How do I Troubleshoot the Windows Print Spooler Service not Starting?
If the Print spooler is not starting, or appears to be started but no one can print:
1. Stop the Print Spooler service if it appears to be running.
2. Open the registry and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors
3. Back up and remove any third party Language Monitor registry keys. The defaults are:
Local Port
PJL Language Monitor
4. Restart the Spooler service and test printing. If we can now print, restore the keys one by one, stopping and restarting the spooler between each step to see which one is the problem. Have the customer reinstall the driver that uses that monitor, or, in most cases, you can leave the key deleted.
5. If it is still failing, backup the following registry keys and then delete all the ports listed under them:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\
Standard TCP/IP Port HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\
LPR Port
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\
<third party monitor such as HP TCP/IP Port, Lexmark, etc.>
Stop and restart the spooler. Create a new Standard TCP/IP port and printer and test printing. If it prints, then we have a corrupt port. We can then either recreate all the ports, or restore the registry key and then start eliminating them until we find the bad one.
6. If it is still failing, backup the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
and then delete all the printers listed. Stop and restart the spooler. It should now start. Re-add the printers either manually or by restoring the registry key to find out what printers are failing. Once you have determined the problem printer, reinstall the driver for these printers, as they may be corrupt.
Filed under: Printing
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