printer "spool sv" problems

KoNiT

After my win 2k PC boots up I get the following error

Program Error
Spoolsv.exe has generated errors and wiil be closed by windows. You will need to restart the program.
An Error log is being generated. (below)
"The Print Spooler service terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 1 time(s). The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: No action. "

I cann't print without this, in fact the printers don't show up at all.

I've restarted the Print Spooler again in services, but it stops after a minute.

I have no idea why the pc started to do this. I've googled for info without much help.

Any Ideas?

roamer

There is probably a corrupt file in your print queue which keeps crashing the print spooler. To get the spooler back into running order you will need to remove this corrupt file.

You first need to disable the print spooler. To do this, click on computer management and select services. Look for print spooler in the list and disable.

Then go to the Windows folder in your hard disk. Then go to the system32 folder. In here there is a folder called spool. Click on this, then printers and remove the files.

Restart the spooler and everything should be fine.

KoNiT

I did exactly as you said but there weren't any files in the folder?!
All hidden files are shown & I can see files int he other sub floders of 'SPOOL'.

I tried to reload the printer drivers but the won't let me as the prtint sub system isn't present.

Any other ideas?

roamer

What are the other sub folders in spool?

Capt'n Midnight

Has any new printer been added recently - if so the uninstall
or try updating the drivers for existing printers.

It's not as simple as emptying the spool folder since there are drivers there too - perhaps somoene knows which sub folder holds the queued files.

all the usual guff about patches and spyware - try changing the default printer too - add a generic /text only printing to a file for the crack .

roamer

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Has any new printer been added recently - if so the uninstall
or try updating the drivers for existing printers.

It's not as simple as emptying the spool folder since there are drivers there too - perhaps somoene knows which sub folder holds the queued files.

Drivers are not stored in the spool folder. Actually, there is another folder under spool called PRINTERS, this is where your files should be that you need to delete.

If, there are no files in here and its still crashing then the problem is probably with your printer drivers. Have you tried reinstalling them?

KoNiT

I tried reinstalling the printer but it comes up with an error -print subsystem unavailable.

I did have 2 other printers on a network connection & a pdf writer. These have disapeared also.
When I do activate the print spooler in services, it shows all the printers, even the one I removed.. But the spooler stops after a minute with the following message.

The Print Spooler service terminated unexpectedly. It has done this 1 time(s). The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: No action.

I attached pics of the spool directory (pic is a 1k words as they say!) & I have not deleted anything from it yet.

Thanks for help so far

roamer

mmm, your spool directory looks different to the ones on my 2k machines.
Sorry Capt'n Midnight!

KoNiT: You haven't posted a picture of the PRINTERS folder but I assume there is nothing in there?

Have you tried removing all your printer drivers and re-installing them all again?

KoNiT

Correct , there is nothing there
I will remove all drivers in the morning & see what happens...