Print Spooler keeps restarting

Anonymous
2009-08-31T19:54:08+00:00

I screwed up my print spooler in windows 7. It's in a restarting loop and does not allow me to do anything. The fix it tool from Microsoft that usually works great and clears out all the print drivers so that I can start fresh does not work in windows 7.

How can I fix this issue in 7?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2009-09-01T11:23:56+00:00

Hello Methodman85,

 Thank you for using Microsoft Windows Forums.

 Sorry you are having this problem with your printer.  I would suggest submiting your question at the link below for Windows 7 Forums.  You can also search FAQ's as well as submit a question.  Thanks!

Windows 7

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/w7itpro/

I would also try the steps below to see if this helps out.  This is from the same site where the Fix It tool is located. 

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/8c11977e-8244-408f-a036-7978a618d7a21033.mspx#EOD

A print spooler is software that temporarily stores print jobs on the computer hard disk or in memory until the printer is ready to print them. If you've been waiting an unusually long time for a document to print, or if you see an error message about the print spooler, spooler subsystem, or spooler resources, you might need to change and then restart the Print Spooler service on your computer.

To do this, we recommend that you save your work, and then restart the computer to restart the Print Spooler service. If you don't want to restart the computer, try these steps instead.

 To change or restart the Print Spooler service

 You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.

1.  Open Administrative Tools by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Administrative Tools.

2.  Double-click Services.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

3.  Right-click the Print Spooler service, and then click Properties.

4.  On the General tab, next to Startup type, make sure that Automatic is selected.

5.  If the service is not already running, under Service status, click Start, and then click OK.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

James Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-01-27T06:31:01+00:00

    Try unchecking the Print and Document Services feature in the Programs and Features applet.

    this will remove the items that are selected in the subcatagory of that feature.

     let the machine reboot when it ask's. Log back in and try to print.

    I did this today after spending an hour or so trying to get the spooler to start and it worked. you can reselect the feature after reboot and add them back in.

    If you use sc.exe  when this occurrs and view the error message when you try to start spooler You will observe the error states that the dependencies may be marked for deletion. This may be a clue as to how win7 treats print services as a install\uninstallable module onlike XP.

    More on this later.Hope it works for you. 

    P.S.

     After trying this at home on the same machine my local cached login does not act the same way as my work

     gpo controlled environment. I was able to start and stop the spooler without any issue.  

    -defitz

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-10-23T13:02:06+00:00

    I have same issue.

    When tring to start spooler i get error 3. path not found.

    So i have to reboot into vista to print. Not a good start to windows 7 exp.

    Will not reccomend to customers till this is fixed.

    It's fuuny that the scanner stills works fine, just can't print.

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-09-01T15:00:59+00:00

    Thank you.

    I don't need to repost at this point, the user that I had posted for has since re-imaged the machine.

    What's really needed is a manual registry procedure for removing the printer drivers in Windows 7, as there is for XP/Vista. I don't think the same steps work in 7, although I could be wrong.

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