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Print spooler keeps stopping on Windows 7

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    I have an HP desktop computer running Windows 7 it has an HP photosmart Printer and an Kodak AIO 5500 attached to it and shared over the network. Everything is fine with the HP printer but every time I try to print to the Kodak the print spooler keeps stopping. I have tried many of the work arounds I have found but nothing helps. Every time I try to print to the KOdak I have to wait until after I have made all the print option and then I have to start the spooler.  The firmware and software is up to date on the Kodak printer.  How can I fix this?
    Tuesday, May 04, 2010 1:22 PM
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    Hi,

     

    I would like to suggest you perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issue.

     

    Clear Printer Spooler Files and Enable the Spooler Service

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

    1. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Search box and press Enter.

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

    3. Click Stop and click OK.

    4. Click Start, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the Start Search box and press Enter, delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Start Search box and press Enter.

    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?

     

    Regards,

    Arthur Li - MSFT
    Wednesday, May 05, 2010 4:45 AM
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    Hi,

     

    I would like to suggest you perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issue.

     

    Clear Printer Spooler Files and Enable the Spooler Service

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

    1. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Search box and press Enter.

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

    3. Click Stop and click OK.

    4. Click Start, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the Start Search box and press Enter, delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Start Search box and press Enter.

    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?

     

    Regards,

    Arthur Li - MSFT
    Wednesday, May 05, 2010 4:45 AM
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    nope didn't work.  I am having the same problem.  I have a new dell computer - - never buy a dell and proprietory insurance software.  We have ulitimately determined it is the Win 7 print spooler.  don't know where to go from here.
    Thursday, May 13, 2010 7:12 PM
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    No.  I am having the same problem with Windows 7.  When I typed in the %WINDIR% etc, search said it couldn't find it.  We really need a fix for this.  At this point I cannot print anything.
    Friday, May 14, 2010 3:21 PM
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    I have the same problem. One system has a problem with the print spooler stopping. I can not find a fix for it. It is the only system with the issue and we have other Win 7 systems that work just fine.
    Thursday, May 20, 2010 3:31 PM
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    I was having the same issue with a Dell system (Windows 7) and HP printer, Arthurs steps ABOVE fixed the issue. The directory is hidden so if you are not displaying hidden system folders than you should just copy and paste this path into windows explorer: "C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS" delete any files in this directory, then unplug the printer, restart the print spooler service and plug the printer back in. Worked like a charm for me. Thanks ARTHUR!
    • Proposed as answer by LLLSSSS Sunday, June 03, 2012 4:48 AM
    Wednesday, June 02, 2010 11:24 PM
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    I did all of the above and I am still having the same problem...

    HELP!

     

    Thanks in advance

    Monday, June 07, 2010 3:46 PM
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    Hi Inky 1231,

    Try this :

    Check for the spooler whether it’s turn on in services

    1.       Start > Start Search > services.msc

    2.       If spooler is not on, turn it on. If after turn on, it turn off automatically, proceed to step 3, if can turn on go to step 4

    3.       Start > Start Search > C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (Right click > Properties)

    4.       Click on Security Tab > Advanced > Owner. Take ownership of the file and give full permission to the file. Once done, close everything and try to start the service again.

    5.       Start > Start Search > cmd (Run as Admin)

    6.       del /Q C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS\*.* > Press Enter

    7.       Once done, try to start the spooler in Services

    Thank you
    Freak05

    • Proposed as answer by meredithpn Thursday, November 01, 2012 3:39 AM
    Tuesday, July 27, 2010 6:34 AM
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    Try this :

    Check for the spooler whether it’s turn on in services

    1.       Start > Start Search > services.msc

    2.       If spooler is not on, turn it on. If after turn on, it turn off automatically, proceed to step 3, if can turn on go to step 4

    3.       Start > Start Search > C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (Right click > Properties)

    4.       Click on Security Tab > Advanced > Owner. Take ownership of the file and give full permission to the file. Once done, close everything and try to start the service again.

    5.       Start > Start Search > cmd (Run as Admin)

    6.       del /Q C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS\*.* > Press Enter

    7.       Once done, try to start the spooler in Services

    Thank you
    Freak05

    • Proposed as answer by SaibotVisad Saturday, September 04, 2010 3:49 PM
    Tuesday, July 27, 2010 6:35 AM
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    We all know how to turn it back on. We want to know why it keeps turning itself off!
    • Proposed as answer by David Curran Thursday, September 15, 2011 8:57 PM
    Thursday, August 12, 2010 3:05 PM
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    This worked on a Windows 7, 32 bit, with two HP printers and one Epson.

    For some reason the file "spoolsv.exe" was under the ownership of some curiously named user, I had never seen it before.

    I made sure the Print Spooler service was stopped correctly by manually starting it and then immediately manually turning it off. Then I did as you said and took ownership of the spoolsv.exe file, although I did not need to give myself full permissions (I left it at the default). I deleted the files within the PRINTERS folder and manually started the Print Spooler service.

    Everything works great now, thank you very much!!!

    Saturday, September 04, 2010 3:53 PM
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    This solution may not work by itself: You may need to take ownership of a file as well. See the solution posted by "Freak05" below for complete instructions.
    Saturday, September 04, 2010 3:55 PM
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    Glad to know its working :)

    Freak05

    Saturday, September 04, 2010 6:03 PM
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    I performed all the steps listed above , the spooler continues to revert to "Stop" condition. Any other ideas?
    Tuesday, September 21, 2010 7:37 PM
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    Me, too... the problem just started today (Tuesday, Sept.21).

    Running Win7 Pro.

    Print Spooler is not running after I reboot the system, even though it's set to start automatically (or possibly it starts automatically when I boot, then stops... I don't know).

    I look at "services" and find that the spooler is not running.

    I manually start it. About 30 seconds or less later, it stops.

    This pretty much puts me out of business, until a solution is discovered.

     I already tried all the suggestions made earlier in this thread.

    • Proposed as answer by aquinodotcom Friday, October 25, 2013 2:38 PM
    Tuesday, September 21, 2010 9:51 PM
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    Hi Ernie,

    Try the steps I suggested in in the previous post. If still doesnt work, try creating a new user account and try the steps again.

    To create new user account, simply go to Start > Control Panel > User Account, then select Manage Another Account and choose to create a new account. Please use a different name than your current account and choose the account type as Administrator and click on Create. Once done, log off or restart your computer and choose the new account that you just created instead of the old account.

    Hope this helps!

    Thank you

    Freak05

    Wednesday, September 22, 2010 5:14 AM
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    This just started for me too.  I looked at the Date Modified of my spoolsv.exe file and it says 9/21/2010 12:32AM.  I cam into work this morning and am unable to print.  It stops about 30 seconds after it starts or whenever I go look at the printers.  I tried to use print management to delete drivers/printers but the spooler stops and does not allow me to do it.  Please help!
    Wednesday, September 22, 2010 3:07 PM
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    Moderators keep deleting my posts. I guess they really have no clue.

    If you all need the super duper driver for 32 bit Windows which will fix all your problems, go to [Advertizing Link Removed] and search for "hp 1020" to find the thread where you can download the driver which will fix all your problems for 32 bit with HP LJ 1020 and 1018.

    leave comments.

    This is the best, read on there... leave comments and vote this as the answer if it works for you!

    [Advertizing Link Removed] The Computer Manual. Please do not forget to select the best answer if it helps you! ComputeSimple The Ultimate computer newbie guide since the discovery of spoon feeding!
    Wednesday, September 22, 2010 6:04 PM
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    I finally got my spooler problem solved. Restarting spooler services does no good on its own, finding the underlying cause is the trick. I deleted the files in these two folders:

    c:\windows\system32\spooler\printers  and

    c:\windows\system32\spooler\drivers

    Then I removed the USB cable on each for 2-3 seconds and reinstalled. Then I restared spooler services and viola--all printers now work. It only took 2 hours of research and trial and error. The one thing I did that may have helped was one suggestion to change the ownership of the file as outlined by Freak05 in a post above. Could be a combination of these steps ultimately fixed the problem.

    Wednesday, September 22, 2010 6:21 PM
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    Solution worked great for me.

    Well done.

    Friday, October 29, 2010 2:12 AM
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    Worked great for me for now. Let's hope it still works after rebooting. Anyway, thanks for the input.
    Wednesday, November 17, 2010 5:20 PM
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    Hi, I am having these same problems now.  I know this thread is old, but I am hoping someone will see and can still help me.  So far, this solution seems the most promising I have seen.  I can follow your instructions fine until I get to step 6.  I type in the command prompt, but I get the message that my syntax is wrong.  I've tried altering the spacing/whatever, in case I was reading your post wrong, but I can't get it right.  And so my problem persists.  
    Monday, February 28, 2011 8:54 PM
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    Thanks Freak05, I think it has finally worked. Seemed whenever I tried to print something off the Internet, the print spooler dropped out. Could this be an Internet Explorer 9 issue? Can't remember having this problem under IE8.
    Tuesday, March 29, 2011 10:14 PM
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    See Freak05, use copy & paste to make sure the syntax is right. I think this might be an IE9 issue, but I'm not sure. Funny, I've had Windows 7 installed on my computer for five months, no problems, but as soon as I install IE9, this print spooler thing has happened five times!
    Tuesday, March 29, 2011 10:17 PM
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    I had this problem too and your method fixed it!  Thanks so much!!

     

    b

    Thursday, April 14, 2011 1:33 AM
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    I think this is an IE9-related issue. I can print just fine until I try to print a page from IE9...sort of!

     

    I can go to File/Print...just fine, but one of the pages I use in my business directs me to click on a "Print Receipt" link. This is when I lose the printer. (If I go to Control Panel to view printers, none are listed. I have to re-boot.) I have to remember to use the "File/Print..." method to print the receipt.

     

    Unforturnately, I cannot use Firefox or ano other browser except IE. I would like to roll back to IE8...no problems there.

     

    Wednesday, May 04, 2011 8:54 PM
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    I think this is an IE9-related issue. I can print just fine until I try to print a page from IE9...sort of!

     

    I can go to File/Print...just fine, but one of the pages I use in my business directs me to click on a "Print Receipt" link. This is when I lose the printer. (If I go to Control Panel to view printers, none are listed. I have to re-boot.) I have to remember to use the "File/Print..." method to print the receipt.

     

    Unforturnately, I cannot use Firefox or ano other browser except IE. I would like to roll back to IE8...no problems there.

     


    Hi All ,

    I had the same problem, Last thing used did was to try print something of internet. After reading previous posts I reset theIE advanced settings( internet explores >> Tools>> Settings>> Advanced tab >>and reset settings >>

    This process automaticaly started the print spooler and everything is working fine for me. This was done on windows 7 profesional 64bit. Hope it is helpful

     

    • Proposed as answer by jondspen Wednesday, October 26, 2011 11:39 AM
    Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:33 PM
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    Seems there are several ways to get this problem

    If you're issue is not IE9 related, it's maybe drivers or OS badness, then A sure fire way to get back to the pristine setup of the printers on the system without re-installing is to grab another machine with a fresh install of windows of the appropriate version and architecture (x64 or x86) you could even make a VM, and use that fresh install as a source to replace the bad bits of the machine you are struggling with

    1) On the bad machine run services.msc find the 'Print Spooler' service, right click it and stop it

    2) On the bad machine, Backup the C:\Windows\System32\Spool directory 

    3) On the bad machine, run REGEDIT, find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print right click it choose 'Export' and save it somewhere, make sure it has a .reg file extension

    4) On the donor machine Copy the C:\Windows\System32\Spool directory 

    5) On the donor machine run Regedit and copy HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print right click it choose 'Export' and save it somewhere, make sure it has a .reg file extension

    6) Replace tha bad machine's C:\Windows\System32\Spool directory with a copy of the fresh one 

    7) Find the backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print registry settings from the good machine, and double click the file to enter the info into the registry on the (now better) bad machine

    8) Restart the print spooler service

    The service will now run and you will only have the default Windows print objects. You can now reinstall the latest and greatest drivers for your printing systems test as you go, then you should be OK or find out which driver/device/software item breaks it... 

    I have done this myself a few times and got out of jail with it, not had the IE9 issues...

    • Proposed as answer by hydorah Monday, July 04, 2011 2:49 PM
    Monday, July 04, 2011 2:48 PM
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    Just to add that as long as July 2011 it still happens. I've found it on a Win 7 (x64) machine. No Windows' updates. No IE 9 installed. Two HP printers.

    Went directly to the directory suggested by Arthur_Li and I saw two files (00005.SHD and 00005.SPL) with creation date and time exactly the date and time the first time I had the printer error. I deleted the files and the Spooler Service ended stopping at his own.

    It worked for me, but it would be good to identify what caused the problem. At the present time I can't remember any specific action, directly related with the error. I can't discard the possibility of being some HP bug, as it is the only software I can imagine is involved in the printing fact, aside, obviously, of the Win 7 own bugs.

    Sunday, July 24, 2011 4:13 PM
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    None of these fixed my problem, what did fix my problem was uninstalling Oracle's Sealed Media plug-in. Just in case anyone else has this installed, it has a glitch that disables the print spooler even when it isn't running.
    Thursday, July 28, 2011 2:27 PM
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    I had a similar situation with an HP Laserjet 1020 installed on a new box running Windows 7 64bit OS. The print spooler kept stopping until I removed the aforementioned printer and driver. An online download of the most current driver (from HP support) for this printer did not fix the problem either. Finally we opted on installing a more recent Laserjet from HP (P2035n). That took care of it.  

    I too tried all the suggested solutions seen in this forum but the only permanent fix was what I described above. Apparently Windows 7 print spooler rejects certain drivers and will not warn you or issue an error message. If you have multiple printers installed, you should try removing the oldest one first.

     

     


    Thursday, July 28, 2011 10:07 PM
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    100% success for me. When deleting the files there were 29 (files) that I could not delete so I skipped them. Then I started the print spooler and everything seems fine (I haven't yet tried to print anything.)
    Tuesday, August 02, 2011 3:12 PM
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    Hi,

    Go to Start / Run and type in "services.msc" without quotation marks, then press Enter or click OK.

    In the window that opens (Services) look for "Print Spooler" on the right

    Right-click "Print Spooler" and select "Properties".

    Click on the "Recovery" tab and change all 3 drop-down boxes to "Restart The Service".

    Make sure the 2 text boxes underneath say "1" in them.

    Click Ok until you are back at the Services window, close it and you're good to go.

    Go back into the properties of the "Print Spooler" tab and be sure to click Start to restart the Print Spooler service and it will restart the service immediately.

    The Print spooler depends on the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. Is this service disabled? Go to services.msc look for RPC. Check state: Automatic

    Get more information to fix windows 7 printer spooler error :

    http://printers.iyogi.com/problems/windows-7-printer-spooler-problems.html

     

    Hope this information helps you.

     

    Thursday, August 18, 2011 3:48 AM
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    Thank you Freak05.  I didn't need to do anything with the spoolsv.exe security tab.  I was logged in with administrative privileges.  My spooler was already stopped and all I did was open the command prompt and ran your delete command and voila!  No more print spooler stopping problems.  I was finally able to remove the old printers via the control panel and install the new one.  My sister is so happy and I am too!
    Sunday, August 28, 2011 11:39 PM
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    This worked for me. Thanks!
    Monday, September 05, 2011 5:05 AM
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    None of the above has worked for me.  The issue seems to revolve around "Trusted Installer", whatever that is.  I even tried denying permission to Trusted Installer.  It prevents me from deleting some files in c:\windows\system32\spooler\drivers.  I don't know where it came from and more importantly how to get rid of it. 

    I am using Windows 7 64-bit and both of my printers are Canons.  One is Wireless and one is connected via USB.  The drivers seem to be installing correctly, but the spooler will not stay on.  When the spooler service is set to automatic, the spooler stops when I open Devices and Printers and doesn't restart.  When I set the spooler service to manual, the spooler service stops when I open Devices and Printers, and restarts as soon as I close it.  Any more ideas?

    • Edited by Dennis1017 Saturday, September 17, 2011 10:57 PM
    Saturday, September 17, 2011 9:27 PM
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    We are also on Win 7 Pro 64bit with HP printer, and using the Administrator account.

    We had been printing flawlessly, until about July 2011 when we installed MS Recommended updates.

    It was around update (KB2563227)

    Anyhow, ever since then, everytime we print, we have to go into Services  > Print Spooler > Restart.
    We actually have a shortuct on everyone's launch bar. (sad but true)

    After spending countless hours on Tech support with MS & HP with no sight of ever fixing the problem we found this -

    Our HP printer that is directly connected via USB to the Win 7 machine had a 'SHARE' on it.
    Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers > Rt. Click on icon > Printer Properties > "Sharing Tab" > Uncheck 'Share this printer"

    After Unchecking the SHARE on the printer, we had no more Print Spooler lockups.

    However there is a 'Character Base DOS' Accounting program we use in DOS mode, which requires a UNC\\ Network Share on the printer, so the days of printing from MS Office, and also working in the Data Pro Accounting Software DOS mode no longer work.

    For whatever reason it seems that if you have a SHARE on a printer, the spooler service locks up.  It seemed to have started occuring after that KB update.  I wonder if it's a permissions issue? 

    Anyhow, just our two cents on this horriffic problem.

     

    Thx,

    Chuck.

     

    Monday, October 10, 2011 3:11 PM
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    Thank you for the help Arthur & all who posted help. After 3 hours I found you and all my troubles were solved! AWESOME!!!
    Monday, October 17, 2011 5:44 AM
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    Very helpful w/Arthur's above instructions I'm now back in the civil world of printing - you both saved my business again AWESOME WORK & thank you!!!!

    Monday, October 17, 2011 5:45 AM
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    1.  Did the restart service steps...no luck.

    2.  Deleted files in spool folder...no luck.

    3.  Removed device/files, rebooted, reinstalled, rebooted....no luck

     

    Finally...resetted IE9 advanced settings that Baz suggested and finally was able to print again.  

    Wednesday, October 26, 2011 11:42 AM
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    Worked for me, too. Thanks.
    Monday, November 14, 2011 2:50 PM
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    Much to my surprise it worked for me too. Thanks! 
    Friday, November 18, 2011 6:37 PM
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    Great. Thanks a lot. Freak. It took me few hours to fix this problem. I checked the file I deleted and I found this problem occurred after I used adobe's software .  A　intrusted installer took full permission control instead of administrator.This problem happened again when I try to print PDF from online bank website. Finally I printed out the document from my other laptop with windows xp.
    • Edited by Chef Dong Sunday, December 11, 2011 1:51 AM
    Saturday, December 10, 2011 3:49 PM
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    Thanks, it worked!!
    Thursday, January 12, 2012 4:07 PM
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    It worked great, thanks,
    Wednesday, January 18, 2012 4:05 AM
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    It works like a charm - thank you so much.
    Friday, March 02, 2012 6:40 AM
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    I tried many of the things here with no luck.  Finally, I removed and readded all printers.  That finally stuck.  Mine was on a domain connected machine tied to network printers.
    Wednesday, March 14, 2012 6:56 PM
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    I have the same problem with others as described above and our computers join domain as well. I followed this this instruction from step 6 to 14 and problems are solved.

    http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/CleanPrinterDrivers.htm

    Thanks Bruce Sanderson for your article.

    Friday, March 16, 2012 8:42 PM
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    Worked for me
    Wednesday, March 21, 2012 2:37 PM
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    You are having a common print spooler error.  Here's the fix.

    Start->and type "cmd"

    right-click on CMD and "Run As Administrator"

    in the command prompt type: del C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.*

    various compatability issues cause this problem in Windows 7.  I save the about command in a batch file and schedule a task to run it everytime I log on.

    Sunday, March 25, 2012 12:09 PM
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    I had no problems restarting the service but it would stop again every time I tried to print a PDF file (with Adobe Reader) only.

    I was able to print anything other than PDFs.

    I solved the issue by going to the advanced printing setup and selecting to "Print as Image".

    Since then has worked like a charm.

    Thanks!

    • Proposed as answer by Okeytare Tuesday, March 27, 2012 9:37 PM
    Tuesday, March 27, 2012 9:37 PM
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    Same issue here. I've been using MS FixIt. It's not a permanent fix and I run FixIt it about once every two weeks. MS is well aware of the problem and said they are hard at work on windows 8 which will fix the problem. 

    MS FixIt: http://support.microsoft.com/mats/printing_problems/

    Also, HP is well aware of the issue and they have an availble update as well.

    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&softwareitem=mp-89191-1

    Wednesday, April 04, 2012 7:27 PM
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    Hi there, I have the same problem as mentioned above, and have tried all the methods suggested, yet still not fixed.  I have Windows7 64bit, my printer is Fuji DocuPrint M205b laser led printer.  The printer was working perfectly and suddenly just stopped working.  I have tried to restart the print spooler; deleted C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*.* from the command.  Nothing works.  The print job will be submitted to the queue and disappeared before it has been printed. Please help...... I dont know what else to do now, losing too much productive time here already!!!
    Wednesday, April 11, 2012 2:47 AM
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    Thanks Arthur Li
    Wednesday, April 11, 2012 11:35 AM
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     it worked for me, i am so happy, im so glad

    Monday, April 16, 2012 10:26 AM
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    Hello, All!

    Arthur's solution worked for me, even though my situation was a little different.

    Every so often, Microsoft Update installs Automatic Updates, right? Well, after it installed an update to .Net 4.0, my Print Subsystem stopped working and the only way I could fix it before was to do a System Restore to a previous version. Of course the issue would eventually come back the next time the update was applied.

    This time, though, when I tried to run the System Restore, it was turned off(an issue I've got to look into because I didn't turn it off) and I could return to a previous version so I had to search for a solution.

    I was in the process of creating a new post when the forum suggsted I look at this posting since it was similar.

    It worked like a charm!

    Thanks, Arthur!

    Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:05 PM
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    Hi All,

    I would suggest installing the recent printing rollup update for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, link to my blog about it below:

    http://aidinit.com/2012/03/update-rollup-for-the-core-printing-components-in-windows-7-windows-server-2008-r2-and-windows-small-business-server-2011-sbs2011/

    Most recent HP and Xerox printers are supported by the Universal Print Driver for Windows, this is usually updated every few months and will support all your printers features.  The big advantage in a network environment is that you can install the same universal print driver and use it for all your different printers, this reduces the risk of the print spooler falling over because of conflicting drivers from multiple vendors.

    The HP UPD runs in Printer Driver Isolation Mode so a problem should not cripple the whole print spooler, it will only effect that printer.

    PCL and PS drivers are often available for a printer, one may be better for printing Word and Excel documents and the other better for printing PDF or Images.

    Please review my blog post on this matter

    http://aidinit.com/2011/10/which-printer-driver-postscript-ps-or-pcl-how-about-both/

    Hope this helps.

    Stuart

    • Proposed as answer by Stuart Davey Saturday, April 28, 2012 8:07 PM
    Saturday, April 28, 2012 8:07 PM
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    Just an observation. Something may well have resolved the persistent problem with Print Spooler I saw the last error on 12 March 2012.

    Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-PrintService/Admin
    Source:        Microsoft-Windows-PrintService
    Date:          12/03/12 12:18:26
    Event ID:      350
    Task Category: Printing a document
    Level:         Error
    Keywords:      Classic Spooler Event,Document Print Job
    User:          SYSTEM
    Computer:      GeraldCornell
    Description:
    Document  failed to print and was deleted because of corruption in the spooled file. The associated driver is: . Try printing the document again.

    Is it the end of a troublesome error dating back to 2009?

    Anyone know what fixed the problem?

    Hope this helps, Gerry

    Sunday, April 29, 2012 4:00 PM
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    Hi Gerry,

    I have had that Event ID: 350 "Document failed to print and was deleted because of corruption in the spooled file." with an old HP LaserJet 6 on Windows Vista/WIndows 7, it can often be resolved using one or more of these Steps:

    Step 1

    1)     Click “Start”, and “Printers and Faxes”

    2)     Right-click on the Print queues and click on “Properties”

    3)     On “Advanced tab”, Uncheck the box for "Enable advanced printing features"

    4)     Click on “Apply”, and “OK”

    Step 2

    Try updating your printer drivers to the latest available, sometimes you will find the Universal Print Driver is your best bet as these are updated constantly.

    Step 3

    Remove your printer and driver and then re-install from scratch

    Step 4

    Consider replacing your printer if it is not fully supported or fully compatible with the operating system you use (i.e. Wndows 7 using Windows Vista Print Drivers because that is all the printer manufacturer offer for that model)

    If you have recently found that the issue has just gone then perhaps a recent update such as the "printing rollup update for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2" that I mention in my earlier post above might have sorted your problem.

    Hope this helps you or someone else.

    Stuart

    Wednesday, May 02, 2012 7:28 PM
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    Stuart

    You did not read what I wrote!

    Just an observation. Something may well have resolved the persistent problem with Print Spooler I saw the last error on 12 March 2012.

    Is it the end of a troublesome error dating back to 2009?

    Anyone know what fixed the problem?

    The problem has been fixed. I do not need a solution!

    Another observation on updating HP drivers. After HP introduces a new model HP do not generally update drivers for a discontinued model when a new version of Windows is launched. A cynical explanation " They want their custmers to buy a new printer"!

    Hope this helps, Gerry


    Wednesday, May 02, 2012 10:51 PM
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    I corrected by backing up all files, restoring to factory condition and restoring backed up files.  I was impatient and this seemed quicker.  Everything is OK now.  Thx for your help. 
    Friday, May 04, 2012 5:10 PM
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    I tried many of the same steps as the others -- restarting the print spooler (but it kept stopping), reassigning ownership -- didn't fix it.

    I went to the C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS directory BUT it wouldn't let me delete the files (though I didn't unplug the printer because it's really hard to get to).  I kept getting the error message "The action can't be completed because the file is open in printfilterpipeline svc.exe"

    I couldn't find that, but thought that CCleaner (available free from FileHippo.com) might be able to find the temp files in the directory and delete them.  It did -- worked like a charm!  I'm now printing again!  Hooray!  and by the way, one of the files WAS a flash file, which had been mentioned in one of the threads I read as a problem.

    Sunday, June 03, 2012 4:54 AM
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    Guys. See Panout's reply. Make sure to delete the files in C:\windows\system32\spool\drivers. A lot of people suggest to delete the files in C:\windows\system32\spool\printer but that didn't do the cut for me. My problem was keep getting message "printer spooling not working" something like that. I've tried so many but the one that solved my problem was to delete the files in /drivers and reinstall the driver for my printer. To reinstall the driver, you just simple go to "devices and printer" under start menu -> double click your printer -> click on "printer" -> "properties" -> "print test page". Then it will say the driver is not installed in your computer and ask you if you wanna install it. Then click yes and voila! It will solve the problem. Good luck and email me if you still have any problem. snuvet75@hotmail.com
    Saturday, June 30, 2012 3:33 AM
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    Hi,

    I would like to suggest you perform the following steps to troubleshoot the issue.

    Clear Printer Spooler Files and Enable the Spooler Service

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

    1. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Search box and press Enter.

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

    3. Click Stop and click OK.

    4. Click Start, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the Start Search box and press Enter, delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Start Search box and press Enter.

    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?

    Regards,

    Arthur Li - MSFT

    Thanks Arthur. Your solution worked for me and I now have both my printers back in use. I am using Windows 7 and IE9. Suspect that clicking the Print button on an internet site yesterday when reserving an item for collection at the local outlet of a national high street retailer may have caused the problem.
    Sunday, July 22, 2012 1:19 AM
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    I, too, would like to thank Mr. Li.  The above solution worked perfectly.  I have no idea what caused the problem, my printers had been installed and working fine for years, but I deleted all the files he suggested (with some trepidation) and rebooted and everything works fine now.  So, THANKS!
    Friday, July 27, 2012 3:29 PM
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    It Worked Amazingly,I was thinging of reformatting the laptop with windows 7,but u given the best solution

    A Billion Thanks dude

    Thursday, August 23, 2012 6:59 AM
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    Thank you so much

    I had to find the spool\printer folder by another method but when I did there were 2 shockwave flash files lodged in it and as they had been there only 4 hours (the length of time I had been experiencing the problem) so I knew I was safe to delete them.

    My default printer is still not working but the other printers and the PDF are working so there can’t be too much wrong with it.  You are a life saver and much appreciated.  Thank you again.


    • Edited by sunshine5001 Wednesday, August 29, 2012 12:53 PM
    Wednesday, August 29, 2012 12:52 PM
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    Hello There.

    We have a domain here in our organisation and printers are installed onto the print server. I
    have come across few desktops which are giving Error ("Unable to add Printer")
    while i try adding toshiba printers.

    All other HP printers are getting
    installed.

    i Tried below procedures but it didnt help.

    1. Click
    Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Search box and
    press Enter.

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

    3. Click
    Stop and click OK.

    4. Click
    Start, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the Start Search box and press
    Enter, delete all files in this folder.

    5. Click
    Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the Start Search box
    and press Enter.

    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.

    Also
    tried with the replacing the Registery of bad PC with a good PC.

    But i
    find my self still at the same place. Can anyone find a solution to
    it??

    Thanks!!

    • Proposed as answer by UnTiTlEdFiLE Tuesday, September 04, 2012 9:11 AM
    • Unproposed as answer by UnTiTlEdFiLE Tuesday, September 04, 2012 9:11 AM
    Tuesday, September 04, 2012 9:11 AM
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    Hello All,

    I am not sure if your all still having these issues, and I know how much of a pain they can be.  I am an IT administrator in our office and a couple of our workstations are running older HP 1018 printers and every now and then they would kill the print spooling services and the printers would disappear.  After some research we discovered that the printer drivers for the 1018 were an after thought for windows 7 64 bit support.  We have found that if you go to Computer>>Windows>>System32>>Spool>>Printers (C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS) and delete everything in that folder then go to Start>>Search>>Services.msc>>find Print Spooler and click on it and select start then go to Start>>Search>>Print Management>>All Drivers>>Your printer and right click go to Set Driver Isolation and then select Isolated that it should take care of your issues.

    Hope this helps you all out with this issue.

    Martin

    • Proposed as answer by mdloos Friday, October 12, 2012 7:39 PM
    Friday, October 12, 2012 7:34 PM
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    Hello, All!

    Let me see if I can put another spin on this so that a possible SOLUTION can be found instead of these many work arounds.

    I have been able to find a work around that works, but it doesn't solve the issue as as soon as certain conditions are present, the issue comes back.

    The work around I have been using is the one mentioned below:

      • Stop the Print Spooler Service
      • Go to the %WINDIR%\System32\spool\printers
      • Delete all files in the folder
      • Start the Print Spooler back up

    Everything works fine until the user goes to the Yahoo/AT&T e-mail website, logs in, and tries to print something... An e-mail, the page itself... Anything.

    As soon as you try to print, given the situation outlined, your Print Spooler crashes and will not start again, until you go through the work around I outlined above.

    I have been able to duplicate this with several different users on several different computers and the result is consistent each time.

    I know that there are those that will only have this issue with an HP printer and in my case it is a Dell 1110 printer. It may have an HP engine inside of it, but I don't know for sure.

    Hopefully, this description will help in finding a solution and not a work around.

    Thanks, All!!!

    P.S.

    I forgot to mention that I am using Internet Explorer 7, 8 & 9 on different computers, again... All with the same results.

    • Edited by FrioDeLosMuerte Friday, October 12, 2012 9:48 PM Forgot a point.
    Friday, October 12, 2012 9:38 PM
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    I know this is an old thread, but it seems to be the most active discussion of this issue...

    I encountered  this issue on four Windows 7 Pro x64 workstations today after installing drivers for a (networked) Lexmark E260dn.  FWIW, these machines are members of a Windows Server 2008 domain.

    The spooler service would start successfully and then terminate unexpectedly.  Manually restarting the service would allow printing for a minute or so until the service would stop again.  Changing the recovery option for subsequent failures in the service properties resulted in high CPU utilization from "spoolsv.exe".

    I determined the problem, as others have mentioned above to be improper security permissions for "spoolsv.exe".  Trusted Installer had been granted full control and ownership, while all others have only read & execute permissions.  Resetting the ownership and security permissions appears to have resolved the issue.

    I've determined my particular issue to be a faulty/poorly built driver installation package.  The driver package used was "Lexmark_E260_ACG_Admin.exe" with a file size of 103183 KB.  At the time of download, this was the most recent driver from Lexmark.  I suggest they resolve this issue in the next driver update release.

    Hopefully my experience can help someone out... now if only Lexmark would give me my afternoon back!

    -Shawn

    Thursday, October 18, 2012 9:58 PM
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    Hi Inky 1231,

    Try this :

    Check for the spooler whether it’s turn on in services

    1.       Start > Start Search > services.msc

    2.       If spooler is not on, turn it on. If after turn on, it turn off automatically, proceed to step 3, if can turn on go to step 4

    3.       Start > Start Search > C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (Right click > Properties)

    4.       Click on Security Tab > Advanced > Owner. Take ownership of the file and give full permission to the file. Once done, close everything and try to start the service again.

    5.       Start > Start Search > cmd (Run as Admin)

    6.       del /Q C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS\*.* > Press Enter

    7.       Once done, try to start the spooler in Services

    Thank you
    Freak05

    Fantastic result my friend, although your fix wasn't meant for me i used it & it worked straight away. i just installed some scanner software & it wiped my printer spool service off for some stupid reason. maybe it was so that it could have total control & not let any other printer scanners in as it worked but nothing else did:( anyway i tried the first step from Arthur Li & it almost worked but wasn't right so i scrolled down to find another solution & come across yours & i worked straight away. thank you very much you have saved me a lot of time, trouble & money as i need to print to earn. no disrespect intended to Arthur Li as no doubt his way will work on other systems but mine is an acer aspire with windows 7 ultimate & it wouldn't give whereas yours is perfect for the job. thanks, Ermi



    Thursday, November 01, 2012 10:18 AM
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    Hi all,

    I have two WINDOWS 7 and one Windows XP computers tied together on a WI-FI network. On the network, there are also two network enabled printer (servers) for an Epson and an HP Laser. On the WIN 7 pc I got the dreaded message No print Spooler repeatedly.

    My other Windows 7 computer was turned on and lo and behold, the spooler nightmare was there - too. The XP computer showed no signs of this behavior.

    I tried everything: services.msc, Microsoft -FixIt - and just any other remedy in the book, including  rolling back the system back to an earlier date, where print worked OK.  Sometimes the spooler would work OK for some seconds, even shutting off in the middle of a print!   No relief.

    Thinking about what the two Windows 7 computers had in common, I deduced Windows 7 and the WI-FI network. I reset the network - no improvement.

    Then I came across a small bat-file, called  Reset_and_Clear_Print_Spooler_Queue,   see   Sevenforums . This file does what the services.msc  manipulations, described elsewhere, do - with one mouseclick on the bat-file.  

    After having spent so many un-productive hours at rectifying the spooler mess, I would just activate the bat file before each print job. Print now works, and sometimes I can even accomplish several print jobs without having to "threaten" Windows 7 with the bat file. I simply gave up on finding the root cause of the spooler problem - life is too short.

    My conclusion: I reckon this is a Windows 7 error - perhaps sneaking in with a Windows 7 update. Eventually this error will probably go away, when a redfaced Microsoft programmer fixes it. If this is a Microsoft thing, I would hope that good corporate governance would promt them to publish this error promptly, so that literally hundred-millions of non-productive hours by users trying to rectify this, can be avoided.

    Thanks for your time.



    • Edited by jazzisgreat Thursday, November 01, 2012 2:19 PM
    Thursday, November 01, 2012 2:13 PM
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    Download the cleanspl.exe and run it . It will ask to clean  the print spooler service. and restart the machine. It will work.
    Thursday, November 08, 2012 5:25 PM
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    Hi all,

    In case above does not work for you, you might try one more thing that worked for me after several hours spent on that (Windows 7 64bit).
    The clue is to clean your system of errorneus printer drivers you could have installed during your printer/spooler adventure.

    1. turn off your printer
    2. Go to Start > devices and printers, delete the printer you have problems with
    3. click on one of the icons of remaining devices (does not matter which, could be "fax" or "ms xps document writer")
    4. above the device icons you will find a kind of shortcut bar - you're looking for sth like "Printing server properties" - open it
    5. go to "drivers" tab, remove your errorneus driver from the installed drivers list here
    6. now your system is clean from all unwanted printer drivers
    7. get newest drivers from the net, start installation (for me it was HP laserjet 1018). Installer should ask you to turn on the printer (that is a sign that driver soft localized your usb printer properly). After detecting printer, installer finishes and printer is ready to print.
    8. Your problem should be fixed now

    Good luck ;)



    • Edited by Jack_ Saturday, December 01, 2012 9:24 PM
    Saturday, December 01, 2012 9:15 PM
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    I encountered this problem just starting today while trying to print an Adobe Reader X file on my HP LaserJet 1020. I tried stop/starting the print spooler and clearing those folders to no avail. Finally I just deleted and reinstalled my printer and everything seems back to normal. Gotta love Windows.
    Wednesday, December 05, 2012 4:26 PM
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    Hi all,

           I am working on a project in which I have to get data from the files that are in spool (.tmp, .shd,.spl). Can anyone suggest any method that will help in decoding the data from .tmp file or .spl in spool?

                  Thanks for your time.

    Thursday, December 06, 2012 12:57 PM
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    Hi, dont looser time. This is the solution:

    1 - Stop spooler service
    2 - Go to C:\windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
    3 - Delete all files in this folder
    4 - Be sure the print spooler service are in automatic and

    5 - Start the spooler service.
    6 - Test!

    Happy Hunting!!

    FrankBarron

    Tuesday, December 18, 2012 3:13 PM
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    The above steps worked flawlessly for me.  We first noticed problems when our UPS Worldship software could no longer print labels on a Zebra 2844 Thermal printer, and our HP laserjet stopped working as well.  After multiple times trying to restart the print spooler, I found this thread and it solved our problems.  As an interesting side note, our problems began immediately after working with a Print-Protected PDF file.  I had never encountered one of these before, as it came to us from a seemingly trustworthy third party.  My efforts to circumvent the print restriction must have caused the problems.  When I went into the PRINTERS folder, I found several Shockwave files.  I don't understand how things went awry, but the steps that are listed multiple times in this thread did the trick.  Thank you.
    Saturday, January 05, 2013 8:17 PM
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    I was having the same problem since today morning with my HP 1005 Printer. Tried everything listed on this page but Printer Spooler service was unable to run for more than 5 minutes. then i installed Windows 7 SP1. removed and re-installed the printer again with HP Driver for 1005.

    The spooler service stopping problem was stopped immediately after upgrading my windows from 6.1.7600(previous version) to 6.1.7601(new version). The printer is working fine even after sharing the printer and using it over the network. it is suggested to please upgrade your Windows 7 with SP 1 to resolve this Printer Spooler issue. May be my solution is wrong but it worked for me.

    Monday, January 14, 2013 12:43 PM
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    The print spooler dies problem is still around and keeps customers and users frustradet.

    We have >800 users in a domain with Windows 2008 servers and Win 7 (x64) clients. Every month this problem occurs to two or three users, the print spooler dies and can't be started. We have tried to to analyze why this happends but we cant find out why. 

    Our workaround is this

    Stop print spooler service (it probably is stopped...)

    Run regedit as admin

    delete all printers under following keys

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-3 

    Remove all files from

    C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\x64\3 

    Start print spooler service.

    Add printers back


    • Edited by J_Westin Wednesday, January 30, 2013 11:37 AM
    Wednesday, January 30, 2013 11:20 AM
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    A computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 intermittently cannot use a shared network printer to print

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2388142

    #appliesto

    •Windows 7 Enterprise

    •Windows 7 Professional

    •Windows 7 Ultimate

    Hope this helps, Gerry

    Wednesday, January 30, 2013 8:03 PM
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    Worked perfectly! Thanks!
    Tuesday, February 05, 2013 11:53 PM
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    I had this problem:  When users would print from their brand new (August 2012) Windows 7 Desktop to their brand new HP LJ P2035 printer all of a sudden the printers (local & network) would all disappear.  We were told to do a few things and this is what FINALLY worked:

    (NOTE:  Also, check the event viewer,  check application,  locate the print spooler error or warning and try to identify the problem for the date/time you had this problem)

    Press the start

    type Windows Features

    select turn windows features on or off (wait a few seconds)

    expand print services

    Check ON/Select ALL options under print services

    press OK and wait approx. 5 minutes

    HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE.

    Thursday, February 14, 2013 7:33 PM
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    I tried to install HP 3055A printer in my computer, with windows 7 32 bit. Initially it got installed and worked. But after I restarted the computer it showed "to print you need to install a printed" even though software in installed already. I then tried to solve the problem of "Printer spooler problem in windows 7" as mentioned in this site. But that helped temporarily. After few time it started to give me problem again. Then it stopped to recognize printer completely. I then uninstalled and reinstalled the software again. This time the printer software could be installed using the USB. But the wireless facility is not getting installed as the computer is faiiling to recognize the computer network in the search repeatedly. I lost hope after several try. Help me what to do now.
    Wednesday, February 27, 2013 9:28 PM
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    I was able to correct my problem using this method, but it is not the first time that I have had to do this. Are you able to explain what the cause is and/or why this fix works? Is there a more permanent solution, or do I need to write a script to delete the contents of this directory on every shutdown?

    I acknowledge the date of the original post but am still hoping someone is monitoring this post.

    Thanks in advance,

    Tuesday, March 12, 2013 2:10 PM
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    using this method

    Which problem? Which method?

    Hope this helps, Gerry

    Tuesday, March 12, 2013 2:13 PM
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    I have the same problem with my Acer Aspire laptop, but it only appears after connecting to a hard wired network. I have used the computer to print just fine, but when there is a problem with the wireless network, I plug into the wired network. As soon as I plug in the network cable, the printer spooler stops. I'm ready to pull my last two hairs out!
    Friday, May 10, 2013 1:11 AM
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    ** Yes..... I have solved it **

    I have solved this spooler crashing issue using this article help..

    http://www.techsupportall.com/print-spooler-keeps-stopping-automatically/


    Sunday, June 16, 2013 3:12 AM
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    Worked like a charm! Thank you, just saved payroll :)
    Monday, June 17, 2013 5:52 PM
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    This hasn't worked for me either.   Periodically after a reboot I have this same problem.  Far too often I might add.  None of the above has worked.  

    1. The print spooler is already stopped.  If I try to restart it I get error 1053.

    2. I tried deleting the spool files suggested and the folder is empty.

    3. I tried the permissions thing suggested by Freak05 and no luck there.  I did see two spoolsv  files when I did the "Start > Start Search > C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (Right click > Properties)" step...one doesn't have an option to look at properties and the second does.  They appear to be the same file.  When I started trustedinstaller was the only option that had full ownership.  

    4. Previously I had backed out new windows installs to fix this problem. This time there wasn't a new install, so nothing to back out.  

    5. Coincidently...previously when this first happened I had trouble with new security updates installing, and Mcafee virtual tech, changed something with the registry which fixed it once, but it hasn't been a consistent solution.   

    I'm frustrated  beyond belief since the last thing I want to spend multiple summer days on is messing with something that should not be a problem.   The fact that it worked fine prior then doesn't is beyond frustrating.  

    Tuesday, July 09, 2013 3:04 PM
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    Thing with replacement reg key worked just fine.

    Tnx very much..

    Monday, July 15, 2013 6:54 AM
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    Hello All,

    I am not sure if your all still having these issues, and I know how much of a pain they can be.  I am an IT administrator in our office and a couple of our workstations are running older HP 1018 printers and every now and then they would kill the print spooling services and the printers would disappear.  After some research we discovered that the printer drivers for the 1018 were an after thought for windows 7 64 bit support.  We have found that if you go to Computer>>Windows>>System32>>Spool>>Printers (C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS) and delete everything in that folder then go to Start>>Search>>Services.msc>>find Print Spooler and click on it and select start then go to Start>>Search>>Print Management>>All Drivers>>Your printer and right click go to Set Driver Isolation and then select Isolated that it should take care of your issues.

    Hope this helps you all out with this issue.

    Martin


    This did it for me. I had an old HP M1005 Printer as well. Thanks!
    Tuesday, July 16, 2013 10:28 AM
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    Hi,

    Go to Start / Run and type in "services.msc" without quotation marks, then press Enter or click OK.

    In the window that opens (Services) look for "Print Spooler" on the right

    Right-click "Print Spooler" and select "Properties".

    Click on the "Recovery" tab and change all 3 drop-down boxes to "Restart The Service".

    Make sure the 2 text boxes underneath say "1" in them.

    Click Ok until you are back at the Services window, close it and you're good to go.

    Go back into the properties of the "Print Spooler" tab and be sure to click Start to restart the Print Spooler service and it will restart the service immediately.

    The Print spooler depends on the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. Is this service disabled? Go to services.msc look for RPC. Check state: Automatic

    ...

     

    I had tried EVERYTHING posted here and nothing worked. I was about to turn in my laptop to our IT guy in the office for a re-image when I decided to try one last thing. Instead of entering a 1 in the "Restart service after:" field (see quoted post from sophiemartin above), set it to 0. This forces the print spooler to restart instantly after stopping. Worked like a charm!
    Friday, July 19, 2013 4:53 PM
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    I did it and it is working in XP
    Wednesday, July 31, 2013 11:39 AM
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    You're the man Arthur!

    This just fixed a bunch of our user's printing Issues, THANKS!
    Thursday, August 01, 2013 2:47 PM
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    This also worked for me.  An old HP1020 messed up my printing, but the steps above fixed it.  Thanks.
    Monday, August 12, 2013 3:50 PM
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    This solution given by the user Panout (above) fixed my problem. I have Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate edition 64bit. My problem was that the HP printer software coulnt't finish the setup any further when I plugged in the USB cable. I had to cancel the process then and went to Computer Management to verify the status of the driver for the printer. It had a question mark and then I realized the drivers could not be installed. I tried to install it manually but then it wouldn't go any further. I had the "one of the installers for this device cannot perform the installation" error. I knew that the Print spooler was having a problem because it would stop after a while. Then I followed the steps layed out above by Panout and it worked fine. I just was careful not to delete old drivers on the Drivers folder that were there before the installation of the printer.

    After I deleted those folders' contents and start the Print Spooler manually, then I went to computer management and updated the drivers from there. It installed the drivers correctly and the HP setup poped up finalizing the installation.

    Thanks to all for the sugestions. Gracias.

    Wednesday, August 28, 2013 6:24 PM
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    Worked for me!  Thank you very much!
    Tuesday, September 17, 2013 4:11 PM
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    Windows 7 64bit, HP 8600 wireless printer

    I tried every single suggestion on this thread - (thanks to all who contributed)

    The basic connectivity to the printer was always good but prints were stuck in the spooler. Restarting the spooler would print but then they would get stuck again.

    I then noticed that Windows Defender was not active (no idea why) so updated to Microsoft Security Essentials - did a scan and it found a Trojan which was cleaned - no more printing problems

    Hope it helps some save some time

    Monday, October 07, 2013 9:52 AM
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    Thanks from me also Arthur. This solution worked excellently for me after both my printers (HP and Samsung) had failed to print after an update from MS. I'm using Windows 7 Professional. 
    Friday, October 11, 2013 2:30 PM
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    Watch the video and your problem gonna solve 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUQHIIWtJfk

    • Proposed as answer by alniz Sunday, November 17, 2013 8:11 PM
    • Edited by alniz Sunday, November 17, 2013 8:15 PM
    Sunday, November 17, 2013 8:11 PM
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    The folder was empty for me. Deleted folder and upon restarting service everything was functional.

    Keith Johnson A+, Net+ System Admin

    Monday, December 02, 2013 5:50 PM
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    Thank you SO MUCH!!  I've been fighting an issue with my printer since I installed Windows 8.1 and finally this FIXED IT!!!  THANK YOU AGAIN!!
    Saturday, January 04, 2014 10:41 PM
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    Yes bro it helps me... thanks alot

    Friday, January 17, 2014 3:14 PM
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    Hiiiiiii..

    This is vikash Mishra

    Thanks for this solution.

    This is greate......

    Friday, February 07, 2014 7:17 AM
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    lexmark 
    print spool keeps stopping fix
    or docs disappearing from queue

    go to printer and devices
    right click on printer

    select printer prefences
    go to tab, advanced
    select more options

    under appearance mode
    unclick show printer status window
    click never show printer status window 

    or printivity tips
    click ok

    restart computer
    printer will now work
    Monday, February 10, 2014 3:19 AM
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    Hi, all you if in case issue is not resolved from the above steps so, please refer to the link and download , install the same in the system and Quick Scan the system , once scan is over click on show scan result on the right hand side bottom , right click on any of the check box and click on check all , after that click on remove selected, restart the system and check after restarting the Print spooler from services.msc, keep that service on Automatic 

    https://www.malwarebytes.org/ 


    Monday, February 24, 2014 5:45 PM
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    Thanks, worked for me..
    Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:32 PM
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    Tnaks Bro ..

    It Worked

    Friday, April 04, 2014 7:41 AM
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    Hi all, I've found this old thread, since I experienced the same issue. I found a solution to automate the fix, but is not a permanent solution to the "bug" itself. I have already tried to delete the printers folder (is empty).

     

    In the event viewer:

    1) Go to "Windows Events --> System"

    2) Look for the last Error log entry for Print spooler service

    3) Click with mouse right button

    4) In the context menu, choose "Attach a task to this event"

    5) The "Basic Task creation Wizard" window will appear, Enter title and description, click "Next" twice

    6) In "Action" section, choose "Start a program" and click "Next"

    7) In "Program or script" field, you can enter directly "cmd" command

    8) In "Arguments" field, enter (with quotes) "/c net start spooler" and click "Next"

     

    Done!

    This task will be executed automatically each time the "Print Spooler Error" Event is logged.

    You can replace step 7 and 8 with a batch script file (*.bat or *.cmd) and write inside the commands, with @echo off, minimized, etc.

     

    Hope this helps!

    Javier

    • Proposed as answer by Javito P Friday, May 30, 2014 1:18 PM
    Friday, May 30, 2014 1:17 PM
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    This solved my problem. Thank you.
    Wednesday, June 11, 2014 1:15 PM
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    Like magic.

    Thanks!

    Thursday, June 19, 2014 11:06 AM
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    U Rock my friend... I couldn't get any off the above fixes to work. but this one did. thank you very much
    Monday, July 14, 2014 6:19 AM
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    It works!  Mange Takk....Mark.
    Saturday, August 02, 2014 8:26 PM
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    This worked for me.

    This problem drove me nuts for a month.

    Reboots, restarting the spooler service, running a repair on MS Office - nothing helped.

    Thanks very much for this post.

    Tuesday, August 26, 2014 3:00 PM
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    Arthur,

    Mate, you are the "BOMB", its 4 year's since you posted advice on Windows Pinter Spooler and it is still of great help. You saved my life with this post, I had just about tried everything, went to google, typed in Windows printer spooler stopped working and "BAM" your sound advice was in my much needed face!!!

    SO, a "HHUUGGEE" thank you from me!!

    Mate you are a living legend!!

    Cheers Paula

    Thursday, September 04, 2014 3:08 AM
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    Hi friend,

    we follow step by step this process, I have the same problem. One system has a problem with the print spooler stopping automatically. 

    Friday, September 12, 2014 10:32 AM
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    Dear

    Follow is link.

    http://www.techsupportall.com/print-spooler-keeps-stopping-automatically

    after complete process to restart the computer print spooler working properly.

    Asif Mohsin.

    Saturday, October 04, 2014 12:29 PM
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    Hi friend,

    we follow step by step this process, I have the same problem. One system has a problem with the print spooler stopping automatically.

    Saturday, October 04, 2014 12:30 PM
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    Dear,

    In 7 step to start print spooler system  error 1053 occurred 

    Tuesday, October 07, 2014 8:12 AM
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    More than aware this answer is almost 5 yrs old,,,,,but I had same problem,,,,and POOF,,,,,this was an incredibly easy fix!! Thanks!!

    Joetechco

    Wednesday, February 18, 2015 7:16 PM
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    HI, I typed  = del /Q C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS\*.* > into the command..

    is this correct??  tks AM

    Thursday, February 26, 2015 11:49 PM
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    hi freak, can't seem to input second command in cmd. line starts with = c:\windows\system32> 

    tks am

    Friday, February 27, 2015 12:07 AM
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    this helped me first attempt! thanks

    Monday, June 22, 2015 9:53 AM
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    Worked for my wife!
    Wednesday, August 05, 2015 3:58 AM
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    Arthur-

    Yes, your solution worked, with the slight modification offered by Freak05 and Panonut. In my Windows 7 Home Premium, IE 11 ver 11.0.23 configuration, the files I had to delete were in c:\windows\system32\spooler\printers. (I did not have to delete the 100s of files in ...\Drivers...). For some reason the %Windir% reference did not work for me but the direct reference to C:\... did work.

    The files I had to delete are noted below. it is interesting that this issue arose in between two print jobs from the same (public school system) web site that were submitted minutes apart. The first was successful. The second failed at the same moment as the update date/time on the files I had to delete. It took me several hours researching the 'restart print spooler' and 'AD domain unavailable' messages which led to temporary solutions. I was about to give up and searched one more time and found your thread.

    0004.shd; SHD file; 10/5/2015 1129am

    0004; Shockwave Flash file; 10/5/2015 1129am

    Thank you for your solution. I think they should convert you from contingent staff to permanent!

    One other detail, not only did this issue cause my printer to not display in Control Panel>Devices and Printers, but the other 3 'virtual printers' also were non-functional (fax, MS XPS document writer, Adobe PDF Complete).

    Thanks!

    Sunday, October 04, 2015 10:40 PM
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    it worked!
    Tuesday, November 17, 2015 7:29 PM
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    This worked for me and did not even need to restart the computer. Thank you!!
    Tuesday, January 12, 2016 8:41 PM
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    I had the same problem.  This fixed it.  There was a corrupted job in the print queue that kept crashing the spooler.
    Thursday, January 21, 2016 12:51 PM
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    no. it dosen't.
    Thursday, June 30, 2016 4:43 AM
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    Worked around this problem by right clicking on printer icon in control panel and select "Print Properties" then select "Advanced" then check the box  'Print Directly to Printer". This will bypass the spooler. Would like to fix it right, but at least now the printer works.
    Saturday, August 27, 2016 2:44 PM
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