How to Troubleshoot the “Cannot Delete Network Printer” Error in Windows
Common Printer Issues
If you are working in an office, you most likely have a list of printers added to the PC that are network printers, which are not connected directly to the system. However, as printers in the network become non-existent or if computers move places, the devices from the list have to be cleared occasionally.
Sometimes, when you attempt to remove a network printer, you may receive an error message from the Windows OS that reads, “Cannot delete network printer”. Thankfully, you can get rid of a network printer from the system through the Windows Registry. This way, you can avoid having several unwanted printers clogging up the list of devices. Yet note that in order to perform the following troubleshoot, or to clear some steps in it, you have to sign in as an Administrator or get the required permissions first.
Prior to making any changes to the Registry, make it a point to back it up. If you are not familiar with making changes to the Windows Registry, then it is best to seek professional help. Besides, you can also try the last method mentioned below to work around the issue and delete unnecessary network printers.
Steps to Remove a Network Printer through Windows Registry Editor
- Press and hold down Windows and R keys at the same time. This opens the Run dialog box.
- In the dialog box, type regedit and click on the OK This opens the Registry Editor.
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections
- In the Connections folder, you should see the network printers list. They will be mentioned with the name of the server, a comma, and the actual printer’s name at last.
- Right-click the printer and select Delete. When done, you have to get rid of the printer from another registry location, in order to clear any traces of it from the system.
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control and open Print\Providers\LanMan Print Services\Servers\Printers
- Now expand the registry key named Servers, select the Print Server key, and press on Delete to remove the target printer. You should also be able to expand the print server, hosting the device you want to remove.
Close the Windows Registry Editor and restart the system. Now, the network printer should be gone. In case you have a local printer, which you want to delete you can do the same through the registry. For that, navigate to the below registry keys and follow the same procedure.
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\ Windows NT x86\ Drivers\Version-3\
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\
Clear the Print Queue
The print queue in Windows contains a list of documents sent to a target printer and waiting to be printed. In other words, the print jobs are being enqueued. It is a known fact that you will not be able to get rid of a printer in case a print job is in the queue. A shortcut to know whether a print job or document is stuck in the print queue is to navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS directory and ensuring that the Printers folder is empty. To open the directory, open Windows Explorer, type the aforementioned path in the address bar and press the Enter key.
Alternatively, you can forcefully clear the print queue. Once you clear the enqueued print jobs, you should be able to delete a printer from the system.
Steps to Clear Windows Print Queue and Restart Print Spooler
- Open the Run dialog box as mentioned earlier.
- In the command box, type services.msc and press Enter key. This opens a list of local services in Windows.
- Select any service, and press P on the keyboard to quickly highlight the Print Spooler. Right-click on the Print Spooler service and then select Stop. This means that no other users in the network will be able to send print jobs to the system that hosts the print server
- Then, you have to open the Printers folder as mentioned above.
- Delete the files in the Printers This clears the print queue.
Note that if you are doing this in a Windows Server, it is advisable to first ensure that there are no print jobs being processed for other printers, as doing this deletes all those print jobs too.
After doing all these steps, you can restart the spooler service to get it up and running. For that, go back to the Services list, right-click the Print Spooler and select Start. For your information, restarting will fix the print spooler service not running error too.
Once you clear the print queue, go ahead and remove the unwanted printer from the computer. Of course, if you want to troubleshoot print spooler service not running or assistance with anything else related to printing, getting in touch with our service professionals through the toll-free number would be the best bet.
How to Improve the Stability of Windows Print Spooler Service
Common Printer Issues
A common gripe among printer users is regarding the stability of print spooler. It is the software, which manages print jobs on Windows. The common spooler stability issues typically manifest as follows:
- Queued print jobs randomly get stuck from time to time. A print job has to be cleared.
- The same happens with enqueued print jobs but they cannot be cleared.
- The print spooler hangs, taking down print queues.
In most cases, these issues have been narrowed down to print driver bugs or driver issues. To improve the stability of the spooler service, it is worth getting an abstract idea as to how it works. If you know how to restart print spooler, you can take an action after it fails to take printouts.
Printer Spooler Service’s Architecture is Monolithic
The print spooler service works as one process. It loads the code of the driver into the address space of the spooler process. This means driver code’s crash will bring down not just the present print job, but the print spooler or pending print queue as a whole. This affects all print drivers. It is recommended to consider the below steps in order to improve printing reliability in a network environment, especially.
Turn Off Bidirectional Support
In case you isolate a problem print queue, that is, the one with print jobs jamming always, consider disabling the bidirectional support of the port. For that, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Click on the Start button on your computer, and choose Devices and Printers from the menu that appears.
- Right-click on your printer icon, and choose Printer properties from the context menu.
- In the new window, switch to the Ports tab, and deselect the checkbox Enable bidirectional support.
- Click Apply and OK to confirm the changes.
A printer vendor can implement a channel of communication, outside the methods of the supported OS, which can be turned on and turned off inside the interface provided with vendor-specific code.
This option will disable driver features, which are related to tasks like printer’s hardware status reporting. In case bugs or issues exist in this area of the driver code, the stability can improve.
Stick to Quality Drivers
It only takes a faulty print driver to take down rest of the drivers. In case you feel a print driver is causing issues, consider hosting the driver on a different server system so that crashes do not affect other printers. Large business environments will run more than one print server – one for most of the printers and the other for the drivers that misbehave.
Configure the Print Spooler Service to Automatic Restart upon Failure
The spooler service or the system that host it is subject to failure. Therefore, you have to implement procedures in order to monitor the print service and have a clear plan to tackle the same. Ensure the restart print spooler options are configured to automatic upon failure. This will maximize the probability of the spooler resolving its issues, and will minimize the probability of causing a crash. Follow the below steps to make these changes.
How to Restart Print Spooler Automatically on Failure
- Press Windows and R keys at the same time on your keyboard. Type services.msc in the Run dialog box and click OK button.
- In the list of Local Services window, select any service and keep pressing P key until you find the Print Spooler. Double-click on it.
- In the Print Spooler Properties window that pops up, switch to the Recovery In that, make sure the first three fields are configured to Restart the Service.
- Click on Apply and OK buttons to confirm the changes.
Also, check whether the spooler service is configured to start up automatically. This ensures that your computer receives print jobs from other systems or that it will not miss out any. Follow the steps mentioned below to configure the setting.
- Under the General tab of the Print Spooler Properties, find the Startup type drop-down menu. If it is not configured to Automatic, then click on the menu and choose the said setting from the drop-down list.
- Click Apply to save the change.
Isolate a Single Point of Failure
Partitioning problem drivers of your printer onto a different service is one way to isolate point of failure. Bigger sites may want to consider advanced methods too like server system clustering and/or dividing load across several servers. These methods engineer out SPOF, making sure a failure in a department may not affect all users as well as services. For instance, a server that hosts printer drivers of the engineering department will not affect those of other departments.
If you come across any stability issues or print spooler crashes, get in touch with our printer service professionals through the toll-free number mentioned above. Alternatively, you can start a live chat session for quick assistance.
How to Troubleshoot the Printer Spooler Service Keeps Stopping
Troubleshoot Printer Spooler
Print spooler service manages the print jobs on Windows. The service should be in a running state to take printouts. You can start it through the list of local Services. This resolves the issue, but sometimes when you begin the spooler service, it is stopped automatically. There can be many reasons to this, including corrupt document or file, incompatible driver, and computer malware. If you were wondering how to fix printer spooler error, find the following methods for that. Before you start, sign into Windows administrator account.
Remove the Spool Folder’s Content
Precisely, you have to delete content from folders namely Drivers and PRINTERS. To access the Spool folder, which contains both folders, type the following path on the address bar of Windows Explorer and press Enter key.
- C:\Windows\System32\spool
- First, delete folders and files contained in the Drivers Then, delete content from the other folder.
- Then, restart print spooler.
- Reboot the computer and retry printing.
Reinstall the Driver of your Printer
Download the latest driver from your printer manufacturer website and install it on your computer. Once you install the driver, reboot your system and restart the spooler.
Delete Duplicated Drivers
To remove unwanted printer drivers, which prevents the spooler service from adding new printers, follow the below steps:
- Press Windows and R keys simultaneously.
- In the Run dialog box, key in msc and click OK.
- Open All Drivers by double-clicking, and get rid of an unwanted printer driver by right-clicking on the respective driver and choosing Delete option in the context menu.
- Once you remove the driver in question, reboot your computer, and restart the spooler service.
Configure Driver Isolation
To fix printing issues by avoiding conflict between printer drivers;
- Launch the Run dialog box using Windows and R short keys combo.
- Open Print Management as explained above.
- Open All drivers
- Right-click on the driver of your printer, move the cursor over to Set Isolation and select Isolated.
- Exit Print Management.
- Reboot your computer and restart the printer spooler.
Remove Unwanted Registry Key
Type regedit in the Run dialog box and press Enter key. Navigate to the path:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers
Prior to doing registry configuration, it is recommended to back up its database. The registry backup is required because in case of mis-configuration, the database backup will help to revert to its earlier state. For that, follow the below steps.
- Click on File and choose Export from the context menu.
- Select Desktop to save the present registry configuration.
- Type Backup as its file name, and select All below Export range.
- Then, click on Save
- Navigate to the aforementioned path and delete all keys except the default ones namely Internet Print Provider and LanMan Print Services. If you find an additional key, delete it. In the following example, the additional key is Printing Services.
- Then, close the Registry Editor.
- Reboot the computer.
Scan the System for Malware
Find an antivirus software and do a system cleanup or quarantine procedure to get rid of virus from your PC. After that, restart your computer and then spooler.
Run CHKDSK /R
If you have a corrupt system file problem or you cannot read or write data from the hard disk, you should run the command CHKDSK /R. Check disk utility will help you find bad sectors, and resolve them if they are resolvable.
- From the Start menu, open Command Prompt.
- Type the said command and press Enter It will say, “Check disk cannot run since the volume is in use by the computer”, and that calls for a reboot.
- Key in Y and hit Enter to accept rebooting your system.
- Reboot your system.
- Wait until it is done repairing the file system. Windows will reboot after repairing the hard disk.
Run SFC /SCANNOW
System File Checker checks for file corruption in Windows. Run it on Command Prompt. If the utility found any system file corruption issues, it will attempt to resolve them. It comprises additional commands such as SCANNOW. It scans the integrity of protected files and repairs problem files when that is possible.
System Restore
This is a recovery mechanism in the Windows OS. It is not one that is enabled automatically. End users or IT administrators should enable it. Assuming a restore point is consistent with whatever you are trying to achieve, here is how to execute it.
- Type exe on the Run dialog box and click OK.
- Click on Choose a different restore point followed by Next.
- Select correct checkpoint and then click on Next.
- Click on Finish.
- Reboot the OS and wait until it is completed restore.
The above steps will help you to resolve the errors you were experiencing. If you were wondering how to fix printer spooler error, or restart the spooler, you can get in touch with our printer service professionals anytime through the toll-free number or start a live chat session for quick help.
Ensuring Better Printing on LRS VPSX Printers
Common Printer Issues
LRS is famous for its VPSX printers that streamline office operations in a variety of ways. Configuring your printer setup correctly is often sufficient to ensuring that things run smoothly in the course of a workday. Following are some on doing exactly that.
Set the RETAIN and QTIME Values
This should not be hard to do no matter how many printers you have to do it for. There is an easy way, which involves using the Printer Definition and Deployment Tool (PDDT), which can significantly automate the work.
- Assign a value for the RETAIN setting for each printer. Most users keep in mind to set the former, so the system knows how long the document has to be kept after a successful print. This allows users to later get a duplicate quite easily, because there is no need to return to the original application and then start from scratch. Retaining a document can also be helpful in case you wish to troubleshoot some issue with it. The RETAIN value can be set by choosing Basics on Printer Configuration.
- Assign a value for the QTIME setting for each printer. This tells the printer how long a print file should stay in a queue before it prints. This feature is in place to avoid obsolete queues, as well as queues that get filled with spooled files which never make it to a print. In the case of the latter, it may simply look like the print spooler keeps stopping. The default setting leaves the output in the queue until it gets printed or explicitly removed, so as to make sure no data is lost inadvertently. If you set a good value for this, it can save you storage space and system resources, not to mention bringing down the VPSX initialization time. The QTIME value can be set by choosing Advanced on Printer Configuration.
Define the Printers Correctly
- Leave the Don’t bind outbound connections to TCPHOST checkbox selected. This is how the LRS software will know not to bind specific NICs. On top of that, the OS gets the chance to choose the best NIC for sending data to any destination. In most work environments, this is seen to be the best option.
- Some companies have strict firewall rules, which entail explicit NIC binding. If that is the case at your office, put in a call to LRS and find out if there are other ways, in which you can configure performance, network security, and flexibility in optimal balance.
- If you get a TCP/IP BIND REQUEST FAILED message in the VPSX log, check that box to streamline connections, and to prevent further errors.
Set Server Ports to Open Only after the Printer Activates
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LRS VPSX Printer Errors
The VPSX software starts and opens all the inbound ports, after which the printers are activated alphabetically. Based on how many jobs there are in the queue, the latter may take awhile. Wait while this happens.
- If you see the Printer Not Defined error when trying to send a job to a printer ranked lower in the alphabet, this is probably because it has not been activated yet. What until it gets there, and try again.
- Choose the Open server ports after printer activation option, so that the LRS software knows not to open ports or accept jobs before all current jobs are finished. This ensures that every printer stays ready to receive output before such time as an application sets up a connection to the VPSX. Additionally, the VPSX initialization time gets cut significantly, which also frees up server resources.
Set the Logging System to Display Maximum Information
This is in case you decide to call tech support to fix a printer spooler error or some such, and want to make the job easier for them. Your VPSX system has a few logging parameters you can adjust.
- Log Expiration decides how long the logs are maintained before they get deleted. Setting this to a week’s time is optimal, but if you have plenty of hard disk space left, you can set a longer duration. The higher the number of log files available, the more quickly a certified technician would typically be able to fix your printer problem.
- Log Size is another parameter you can set. A job can span up to several logs, making it hard to see all messages on a single screen. Dial up the Log Size to fix this. Do the math on how much a day’s logs add up to, and choose either that or 50 MB, whichever is lower.
That was a look at how to best configure your LRS VPSX systems at the office. If you see any problems, such as a printer spooler error, or any other issue, call us on 844-203-1916 for quality assistance from certified printer technicians. We can fix it in minimal time.
How to Speed Up an Office Print Server
Printer Server Error
Not all printers are created equal, but most work the way you want them to, as long as you know how to make that happen. Sadly enough, plenty of users have no clue as to why their printers stall, and end up frustrated if this happens when they need something printed stat. An office printer that stops printing can leave employees deterred from finishing important tasks.
A slow printer in your department can be the result of a variety of things, inefficient print job processing being chief among them. Given below are some great ways to speed it back up, and resume the work you were supposed to be completing.
Locate the Server Bottleneck
It is imperative to first figure out what is causing the printer to respond so slowly. There could be something wrong with the processor, or the memory. Maybe an invisible background service is hogging resources. When a user tries to print, any one of these can suffice to disrupt the operation. Luckily, Windows has a built-in task manager that lets you compare the printer’s idle state with the time when someone attempts to make a print.
Adjust the Print Server Configurations
Windows Server 2012 has a “print spooled documents first” option, which you should definitely enable if your printer gets used a lot by multiple people. Otherwise, a small job that was submitted after a larger job would have to wait for the latter to complete. This would be the case even if the smaller job had finished spooling while the larger one had not, and also when the printer is idle. To all outward appearances, it would seem your problem was the print spooler service not running properly.
Utilize Dedicated Drives for Spooling
In a busy office, the print spool server would have multiple jobs sent to it simultaneously, requiring the disk drive to write and delete data a lot of the time. The latter can quickly cause a bottleneck. You should try to optimize performance by setting a dedicated drive for the spooling alone. Microsoft® recommends having separate physical disk drives for spooler file storage and operating system use. Most people would simply need to reset print spooler file storage settings.
Expand the Increase Hard Disk Space Available to the Print Server
A disk drive of insufficient size can cause problems in spooling. Most print jobs tend to grow tremendously in size whenever they get rendered, and with multiple print jobs submitted simultaneously for spooling, the whole thing can become unresponsive pretty quickly. As a remedy, make sure the hard disk used by the print server is not too small.
Utilize Dedicated Print Servers
Dedicated print servers can be easier to maintain, because even when they get bogged down with print jobs, they would not cause other important applications to stall or crash. By the same token, applications hogging resources would not after the performance of a print server.
Close Open Connections
Common Printer Issues
Some users connecting to print servers leave their connections active for a long while, and this is bad because every connection needs resources to stay up. Windows has a server management functionality you can use to locate such connections, and when you do, you can close the unneeded ones. If the server gets repeatedly bogged down with day-long connections, there is probably something wrong with the client applications, and you may want to take that up with the manufacturer to come up with a workaround.
Cut the Number of Printer Drivers and Remove Monitoring Software
Using a high number of printer drivers is a bad idea, especially in Windows. The main problem with this is that it takes up a lion’s share of resources, while getting little work done. The other issue is that a lot of printer drivers are known to leave monitoring services in their wake after being uninstalled, and these too are a drain on resources. You can prevent them by standardizing the drivers used, preferring universal printer drivers, and getting software that lets you centrally manage printer drivers without the need to install it on the servers.
Ramp up the Processor Speed
The processor is a possible source for a bottleneck you are likely not prepared to deal with, especially during times when heavy printing needs to be carried out. To avoid that, make sure that any conversion to PostScript/PCL takes place on the client, as opposed to the server. If the problem still occurs, you should look into getting more powerful hardware.
Most times when your print server slows down, a quick fix would not solve the problem completely, because there is simply too much printing to be done. So you should call us on 844-203-1916 for technical assistance instead. Our certified printer support experts can get on it right way in minimal time, and get your network printer working right once more.
How to Restart Print Spooler Service on Windows 7
Print Spooler Error
Not all common printing issues in a Windows computer are related to the hardware. Sometimes, a paper jam in the printer could lead to unwanted work stress. Likewise, even a stuck print job or malfunctioning printer spooler will hinder productive printing.
The print spooler is software, which manages documents or files sent to a connected printer. In most cases, the spooler does its function of giving printouts, but on occasions, it tends to malfunction. If something interrupts with print requests, the spooler could crash and halt print jobs.
If that happens, you can try the following workarounds to see if that lets you take printouts subsequently. Even when you sent print jobs by mistake, you would want to cancel it from the print queue. That is one of the ways to avoid a stuck print job.
Cancel Print Jobs Manually from the Print Queue
You can not only pause, restart, and resume printing, but also cancel all or each print job from the print queue.
- Click on the Start button and choose Devices and Printers from the Start Menu.
- From the window that opens next, containing drivers of Devices and Printers, right-click on your printer icon, and choose See what’s printing from the pop-up menu. This will open the Print Queue, which contains pending printing tasks.
- If you want to cancel or delete all print jobs in the queued list, click Printer option from the toolbar and choose Cancel All Documents.
- If you want to delete individual print jobs, right-click on one to highlight it and choose Cancel option from the context menu.
Having learned how to cancel print jobs from the print queue, if spooler is stuck and you cannot cancel that, you would want to restart print spooler. Note that if the spooler malfunction has got to the point of being stuck, restarting the computer alone may not do the trick. If you are wondering how to restart print spooler, there are two ways to do that. Note that after each method to restart the spooler service, you should reboot the computer before you do a test print.
Steps to Restart Print Spooler Manually
- Click on the Start button, and choose Control Panel. From the next window, choose Administrative Tools, and select Services. If you are prompted to choose the administrator user profile and password, follow the instructions.
- Once you are in the Services list presented in alphabetical order, scroll through it and right-click on Print Spooler. Then, you can choose Stop the spooler if its status is Started and then click Start. You can see the status next to the Print Spooler listed there.
- If you are not able to find it, click on a service and continue pressing P until it is highlighted. Moreover, you can double-click the spooler and restart it from Print Spooler Properties.
- Under the General tab of the dialog box that opens on double-click, choose Stop button and then Start.
Steps to Restart Print Spooler Using Command Prompt
- Click Start, type cmd in the search box of Start Menu, and open it from the search results. If you are not signed in to the administrator account, right-click on cmd, select Run as administrator, and click Yes to confirm it. If you are prompted to provide administrator profile credentials, such as username and password, enter the same to proceed.
- On the DOS box, key in net stop spooler and press the Enter Also, make sure that you get a confirmation message on the black window.
After doing that, see to it if you can print a document or text file. Moreover, to make sure print spooler malfunction will not repeat, follow the below pointers.
- Update Windows to make sure even the spooler service is running up to date. Besides software related problems, updating the OS can prevent problems related to the spooler.
- Update the printer drivers. The printer manufacturers typically launch latest updates with bug fixes and solutions for other problems that may hinder user experience. This will make sure a printer is able to communicate with a PC, which is essential for print jobs to be printed.
- Keep the computer free of malware by scanning and quarantining detected malware. It can make the system files corrupted, but you can prevent that to an extent with regular scan and quarantine.
If you come across any further printer issues, or need with print spooler errors, feel free to get in touch with our printer service professionals over the toll-free number listed above to get a timely assistance.
Fixing Error 0XC19A0035 and Error 49 in HP Printers
Fixing Error 0XC19A0035
These days, it is useful to know how to fix the print spooler service not running. That said, there are plenty of other issues that can come in, especially if you use the printer a lot, and share it with a crowd of other people at the office, or even a small bunch if miscreants at home. Printers are supposed to make work go faster, and not heap the user with troubles they have no need for.
HP puts out some of the best printers in the industry, and for the most part these perform like clockwork – precisely and reliably. That and the fact that the company provides top-of-the-class support for its customers, makes the majority of their products widely popular. However, issues such as Error 0XC19A0035 and Error 49 can render HP printers hard to use. It is often imperative that these be resolved before the user loses too much time staying hung up on a single problem, much the same way they would if they had to deal with the print spooler service not running.
Resolving Error 0XC19A0035
- Turn off the printer after the error code gets displayed. Turn it back on. Repeat this twice, and if the issue persists, move on to the next step.
- Open the portion of the printer that lets you access the cartridges.
- Take out the ink cartridge head.
- Many ink cartridges carry connectors placed on the lower side of the chip. If that is the case here, move on to the next step.
- Clean the connector using a damp napkin, or an isopropyl alcohol swab if you want to remove minute dust or dirt.
- Ensure the connector is clean before putting the cartridge back in.
- If you see the error again, you may want to call a certified printer support service and have an expert check the problem out for you, and maybe even have them fix the printer spooler error while they are at it.
Resetting Error 0XC19A0035
- Pull out the power cord.
- Wait for half a minute.
- Hit the # and 3 buttons on the front panel, and hold down.
- Plug the power cord back in.
- Release the two buttons you were pressing earlier.
As you probably surmised, Error 0XC19A0035 occurs when the ink system has stopped working the way it should. This can be from a variety of reasons, but the basic fix often suffices to resolve the issue and get the printer back to working properly. If the above does not work for you, calling tech support may be the best and only option, unlike when dealing with the print spooler service not running.
Resolving and Preventing Error 49
Common Printer Issues
- Turn off the printer after error code gets displayed. Turn it back on. Repeat this twice, and if the issue persists, move on to the next step.
- Find out if a corrupted driver is the cause of the issue. If the one your printer is using is mismatched, you will need to download the proper one for it from the manufacturer’s website, and then install it in the PC.
- To Error 49 from returning, you should hit the Cancel Job This will remove the print job from the memory.
- Turn off the printer. Turn it back on.
- Try printing something from a different application. Return to the previously used application, open a different file, and hit Print. If you keep getting the error message regardless what application you use, move on to the next step.
- Remove all the cables connecting the printer to the PC. Turn it off.
- Disconnect all EIO devices connected to the computer.
- Turn on the printer. Assuming the error does not reappear, separately install each DIMM and EIO device. After each turn the printer off and back on without fail, so that necessary system changes will take effect.
- At this point, you will need to remove any DIMM and EIO device that you think may have originally caused the problem.
- If you still have the error, you will need to change the firmware DIMM.
- Following that, you need to first replace the formatter, and then calibrate the printer.
It is fairly obvious that that Error 49 is an issue arising from the printer not being able to communicate properly with the application that started of the print job. Replacing the firmware DIMM should take care of the problem for the most part, but this may not work if there is an underlying cause that you have not noticed.
To fix this issue or others, such as the print spooler service not running, call us on 844-203-1916, and have our experts take a look.
How to Add Windows Default Printer in Printer Server for New Users
Printer Server Issues
The printer installed in a printer server has to be configured or added for new users, who want to access shared printers from their workstations. There are two ways to do this – one through Windows Registry Editor and the other using command prompt. Both methods to add a default printer for use by network users are explained below.
Steps to Add Default Printer
A registry folder called Ntuser.dat has the data that system administrators can change to configure settings for the default user profile or profiles. The administrators can edit the registry directory to instruct Windows to allot a particular printer for use with new user accounts.
Oftentimes, the number of print jobs sent to a default printer on Windows from workstations can lead to issues such as print spooler keeps stopping. Clearing the print jobs in the print queue of the default printer is one way to fix print spooler keeps stopping errors. Still, for network users to access the printer server, the default printer has to be configured for new users.
- Press Windows key, type regedit in the search box of Start menu, and open that from the search results. Note that in case you are not logged in to the administrator account, you should right-click on regedit and choose Run as administrator. Click Yes to confirm user access upon prompt.
- From the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Devices.
- From the list of devices found in the right pane of Devices folder, spot the target printer and note down its name somewhere. Then, right-click on the printer listed in the right side and select Modify from the popup menu. After that, a small window titled Edit String will appear on the screen.
- Note down the information mentioned in the field titled Value Data. Then, click on Cancel to exit the window.
- From the left pane of Registry Editor, choose HKEY_USERS Then, click File menu and select Load Hive. Navigate to the path C:\Users\Default and spot Ntuser.dat in the Default folder. In case you do not see Ntuser.dat there, you will need to unhide the Protected Widows File from Tools > Folder Options > View.
- Then, double-click on the registry folder to open it. Also, assign the name Ntuser upon prompt and choose OK button in the dialog box.
- Now navigate to NTUSER > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Devices. Right-click on the right side, point to New, and click on String Value. Then, type the printer’s name.
- Double-click on the fresh value, enter the info you noted down from Value Data in the earlier step, and click OK. Then, go back to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and navigate through to Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > PrinterPorts.
- Double-click on the target printer, and note down the info displayed in Value Data. When done, click on Cancel to close the window, and go back to HKEY_USERS > NTUSER > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > PrinterPorts.
- Follow the instructions mentioned above to create a fresh String Value using the appropriate printing device’s name. Then, double-click on the value, enter the info from the previous step into Value Data, and click on OK.
- Go back to HKEY_CURRENT_USER and access through to Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Windows. Double-click on the printer, note down the info in Value Data, and close the window.
- Navigate to HKEY_USERS > NTUSER > Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Windows. Follow the same instructions mentioned in the earlier steps to make a new value using the printer’s name, and enter the appropriate info noted down in the previous step.
- Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER once again and select Printers from the Registry Editor’s left side. Note down all the data and values mentioned in its right side.
- Go back to NTUSER. Then, right-click on the left side, point to New, and click on Key. Name the key as Printers. Open that key, and recreate the values you found in the previous step. Go back to NTUSER, click on File menu and choose Unload Hive.
It can be tricky for some users to troubleshoot printer problems through Windows Registry Editor. If so, try the below steps to fix the issues through command prompt; call our printer tech support team, if you are not familiar with that either. You can even restart print spooler by using certain commands in command prompt, especially if print spooler keeps stopping.
- Press Windows and R keys simultaneously, enter cmd in the Run dialog box and click OK. In case you are using a guest account, make it a point to open command prompt as administrator from the Start menu.
- Then, search for Print Management in Start menu. In the All Printers folder, double-click on the printer to open Printer Properties, and copy its name mentioned next to the printer icon.
- Return to the cmd console, type in ntprint /setdefault name= and press the Enter Replace it with the printer name copied on the clipboard. For that, right-click on cmd console and click Paste.
If the above steps did not help to resolve your problem, feel free to get in touch with our certified tech support experts for immediate assistance.
How to Fix Printing Issues Related to Word Documents on Windows 7
Common Printer Issues
Printing issues on MS Word can be particular to specific templates or documents. In case you come across an error that indicates printing problems related to a Word document, try the below troubleshooting steps to fix it. Note that one of these troubleshooting steps can be used as a last resort to resolve a printer spooler error as well, so that is not specific to just printing issues on Word, but a general one.
Take a Test Printout of Other Word Documents
In case you cannot print a document on MS Word, close it and print a new one instead. This can confirm if the problem is specific to only the document or caused by a corrupt template. Follow the below steps to create a new document on MS Word 2010 and test print the file.
- Open the word processing software, click File button on the top left corner, and choose New. Then, a new dialog box will pop up on the computer.
- Under its Templates section, make sure that Blank document is selected, and click on Create
- Enter some dummy text in the document, and use the Ctrl + S shortcut key combination to save the file on the desktop your computer.
- Now with the new document open, press and hold down Ctrl and P keys simultaneously, and click OK to confirm Print.
In case the test print is successful, you need to create a fresh custom template to fix the printing error. However, in case you cannot print the new file as well, try the next step to troubleshoot the issue.
Rename the Template Titled Normal.
- Exit MS Word, and press the Windows button on the keyboard to open the Start Menu.
- In the search box, type Normal followed by .dotm extension.
- Once with an exclamation mark appears on the search results, right-click on the file, click Open File Location, and then manually rename it to Normal.old
When done, open the new document again, and see if you can print the file now. Yet again, note that you may not be able to print other documents created by means of the previous template. To find out which template created the documents with printing problems, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Open the Word document you cannot print, and click on the Developer tab on the Menu
- Choose Document Template on the far right, and check which one is mentioned under Document Template
- In case you cannot find the Developer tab, click File button, choose Word Options, and select Show Developer tab in the Ribbon
Create a Fresh Custom Template
In case the Template mentioned under the first tab is not Normal, create a new one on MS Word 2010. For that:
- Click File on the upper left, and choose New.
- Under Templates, click on Blank Document and click Create
- In the new document that pops up, create a template the way in which you want that to appear.
- Then, navigate to File > Save As, and choose Word Template from the Save as Type drop-down menu. Enter a name for the custom template and click Save.
- Now click on File in MS Word, and choose New. In the dialog box that pops up next, choose My Templates. Then, choose the template you created earlier and click OK.
Advanced Troubleshooting Steps for Printing Issues
Use the below step as a last resort to troubleshoot printing problems on Windows; this is applicable for issues such as local print spooler service is not running. Note that to resolve the print spooler error, first you need to try restarting it. If changing the spooler’s properties or settings does not fix the error, you might have to reinstall the printer driver as well.
Delete and Reinstall the Printer Driver
- Exit all running programs on Windows 7, click Start, and choose Devices and Printers from the Start
- Right-click on the default printer, and choose Remove Device. Double-check that the right printer is selected upon prompt, and click on Yes to confirm your action. Then, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
- After removing the installed printer on Windows and its related files, reinstall the driver. For that, click Start button, and go to Devices and Printers once again.
- Now click on Add a printer button, and follow the instructions mentioned in the pop-up wizard to install the printer driver on Windows.
After that, open the Word document that you cannot print and see to it if reinstalling the driver, even fixing print spooler error in the process, has cleared the printing problem on MS Word. If you are still experiencing the error, get in touch with our printer tech support team for further assistance.
Dealing with “Spooler Subsystem App Closed by Data Execution Prevention” Error
Common Printer Issues
Any computer problem that disrupts work is sure to get on your nerves. A printer spooler error is among the most annoying things you can come across when trying to print a document. You are left unable to print documents, and sometimes the screen shows a message saying: “Spooler subsystem app closed by data execution prevention”. Below are steps to take when the print spooler keeps stopping.
Solving a Printer Spooler Error Caused by Closed Subsystem App
- The first order of business is to fire up Task Manager. You can bring this up by right clicking on the taskbar, or simply pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys together. After it comes up, go to the Process tab and choose Select Columns. When a dialog comes up, select the box next to PID (Process Identifier). Hit OK to save changes.
- Go to the Start menu and choose Run. This will open up a command prompt window, where you need to type in net start spooler and hit Enter.
- Go back to the Task Manager and in the list of processes, find spoolsv.exe. This will show you the PID, which you should note down somewhere.
- Bring up another command prompt window and type in ntsd -p [enter PID here] -g –G and hit Enter.
- Wait for the process to finish, and after the prompt appears, type in ntdll!DbgBreakPoint:7c822583 cc int 3 0:001>
- The last line will show the name of the specific dll file, which is responsible for the problem, such as HpTcpMon.dll, for instance.
- If it is HpTcpMon.dll that you see, it means the problem is an old registry file that the new version cannot read. Manually remove the old data or simply rename the file by adding a letter at the end.
- Wait for some time and start up the print spooler. Go to the Start menu and choose Run. This will open up a command prompt window, where you need to type in net start spooler and hit Enter.
This should resolve your annoying printer spooler error. If you wish to avail assistance with similar or other printer issues, give us a call on 844-203-1916. Do not spend hours trying to figure out how to solve a strange problem when our certified experts can take care of it for you.