Fix Printer Spooler Errors

Friday, January 15, 2010 , Posted by Admin at 8:02 AM

If you have ever seen this error (or any other printer or spooler error) and don’t know what to do about it, fear no more.

Windows cannot connect to the printer. the local print spooler service is not running. please restart the spooler or restart the machine.

Also, I have seen a printer magically disappear from the computer even though it is connected and powered on.

There is a great little fix for both of these scenarios. It is called PrintFlush. The utility is a simple batch file that you download and then run. Download it here:

Download PrintFlush from Brad Kovach.

If you are really interested in what the batch file does, keep reading.

First, it stops the print spooler

net stop spooler

Next, configures the spooler (very important for Lexmark printers)

sc config spooler depend= RPCSS

Then it flushes the spooler

del /Q /F /S “%systemroot%\System32\Spool\Printers\*.*”

Lastly, it restarts the spooler

net start spooler

I have used this utility many times has gotten me out of multiple printer jams.

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