Print Spooler

[TrojanSquirrel]

I have a problem with a client's machine and the two printers attached.

The machine doesn't recognise any printers attatched, and on further investigation I found that the print spooler service was stopped. I set the service to run automatically and started the service. The RPC service is running fine. After starting the spooler it runs for around 1-3 minutes and then stops. This was just enough time for the machine to get halfway through the driver install for the HP printer. The install failed as a result of the service stopping. I also have set the service to restart on first and second failure.

Is this a problem with the driver/HP software or a problem with XP itself?

Out of interest I tried to run sfc /scannow to see if anything needed replacement, but that failed to run as well.

I have a feeling that XP has eaten itself, but I would like to get to the root of the spooler problem before I install XP over itself.

Regards,

Rob.

Regards,

Rob

http://www.transcom.net

 

[Auger282]

you should check the event viewer to see why the spooler is stopping

 

[TrojanSquirrel]

It said it was failing because of the RPC service was stopped. This started fine and I set this service to automatic.

Regards,

Rob

http://www.transcom.net

 

[bcastner]

To begin with, HP printer installations are odd. The installation will fail if the printer is connected during the initial portion of the install.


Your issue is not the RPC service per se. Do a clean of the printer drivers and follow exactly the manual's instructions when reinstalling the printer:

http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/CleanPrinterDrivers.htm

____________________________
Users Helping Users

 

[TrojanSquirrel]

Thanks, will do. Also thanks for that link, very usefull.

I have always hated printers, and as I'm self taught in the dark arts of PCs and never owned a printer this is top of my ignorance list!

Out of interest; in the dependencies list for the print spooler service should it have a mention of the drivers installed for the said printers, or just other system services?


Thanks (yet) again bcastner!!!


Regards,

Rob

http://www.transcom.net

 

[bcastner]

There should be nothing other than the RPCSS service if I had my way.

One service that gets introdued as a dependency is LEXBCS, an unfortunate service used by Lexmark printers. If you remove a Lexmark printer you need to get rid of this dependency:

Start, Run, cmd

sc config spooler depend= RPCSS
(Note the space after the = symbol above and not before it. This is important)

net stop spooler
(Wait for a message that the service has stopped)

net stop lexpps
net stop lexbce
(ignore any errror messages)

sc delete lexpps
sc delete lexbce
(ignore any errors)

del \Windows\System32\lex*.dll
del \Windows\System32\lexp*.exe
del \Windows\System32\lexc*.exe

exit

Reboot.


____________________________
Users Helping Users

 

[TrojanSquirrel]

Yeah, I've read about those pesky Lexmark printers....

This particular machine has two HP printers attatched via usb. One is a multifunction and the second a photo printer.

I'll attack the problem again on Monday and post if I get any joy.

Regards,

Rob

http://www.transcom.net

 

[macten88]

I had the same problem about a year ago and used the same link that bcastner posted. It worked perfectly.....