System cannot find Print Spooler Service

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Guest

I'm not sure how it happened, but my printing abilities stopped suddenly. I
tried uninstalling and reinstalling my HP psc750 software and drivers but the
installation keeps failing to complete. Further research shows me that the
Print Spooler is stopped in the Computer Management/Service console. When I
attempt to start the print spooler service, the following error message pops
up:

"Could not start the Print Spooler service on Local Computer. Error 2: The
system cannot find the file specified."

While I'd like to know just where my Print Spooler file has gone, I REALLY
would like to know how to find/repair/reinstall the missing file(s) so I am
able to print again.

Data: Using XP Home w/SP1 and SP2 installed.

Any/all help will most Joyfully be accepted (and would get my wife off my
back as she REALLY needs to print some important documents!!)

Tim
 
Choirpower said:
I'm not sure how it happened, but my printing abilities stopped suddenly. I
tried uninstalling and reinstalling my HP psc750 software and drivers but the
installation keeps failing to complete. Further research shows me that the
Print Spooler is stopped in the Computer Management/Service console. When I
attempt to start the print spooler service, the following error message pops
up:

"Could not start the Print Spooler service on Local Computer. Error 2: The
system cannot find the file specified."

While I'd like to know just where my Print Spooler file has gone, I REALLY
would like to know how to find/repair/reinstall the missing file(s) so I am
able to print again.

Data: Using XP Home w/SP1 and SP2 installed.

Any/all help will most Joyfully be accepted (and would get my wife off my
back as she REALLY needs to print some important documents!!)

Tim
Click to expand...

- Click Start / Run
- Type services.msc {OK}
- On the right-hand side, navigate to "Print Spooler"
- Double-click it to open it
- Where does the executable reside? Is it
c:\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe?
- Use Explorer to see if this file exists

By the way, do you have an up-to-date virus scanner? A firewall
to protect you against hackers?
 
Services shows file located at : %SystemRoot%\system32\spoolsv.exe

Now, I'm not sure how to find the %SystemRoot% folder, but I DO find the
spoolsv.exe file at: C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe

My Norton AntiVirus reports that the file is clean. I keep Norton Personal
Firewall and Norton AntiVirus active and updated at all times.

So now what do I do? Thanks in advance for your help!

Tim
 
Run regedit.exe, then navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler

Now have a look at "ImagePath". It must be a Reg_Expand_SZ
type. If it is not then you must delete it and recreate it as that type.
 
Well! Perhaps I'm getting somewhere... My ImagePath is "type" oxffffffea.
Can you tell me how to recreate it as a Reg_Expand_SZ type?

Thanks!
Tim
 
If you poke around a little then you'll find that Edit/New lets you
create new values.
 
Hi -

I created a new value with Reg_Expand_SZ as the type and rebooted.

Nothing has changed - still being told that the print spooler cannot be
started because the file cannot be found on the local machine. Windows
Explorer, however, shows the spooler application at
C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe and Norton AntiVirus shows the file is clean.

This is quite frustrating! Must I do a Windows XP repair or reinstall to
get my spooler recognized and able to be turned on? Are there other options
or things to try first?

Help!
 
Time to get down to tin tacks. Do this exactly as below:
1. Run regedit.exe.
2. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler
3. Make doubly sure that ImagePath is of the Reg_Expand_SZ type.
4. Replace its date with c:\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe
5. Run services.exe.
6. Double-click the Spooler service.
7. Verify that the executable is now c:\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe
8. Start the service.

I recommend against a reload or repair job at this stage. It might
do more damage than good.
 
Hi,
4. Replace its date with c:\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe
Click to expand...
should be under data %SystemRoot%\system32\spoolsv.exe
5. Run services.exe.
Click to expand...
should be Start/ Run/services.msc
double click Print Spooler, start the service or click the Restart
(underlined in blue color) in the Restart the service.

Path to executable should show C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe under the
General tab


Peter
 
It WORKS AGAIN!

Thanks so much for your patient and detailed walk-through. Deleting and
recreating the properly-valued subkey and pointing to the correct location,
and restarting the service (making sure I had completely dumped all system
references to the HP printer I was trying to reinstall, worked beautifully.

Thank you, Pegasus (and Peter who echoed the same 'fix')!!

Tim
 
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