Note The diagnostic that is described in this article can be used in the following versions of Windows:
- Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
- Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
When you run the diagnostic, you are prompted to select one of the following tracing options:
- Select from a list of processes used by the printer
- Manually select the processes
Note Make sure that you try to send a small print job to the printer from the program in question so that the relevant processes are already loaded.
If you select the default option, you are prompted to select the printer. The “Manually select the processes” option gives you the same functionality as using the generic time travel tracing diagnostic. (See the "References" section.)
After the printer is selected, the diagnostic locates the relevant processes based on the driver binaries, and you are prompted to select the processes to trace.
Next, select the specific options that you want. Otherwise, default tracing continues until you stop the tracing process.
Reproduce the printing issue that you are trying to resolve, and then stop tracing.
The collected traces are automatically compressed and then uploaded to Microsoft Support. A total file size of up to 2 GB can be uploaded.
If the results files are larger than 2 GB after compression, some of the files will not be uploaded but will be left on your system. In this case, you must contact a Microsoft Support agent to ask for an alternative way to upload the remaining collected information.
Information CollectedThe following data may be collected by this diagnostic that is run by the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool.
Because the .run files are typically large (usually more than 100 MB), the diagnostic may take several minutes to complete.
Computer information| Description |
| Machine name |
| Operating system name |
| Operating system version |
| Operating system SKU |
| Processor architecture |
| Description | File Name |
Text file containing a list of the .zip files generated by the diagnostic.
The .zip filenames and parent folder location are provided.
The size of each file and the total size of all files are shown. | {Computername} _TracesFile_Information.txt |
OUT file containing information on collecting the trace in {ProcessName}XY.run. Where XY is 01, 02, …, depending the number of instances of {ProcessName} being traced at the same time.
The location and name of the uncompressed .run file is listed in the file. | {ProcessName}XY.out |
| RUN file of the trace. {ProcessName}XY.run corresponds to the process {ProcessName}, XY is 01, 02, …, depending the number of instances of ProcessName being traced at the same time. | {ProcessName}XY.run |