Thank you for any help.
If you have an XP disk and the driver disks, that would seem to be your best option at this point.
This might help.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4711246_fix-printer-spooler.html
Delete the printer driver. Reboot the computer without the printer connected, and then connect the printer and re-boot again. It may come up with a generic driver that will work for that printer.
If not, do you have the original disk that came with the printer to re-install the drivers from there?
If you can’t install the drivers, then it may have been corrupted.
You are probably going to have to uninstall, clean out all of traces, and reinstall your printer. Then download the drivers.
Good luck!
Save pics files and what not then do a clean install it will work like new don this more times than I care to admit
Like what can you not do?
The spooler service is stopped. Go to Start > Run > type ‘services.msc’
Scroll down the list and find “Print Spooler.” It’s likely not started. Right-click and go to “Start.” Does it start and stay started? If not, it’s a driver issue. If it starts, stays started, and you can print, you’re good to go. If you can’t print, it’s likely driver related.
I hope you have a copy of the driver software for that printer. You will not find a single manufacturer offering XP drivers. XP is inherently unsafe, and you are exposing yourself to myriad vulnerabilities that are exploited daily.
If you absolutely MUST have an XP machine, do not do ANYTHING on it with your personal information. No sensitive information, pictures, bank information... NOTHING. There are active exploits available everywhere on the web. It only takes bad guys finding your machine on a network, and you will be compromised.
Non-destructive reinstall of Windows XP
https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-xp.html
Clean Install - There are also more articles to read about repairing
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxpclean1.htm
Delete registry entries to remove other instances of the printer.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Print > Providers > LanMan Print Services > Servers > Printers
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\ Windows NT x86\ Drivers\Version-2”
Not to dismiss all these helpful Freepers, but I have found over the years that I can get a lot of free tech help on any subject or problem from this site:
Very professional advice from volunteers.
The print spooler is an integral Windows service, not a driver. If it is not running, you can simply restart the computer and it should start up again.
If that doesn’t work, you can manually start the spooler by doing this:
Go to Start Menu > Run, then type “services.msc” and hit enter.
In the list of services that appears, search for “Print Spooler”. Right click it, and select “Start”. It should take a few seconds to start the service. If it fails, it may give you an error message pointing to the source of the problem. You may also want to right-click the Print Spooler, click properties, and make sure that “Start Type” is set to “Automatic”.
If you can’t manually start it, then you probably have some conflict caused by a recent update. Go to the list of installed updated (Control Panel (classic view) > Add or Remove Programs > Check “Show Updates”), then scroll down to Windows XP to see the windows updates recently installed and uninstall, starting with the most recent, until the spooler works again.
If you go that route, make a note of each update you uninstall until you find the problematic one. You can then reinstall the other updates that didn’t cause the issue.
What driver do you need. Is th printer usb or lpt? Chances are someone has it. Uninstall the device and drivers. Run some of the disk utilities and defrag. That should find any errors on the disk and map them out. Reinstall the drivers if you have them or just plug in the printer if it is usb. If it is lpt you may have some luck finding a generic print driver. Good luck.
I keep several xp laptops running for my shop equipme t and they are never going to be upgraded. It is rock steady...
Just make sure you don’t connect it to the internet
Do you have the disk for the printer? If you don’t download it from web site. Then try using msconfig, type msconfig in the run window. When it comes up, select selective startup and dis-enable all in the startup. Try to run printer disk. You might need to restart many times and enable or dis-enable to find the problem.
1. Some services have dependent services that must start beforehand. On my XP computer, the Printer Spooler service is dependent on the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) service. If the latter does not start, the former will not start.
2. Most services write error messages that can be used to diagnose problems. Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
You need to start the print spooler as has been said. The actual file should be C:\WINDOWS\System32\spoolsv.exe. Paste that string into your Run command and hit Enter if you want.
Better late than never