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
And once you find the error in the Event Viewer a lot of times you can search for it on the Internet and find a solution to your problem, WITHOUT having to reprogram your entire computer.
"Operation could not be completed. The print spooler service is not running." Microsoft
"Operation could not be completed. The print spooler service is not running." iYogi
I would also suggest checking Services (type services.msc at the Run command) to see if "printspooler service is running in automatic mode and also make sure you UPnP services are also started."