Troubleshooting Printer Spooling Problems
At its most basic definition a printer spooler retrieves the data for a requested print task and performs the required print even if it is not printing multiple print jobs. The simplest explanation, and where you should start, is in the task manager. Under “processes” in the task manager look for a file called spoolso.exe or spoolsv.exe; if these files are not present it simply means that the process has been stopped and needs to be restarted. This can be done by running “net start spooler” command. In the start menu bring click on the “run” option and type the command in the box prompt.
Sometimes a faulty printer driver is the cause. This is hard to determine in any sort of certainty, but a simple reinstallation of the drives is simple and easy enough for virtually any user. Uninstall and reinstall your printer driver; if the printer works after the reinstallation you are safe and ready to print. The next step would be to check if old printer drivers are still installed on the computer. These can sometimes conflict with each other allowing an old print driver to be the spooler and not the proper driver for the current printer. Remember to clear the printer’s queue before removing the old drivers.
A last attempt at solving printer spooler problems is to manually delete the files in the printer driver. These will all be either .shd or .spl file types and are located in the temporary directories of your printer spooler subsystem. Whatever you do, do not delete the spooler subsystem app. This can cause even worse printer problems and in rare cases can cause major printer failures and errors. Should none of these work or solve the problem, it is in your best interest to seek a professional in the matter of solving the problem. Most printer spooler problems can be solved by the user in a few short steps.
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