locked
How to reinstall print spooler service RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote

    Hi


    I have a windows XP printer with an HP printer attached to it. 99% of the times I have to restart the computer (restart the spooler service) to get the printer to print. I have downloaded the latest drivers for this and even run SFC /scannow to try and repair the spooler service. I have changed the USB port but nothing is helping.

    I found a knowledge base article here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2000007 but when I tried to run it on my XP Pro SP3 it tells me that it cant be run on that version.

    I am about to format the pc. Can anybody assist me with how to "reinstall" the spooler service before I go down the fornatting road??

     

    Friday, March 19, 2010 9:03 AM

Answers

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    6
    Sign in to vote

    It is a Windows XP related issue so as Dave said, you should ask the question in its forum.

     

    For your reference, here are the general steps we can try on reset printer spooler:

     

    Clear Printer Spooler files and enable the spooler service

    ===================

    1. Click Start, click Run, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

    2. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list.

    3. Click Stop and click OK.

    4. Click Start, click Run, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the open window, and delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click Start, click Run, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

    6. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list.

    7. Click on Start. In the Startup Type list, make sure that "Automatic" is selected and click OK.

     

    Does it work now? If the issue persists, let's use the Spooler Cleaner tool to repair the spooler service:

     

    1. Please extract the file to the Desktop.

    2. Double click cleanspl.exe and click the Spooler Cleaner button.

    3. Restart your computer and try to print again.

     

    File can be found here:

     

    http://cid-b7ed40feb32ba29f.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/software/cleanspl.zip

    Monday, March 22, 2010 7:55 AM

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Try asking them here.

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xphardware/threads

     

     

    Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]
    Friday, March 19, 2010 9:26 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Thank you.

     

    Will do

    Friday, March 19, 2010 10:03 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    6
    Sign in to vote

    It is a Windows XP related issue so as Dave said, you should ask the question in its forum.

     

    For your reference, here are the general steps we can try on reset printer spooler:

     

    Clear Printer Spooler files and enable the spooler service

    ===================

    1. Click Start, click Run, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

    2. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list.

    3. Click Stop and click OK.

    4. Click Start, click Run, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the open window, and delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click Start, click Run, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK.

    6. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list.

    7. Click on Start. In the Startup Type list, make sure that "Automatic" is selected and click OK.

     

    Does it work now? If the issue persists, let's use the Spooler Cleaner tool to repair the spooler service:

     

    1. Please extract the file to the Desktop.

    2. Double click cleanspl.exe and click the Spooler Cleaner button.

    3. Restart your computer and try to print again.

     

    File can be found here:

     

    http://cid-b7ed40feb32ba29f.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/software/cleanspl.zip

    Monday, March 22, 2010 7:55 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Thanks, this solution worked. Spooler was somehow blocking terminal server, firefox, chrome and other software from functioning. This solved my issue.
    Monday, March 12, 2012 9:04 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Thanks!  Starting to see more of this behavior in Windows 7 now; I saw it more frequent in XP though.

    What we would do is if the user couldn't see their printers consistently on boot up was to have our "script writer" place a script to basically restart the spooler.........  yeah, pretty archaic but it seemed to work.  With Win-7, we can delay some services and that seems to work sometimes.

    Wednesday, May 2, 2012 12:02 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Hi shan,

    Thanks a lot my printer problem solved

    Regards

    SATHIS

    Thursday, August 2, 2012 6:06 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Thank you SO much!  This was extremely helpful!!!
    Thursday, August 9, 2012 7:58 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Thank You Shoan,

    Your cleanspl fix my problem on a XP computer

    Thursday, November 1, 2012 1:54 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    This might be what I need for a similar problem in Windows 7.  Is there a Windows 7 version of "cleanspl.zip"?
    Thursday, November 29, 2012 2:59 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Hm, the File doesn't work for windows 7, does it happen to be a updated verison somewhere?

    Monday, April 1, 2013 6:27 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    1
    Sign in to vote

    FRAZZLED

    Somehow today my spooler got messed up. See others have this problem too. Also, I looked at all my SERVICES and lots are shut down? I started many of them, but restarting shuts them all down again. I have TWEAKBIT - it solves many broken files, etc but not sure if it is shutting stuff down. Says my spooler is off - I turn it on, shuts back off.. mortal mess! Ready to try a recovery again but a file is missing... will not install either. What a mess.

    So I was going to install that cleaner you have, wrong version. I have win 7 but it needs a different version, I did not screenshot the message, should have. Frustrated, this stuff should not be messed with. Going to try and search the internet for a " spooler cleaner," this is absurd for a home pc user to do this sort of junk. Thanks

    Saturday, November 7, 2015 4:01 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    The latest version of ZoneAlarm free deletes the print spooler on XP as a virus.  It has done it on multiple computers.  The restore methods you have posted above do not work.  What do I do to restore the service?  Can't print or install printers.
    Wednesday, December 9, 2015 11:40 PM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Thanks. This fixed an issue for my user. Still running XP in 2017, in a VMware but still.

    Never would have figured it out. Your file fixed it.

    Thursday, August 10, 2017 4:16 AM
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    Does this program (cleanspl.exe) works for windows 10 as well?
    Thursday, January 2, 2020 2:23 PM