Okay let's find out what is causing the spooler service to fail.
Launch task manager. On the Processes tab, change the view to include a
column for PID
open a command window
type net start spooler
You have one minute to complete the next couple tasks
find spoolsv.exe in task manager, note the PID
in the command window type
ntsd -p [PID for spoolsv.exe] -g -G
press enter and a bunch of module load info will scroll paste.
when the process terminates you will see a prompt
ntdll!DbgBreakPoint:
7c822583 cc int 3
0:001>
type k
hopefully this will indicate which module is failing.
--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
Alan - I would LOVE to get the dang spooler running, but no luck so
far.
(Apologies in advance - this is going to be a long one.)
Background detail - I don't think this is related to upgrading from an
earlier version of Windows. When I set up systems, I always start with
a
clean install. Many data files on the pc were brought over from older
installations, but this machine started with a freshly formatted drive
and
an
install of Windows XP from scratch.
I looked at Bruce's page and proceeded as follows -
Installed the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit
Run - cleanspl.exe
Got the error 'Unable to create registry key "\\(my system
name)\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\Phaser
6250DP". Access is denied.'
No, there is no listing in Add/Remove programs for my Xerox Phaser
6250.
Yes, there should be a Xerox Phaser 6250 installed.
So next I tried regedit, with appropriate fear and trembling.
I deleted all keys from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows
NTx86\Drivers\Version-3, without deleting Version-3 itself. (Version-2
was
not present.)
At the command prompt, I entered net stop spooler, then net start
spooler.
Next Windows Explorer - c:\windows\system32\spool\printers was empty. I
deleted everything from c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3, and
everything else that was in the w32x86 folder except for folder "3".
Back to the command prompt - net stop spooler, net start spooler. (Yes,
I
hit enter and allowed time for a response after each of those two
commands.)
Add Printer
Operation could not be completed. The print spooler service is not
running.
(The usual error I've been getting.)
I restarted the system, then restarted the print spooler again. Tried
to
add
a printer - Operation could not be completed. I went to services.msc
(so I
could watch when things happened) and started the (stopped) print
spooler,
then tried once more to add a printer - the spooler stopped a few
seconds
later and I got the usual error message.
Help! Is there anything else I can do?
Thanks for your trouble,
Sharon
:
the service starts until it loads something (of fails to load
something)
which corrupts the spooler memory and terminates.
If you are interested in debugging the process and determining which
file
is
causing the problem we can go there but most people would rather just
get
the dang spooler running again.
Bruce has some useful information on cleaning out the print drivers.
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/CleanPrinterDrivers.htm
--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
Thanks, Alan - but it doesn't work. When I type "net start spooler"
at
the
command prompt, I get the messages "The Print Spooler service is
starting.
The Print Spooler service was started successfully." But when I next
go
to
Printers and Faxes and click Add Printer, I get the message
"Operation
could
not be completed. The print spooler service is not running."
I tried a couple of variations -
1) Cold boot, then enter "net start spooler" at the command prompt.
Same
result.
2) Uninstall the software for that HP1312 printer, and cold boot
after
finishing the uninstall with its associated restarts. Enter "net
start
spooler" after the cold boot. Same result.
Where do I go from here?
TIA,
Sharon
:
You will need to start the Printer Spooler service
in Services.msc or at a command prompt
net start spooler
most spooler failures are caused when print drivers corrupt the
memory
of
the process.
--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.
I am running XP Pro with SP3 on a system with a 3.2 Mhz processor
and
1
G
of
memory. I have two 149 G drives, each with about 63G of free
space.
When I
started the system this morning, Windows displayed a message
headed
"Data
Execution Prevention" and reading "To help protect your computer,
Windows
has
closed this program. Name: Spooler Subsystem App Publisher:
Microsoft
Corporation".
All of my printers - 2 local and 2 networked - have disappeared,
and
when
I
try to reinstall them Windows displays the message "Operation
could
not
be
completed. The print spooler service is not running."
Everything seemed to be working normally yesterday.
I ran a full virus scan after getting this error - it says the
system
is
clean.
The formerly installed printers are -
1) HP2200 on LPT1 - this was set to allow shared access since
several
users
need to print to it
2) Xerox Phaser 6250 on USB
3) HP4000 on an internal IP address
4) HP1312 on an internal IP address
