Print spooler not working

[Nikhilas]

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Already wasted too much time on my printer. Am unable to print from my Windows Xp system, it stopped suddenly. Hence I uninstalled the printer successfully and now when I am trying to re-install them again I get an error saying my spooler service is not running. I tried to start the Print Spooler manually and set it to automatic mode but was unsuccessful. I thought it could be drivers problem hence updated all my system drivers but still the same problem. Any suggestion?

[Ryder Allen]

Did you tried re-installing the Spooler subsystem manually? if not, do it now. For more help on this, you should check out this Microsoft Article.

Do as mentioned on that page and for further help you should also check Bruce Sanderson's articles written on fixing printers. Also remember to check the event log if there are any errors messages while trying to start the spooler service

[Jailekhaa]

Does your system shows any error message while launching the spooler service ? Any error codes such as 1068 ? If yes, than you should follow Ryder Allen’s advice above. Check out this article written by Bruce Sanderson. Specially just follow the step 15 and 17 given at this page.

[Ekkalavya]

Me too in need of suggestion for similar problem. My printer was working great since I installed it couple of months ago. But yesterday when I went to print a document I saw there is no printer listed or installed on my computer. Yeah, it was surprising. As troubleshooting I went through all KB Articles, tried updating windows, as a security suite I have Norton Internet Security protection installed on my system but as far as I know it is not blocking my printer.

So what else could be the problem and what else can I do to fix it and make it working again ? Please help.

[gjenner]

In order to fix a spooler problem in Win XP do the following:

Click on the hyperlink, or paste it into the address box in your browser

http://support.microsoft.com/ph/1173#tab6

Windows XP fix it solutions

Bullet # 7 says: “you cannot add a printer and you receive printer spooler error messages in Windows XP”

Clicking on this link takes you to the actual spooler problem list

Scroll down to the tab called “fix it for me”

To fix this problem automatically by Microsoft you have to click on the fix it box (Microsoft Fix it 50126d) and follow the instructions
This is the only solution I have found that actually works

[Joe_in_MD]

Originally Posted by help

I cant print because my printers are no longer installed. When I try to
reinstall them it says my spooler service isn't running. I've tried manually
starting the print spooler and setting it to automatic, that doesn't work.
Downloading the drivers doesn't work what do I do?

how do I do that?

I've had this problem a lot with both Windows 7 (64-bit) and Window XP.

There is only one solution that has worked for me, and it's not going to the "Services" and starting the Print Spooler, because the Print Spooler will just stop again within seconds or minutes.

What has worked for me (in both XP & Window 7), is to delete the contents of the following folders:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

and

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers

Once I do this, I do not have to reinstall my printers. I just physically disconnect my local printer (unplugged the USB cable), wait a few seconds, and then reconnect it.

Hope this helps. Let me know.

If it does, spread it around.

- Joe

[edward chan]

Thanks Joe , this worked and my situation is different as the print spooler thingy came up after there was a electrical outage in my office. Thus this made my pc (Windows XP) not shutting down correctly. Did as per your advice but had to reinstall the drivers for my Samsung 6322 printer which is no big deal anyway

Thanks again and I will facebook this

Originally Posted by Joe_in_MD

I've had this problem a lot with both Windows 7 (64-bit) and Window XP.

There is only one solution that has worked for me, and it's not going to the "Services" and starting the Print Spooler, because the Print Spooler will just stop again within seconds or minutes.

What has worked for me (in both XP & Window 7), is to delete the contents of the following folders:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

and

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers

Once I do this, I do not have to reinstall my printers. I just physically disconnect my local printer (unplugged the USB cable), wait a few seconds, and then reconnect it.

Hope this helps. Let me know.

If it does, spread it around.

- Joe

[steve02476]

WORKED PERFECTLY FOR ME on an up-to-date XP SP3 computer - THANKS!!!

Steve02476

Originally Posted by Joe_in_MD

I've had this problem a lot with both Windows 7 (64-bit) and Window XP.

There is only one solution that has worked for me, and it's not going to the "Services" and starting the Print Spooler, because the Print Spooler will just stop again within seconds or minutes.

What has worked for me (in both XP & Window 7), is to delete the contents of the following folders:

C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS

and

C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers

Once I do this, I do not have to reinstall my printers. I just physically disconnect my local printer (unplugged the USB cable), wait a few seconds, and then reconnect it.

Hope this helps. Let me know.

If it does, spread it around.

- Joe

[steve02476]

Originally Posted by steve02476

WORKED PERFECTLY FOR ME on an up-to-date XP SP3 computer - THANKS!!!

Steve02476

As of 5/16/2012 have used this tip a few more times. A lifesaver! A couple more notes:

(1) Sometimes the computer won't allow me to delete ALL the contents of the two folders. That seems to be ok, just delete what you can

(2) This also worked for me for a similar problem in Windows 7

(3) It seems like the problems that I've been having (with several different computers and different users) tend to have something to do with printing a PDF file from Acrobat to a USB-attached small HP laser printer. Don't know if it's Adobe's fault or HP's fault, but I've seen this happen several times. Computer and printer work fine for months, then some particular PDF is printed, the print job fails, and then the spooler dies every time it's restarted. Deleting the two folder contents solves the problem, things print ok. But reprinting the particular PDF to the local USB HP laser printer then causes the whole thing to start again. The PDF is ok and can successfully be printed to a network-attached HP laser - the problem occurs with a USB-attached device. Weird.