler during an appropriate maintenance window:

Restart-Service Spooler

Be aware that disabling SNMP means Windows will no longer receive the detailed printer status information supplied through SNMP, such as certain offline, paper, or device-state indications. It doesn't disable RAW TCP printing (normally TCP 9100) or LPR printing.

Given your trace showing tcpmon.dll waiting for SNMP responses, disabling SNMP Status Enabled on the affected ports is therefore a reasonable workaround, especially where UDP 161 is blocked or the printer doesn't reliably respond to SNMP.

Sharing these references with you:

Microsoft Learn – Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor

Microsoft Learn – prnport command

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