Print Spooler Fix
Rosalie Checca
The print spooler is a dedicated program/software that essentially manages the order of the documents to proceed to the print queue. When you select print, your program talks to the print spooler service to work out how to render (or draw) your print job so the printer will understand it and put the colors in the right spots on the page. There are all different types of spoolers in computing (once upon a time there were literal tape spools running inside computers), so the print spooler, you guessed it, takes care of just your print documents.
One of the most used outside of Windows is the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) which lets a computer act as a print server and does the print spooling and scheduling. CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to manage print jobs and queues.
The primary component of the printing interface is the print spooler. The print spooler is an executable file that manages the printing process. Management of printing involves retrieving the location of the correct printer driver, loading that driver, spooling high-level function calls into a print job, scheduling the print job for printing, and so on. The spooler is loaded at system startup and continues to run until the operating system is shut down.
Applications that print create a printer device context (DC). When an application creates a printer DC, the spooler performs necessary tasks such as determining the location of the required printer driver and then loading that driver. The print spooler also determines the data type used to record the print job.
Custom data types can be added to the spooler by installing additional printer drivers and print processors. A print job is a document stored internally and encoded by using one of the supported data types, and a print job may contain one or more pages of output. The print job may consist of multiple forms; for example, a job may consist of one envelope and three pages of A4 paper. A print job is defined (or bracketed) by the StartDoc and EndDoc functions.
The default data type for a print job is the enhanced metafile. An EMF record is a compact structure used to store text output commands, raster graphics commands, and so on. When an application calls StartDoc, the spooler creates a spool file and a data file and begins storing EMF records in the spool file. Each time the application calls one of the GDI drawing functions, one or more new EMF records are created and stored in the spool file. The spool and data files are created in an operating system directory. The spooler uses the spool file to store EMF records and uses the data file to record the type of form, the data type for the print job, the target printer, and so on. The spooler deletes these files when the job has successfully printed.
Out of the blue I lost my printer connection. When I look at my printer menu there is no printer listed. When I try to add or install a printer, I get some odd message about a printer spooler is not running. Restart the machine. I've tried unhooking the printer, rebooting, unhooking from the power source. I even went into some area as an administrator and found the print spool task and when I clicked on the start button there was no action.
I actually just ran into this problem myself and while looking for an answer, I ran into this post. I have a Pixma Canon MP250 and I also have Windows 8.1. Is there a way to fix the spooler problem so that I can use my printer once more? It's so weird because I was using it just yesterday and today out of the blue it stopped working and I have no idea whatsover what 'caused it. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
Printer Spooler Error Message: I found that by going into the Windows Control Panel, then selecting: "Program and Features" you will see the heading on this page: : "Inistall or Change a Program" ... to the left of these words on this same page,, you will see a small Windows Shield and the wording: "Turn Windows Features On and Off." I then selected that option and then, within that option, went down the alphabetic list to: "Printer and Document Services" -- In my situation, the Printer and Document Services box along with the related services boxes below were not checked.. just a dot mark.. My printer and computer had been working just fine.. how this got changed is not understood.....
I made certain all boxes under Printer and Document Services were checked and then my printer started to work and the "Printer and Spooler Error Message" went away.... In my stiutaiton this appeared to be a Windows problem not related to my Cannon MP280 printer which works just great for me...!
I found a solution to the print spooler. I have an android phone and that may be all this works for. Under my print options when I have my page ready to go, there's printer defaults I had 2 printer defaults running ( canon and the phones default print software). Turn off the phones default. If you ever get another print- we'll turn it back on or your new printers app as default. I'm not a super geek by any means so maybe this can help/maybe not. GL
Since this is an 11-year old topic, it's likely the issue you experienced, and solution offered differs greatly from the individual who started this thread. If you would like assistance, please start a new thread. It should include the model number of your Canon device, the version and build of the operating system you are using, what your device is connected to and how. Please include any additional information or errors you have encountered or believe will help us better understand your issue. There is just too much which has changed since this thread was started.
Does the spooler stop, or is it crashing and restarting? I had vicious troubles with one of my few (4) Windows 7 laptops. Turned out to be Adobe stuff that cleared up when I updated to the latest and greatest Acrobat Pro. I think it had to do with the fact that it was Win7 x64.
No new drivers, it is this one laptop in the network, user said that it started to happen when a PDF file was opened from the email. The service just stops and stays on stop mode. I normally delete the printer connections registry and restart and that does it, but not this time.
Hello all. I am freaking out. I have a Dell laptop with Windows XP and a HP 1012 Laserjet. The laserjet has been working fine and suddenly yesterday evening it stopped being able to print. I get the message: print spooler service is not running. I have tried a lot of things I found on the internet to get it going again but nothing has worked so far.
What I discovered, after trial and error, was that there was a spooled document waiting to be printed that was causing the problem. I had to delete the print job and then my printer started working normally again.
Once the printer has fully started, go into the driver's properties from the Printing and Faxing window and try to send a test page. If it still says the spooler is not running then in the Control Panel, open Adminstrative Tools and select Services. Scroll down the list and select Spooler - does it say started? If you right click on it, can you start it? If it's set to manual change it to Automatic. If it doesn't want to start or isn't in the list then you have an issue with your operating system. Check the MS knowledge base for help with spooler issues.
If it looks good and started and set to automatic and your printer still won't print then try this test. Open a word document and select print. Look for a small check box next to print to file. What this will do is spool out the document but then save it to the hard drive instead of sending it to the printer (it will ask you to name the file and give you a chance to save it to where you want). If this works with no errors then the issue is likely the printer.
Virginia, I hope it worked for you. It certainly worked for me. I've been having the same problem, and thanks to frprinterwiz, I was able to print his instructions after I went through the process getrting the spooler to work. Thanks again!!
Hi. I too am having spooler problems. I tried your suggestion, but Print Spooler was already set to Automatic. What is MS knowledge base for help with spooler issues? This is so frustrating. I have Windows 7,so if you have any other suggestions, that would be great!
The instructions for checking the print spooler status was the solution to my printer problems. Somehow the print spooler was disabled.I changed it to automatic and both my printers are up and running again. thank you so much. , sharon adkins
A problem with the print spooler can cause some printing and communication issues. Sometimes, restarting or clearing the print spooler may resolve these issues. The print spooler helps your Windows computer interact with the printer, and orders the print jobs in your queue.
It is also possible to delete printers from the computer's registry. If the printer cannot be deleted or removed, and restarting the print spooler has not cleared the issue, remove the printer manually from the registry.
The thing that is strange is I start the print spooler and then click "Add Printer" and I again get the 1st screenshot and when I check back in services.msc it is stopped!! I have all dependendent services running like RPC etc.
I also tried going into control panel into "Turn windows features on and off" in Program and features and uninstall document and print services. Still nothing works. The last option that comes to my mind due to this silly issue is format my machine but it is not at all viable. Print spooler brought tears in my eyes!! I need to get it working anyhow.
I had the same problem recently. There was a corrupt document in the spool. Go to the folder C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS and delete any files in that folder. Do not delete any subfolders or files in those subfolders. Then try starting the service again and see it it stays running for a minute or more.
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