Print Spooler Keeps Stopping
Note: The solution, outlined, below, resolved the problem. I had to log into her machine with my credentials to make the changes. Even if I supplied my credentials while she was logged in, it would not let me restart the spooler.
Description:
Ashley reported that she didn't have any printers
I visited her desk, and that was true. (Surprising, because she had them in the past).
I looked at the Print Spooler service, and it was not running.
I restarted, and printers appeared.
Ashely tried to print, and no printers appeared in her list.
The spooler had stopped again.
Found several suggestions:
Unplug the HP at her desk, and perform the following:
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!
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
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.
[source: [social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/wi...](https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/fd7f46d3-baa1-4a38-9ad3-dec5426d9297/print-spooler-keeps-stopping-on-windows-7?forum=w7itproperf) ]
