Print Spooler stops after trying to print a PDF file and it will not restart.

Anonymous
2010-09-08T17:02:07+00:00

Original Title: Print Spooler![](http://i4.social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/resources/images/trans.gif?cver=2.13.0068.4)

Hello,

The print spooler stops after trying to print a PDF file and it will not restart.  The only way I have been able to print again is to do a System Recovery.  When I try to print a PDF file again the print spooler does the same thing.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanx,

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-09-09T05:04:00+00:00

Hi binofelix,

·        What happens when you try to restart print spooler when it stops? How are you trying to restart the print spooler service? Do you get any error message or any error code?

Try the steps below and check if it helps:

Step 1:

When the print spooler service stops, try restarting it and check if it helps. If you have already tried the steps then ignore Step 1.

a. Click Start and then type "services" (without quotes) in the Start Search box.

b. In the results area, right-click services, and then click “Run as administrator”.

You will be prompted to type the password for an administrator account. Click Continue if you are the administrator or type the administrator password. Then, click Continue.

c. In Services Window locate the service “Print Spooler” and double click on it.

d. Make sure that the Startup type is set to “Automatic” and the Service status is “Started”.

Step 2:

Try running the printer troubleshooter and check if it helps.

Open the Printer troubleshooter

Step 3:

Try the following Microsoft Fixit and check if it helps.

Fix printing problems by resetting the print spooler (Applicable to Windows 7)

Also, have a look at the following article links:

Why can't I print?

Printer problems in Windows

****Hope this helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thanks and Regards, Santosh Y – Microsoft Support

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Anonymous
2014-09-18T08:18:36+00:00

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your reply.

I would suggest you to rebuild print spooler service and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:

a. Press Windows + R keys, type notepad in run window and press Enter.

b. In notepad, copy and paste the following:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Spooler]

"DisplayName"="@%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1"

"Group"="SpoolerGroup"

"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,\

  74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,\

  00,70,00,6f,00,6f,00,6c,00,73,00,76,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,00,00

"Description"="@%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-2"

"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"

"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001

"Start"=dword:00000002

"Type"=dword:00000110

"DependOnService"=hex(7):52,00,50,00,43,00,53,00,53,00,00,00,68,00,74,00,74,00,\

  70,00,00,00,00,00

"ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001

"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\

  00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,\

  72,00,73,00,6f,00,6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\

  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,\

  72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,68,\

  00,61,00,6e,00,67,00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,\

  69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,61,\

  00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,\

  6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,\

  00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,\

  50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00

"FailureActions"=hex:80,51,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\

  00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,01,00,00,00,60,ea,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Spooler\Performance]

"Close"="PerfClose"

"Collect"="PerfCollect"

"Collect Timeout"=dword:000007d0

"Library"="winspool.drv"

"Object List"="1450"

"Open"="PerfOpen"

"Open Timeout"=dword:00000fa0

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Spooler\Security]

"Security"=hex:01,00,14,80,78,00,00,00,84,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,02,\

  00,1c,00,01,00,00,00,02,80,14,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,\

  00,00,02,00,48,00,03,00,00,00,00,00,14,00,8d,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,\

  05,0b,00,00,00,00,00,18,00,ff,01,0f,00,01,02,00,00,00,00,00,05,20,00,00,00,\

  20,02,00,00,00,00,14,00,fd,01,02,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,\

  01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00,01,01,00,00,00,00,00,05,12,00,00,00

c. Save the file as .reg file on the desktop.

d. Right click .reg file and select run as administrator.

e. Click yes, when message prompts.

Note: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/back-up-registry

I hope this helps.

Thank you

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-06-17T17:33:09+00:00

    The problem is very frustrating.

    You may find my canned response helpful to print off as it takes little time to get the printer back on line.

    I would check the status of the Print Spooler Service.

    Click on the Start button and select Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Locate Print Spooler in the list. Check that it has started and that the StartUp type is Automatic.

    I suspect that it has stopped and that just starting it will not solve the problem.

    You may need to show hidden files. Type Folder Options in the search box above the Start button and select View, Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files" is unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item. You should also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions for known file types" is not checked.

    Now access Windows Explorer and select c:\windows\system32\spool\printers. Normally this folder should be empty but there is a problem when files with “spl” and “shd” extensions stick there. Delete the files and restart your computer. This should resolve your problem.

    What are you printing off which causes the problem? Are they attachments from a web mail or computer based programme? Are you getting occasional problems printing off web pages?

    What browser are you using? What email programme are you using?

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-06-17T16:44:39+00:00

    I went to the system32/spool/printer and cleared all documents in there. I then proceeded to uninstall Adobe Reader 9.4 which I had been using as my PDF viewer. (Someone had suggested that I download the version 9.4 instead of 10.1 because it might allieviate my problems... it did not.) I then downloaded the foxit program and restarted my computer after all tasks were completed.

    I then went to services and stoped and restarted the printer spooler. That seemed to fix the issue for now. We'll see what happens for the rest of the day. This problem is extremely frustrating, my boss and I spent the better part of the day working on it yesterday. As others have said - it seems to be a very sporadic problem. We are both using HP laserjet 1022s.

    We both also had to do a system restore because our printers were not showing in the "devices and printers" window. They just dissapeared after we tried to print any PDFs.

    VERY FRUSTRATED.

    I would really like to see a long term fix for this issue. Does anyone know if it is just a PDF compatibility issue, a printer issue, a windows 7 issue, or a combination of the 3? Any more light on the subject would be appreciated or any long term fixes would be great!!

    THANKS!!! :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-17T14:26:52+00:00

    Your thoughts are where research got me to a couple of days ago. The problem is that it happens here with a copy of Foxit on my computer and no copy of Adobe Reader. The source of the pdf file is obviously implicated as pdf files provided by my HP Scanjet 5590P give the printer no problem.

    I am waiting for the next email from a particular supplier to secure a copy of a file which usually causes the spooler to stop. Another similar computer I have access to handles the problematic pdf file attachment without the spooler stopping.

    What might be a line of enquiry is that  the problem arises when opening and printing from a web browser (Internet Explorer 9 ) whereas the one without the problem opens the attachment for printing after downloading to Outlook 2010.

    I do have Adobe Flash on the computer but this does not open pdf files for printing.

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