Windows Vista spooler subsystem App Stopped running

I have been having a problem on and off over the past year with my print spooler stopping...at any random time.

In the past, I have done a system restore to that morning and it fixes it. It always seems to happen when I try to print a PDF. I am not sure why that is, but that is the common denominator that I have found.

I am using Windows Vista 64 Bit. I have an HP Laserjet 1018 and have tried installing print drivers, going back to original printer disk, you name it. I have been on your message boards scouring for answers and cannot seem to find a solution. I thought maybe I had a virus or something, but ran Norton 360 and all is clean.

I am at a major loss and need some suggestions. If it's my printer, I will go buy a new one, but I can't spend a day trying to get this resolved each time this happens. The solution is never the same.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Linda Hart
Salonsmart.com

 

Have you tried clearing the queue and restarting the service?

If not, open a Run window (Windows Logo key+R), type cmd and press Enter. Now type these commands, which are in capitals for clarity only:

NET STOP SPOOLER and press Enter
DEL %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\PRINTERS\*.* and press Enter
NET START SPOOLER and press Enter
EXIT and press Enter

 

I entered the info as you stated exactly and got the following:

NET STOP SPOOLER and press Enter
The print spooler service is not started.
DEL %SYSTEMROOT%\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\PRINTERS\*.* and press Enter
The system cannot find the path specified.
NET START SPOOLER and press Enter
System 5 Error has occurred
EXIT and press Enter

I don't know...I guess it didn't work.

 

Hmm, I haven’t tried this but here is a Microsoft Fixit

It’s not the same error number, but it cannot do any harm.

 

I tried this yesterday and got an error, but tried again this morning and it said it fixed the problem, but after I started the print spooler, it stopped again.

Is there any chance that the PDF file is corrupted and put a virus of some sort on my machine?

 

What program are you using for viewing/printing pdf ? Does it always happen with the same pdf file or from the same source ?

 

I use Adobe Reader 9. It seems to happen when I am opening a PDF file...it is not all PDFs, as I use PDFs all day long every day. But it happened back on 9/1/10 when I tried to print this certain PDF file, and it happened two days ago when I tried to print the same file. I didn't realize it until yesterday.

When it happened last year (December I think), it occurred after opening a PDF file, but not the same file.

 

Is your printer HP 1020 or HP 1022 ? Problems have been reported with this series of printers.

pdf+stops+print+spooler+service

----------------------------------------------

Oops. just re read your post #1.

Your printer is HP LJ 1018.

A search on google again, threw up this gem resolved hp laserjet 1018 print spooler stops when printing scanned pdfs/. The solution - stop using Adobe Reader & get yourself another pdf reader. I myself use Foxit Reader.

 

Okay, I uninstalled Adobe Reader 9 and installed Foxit Reader. Thank you. I am still not able to print, however.

Should I try to do a system restore again? Or try the fixit tool?

Your help is very much appreciated!

 

Can you print from other applications ?

 

No, other applications won't print. Print spooler keeps stopping.

Okay, so I went onto google and did a search of my own and came across this forum and this was someones suggestion:

RESOLUTION

This problem is most likely being caused by a submitted print job that has a corrupted ticket header. This is often caused by application software or print drivers that do not adhere to industry print language standards.

1. Stop the Print Spooler service from the Services Control Panel.

2. Clear out any suspect spool files from the print spooler directory. If in doubt, just empty this directory.

Default: C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS


Restart the Print Spooler service.

So I did this, and low and behold, I can print again!!! Yeah!

I hopefully won't have this problem anymore since I am not using Adobe Reader anymore. Thanks for your help. If I come across any other issues, I will let you know. Thanks again!