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Print subsystem unavailable?

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by timmitchell

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I'm having a print problem on 2 client machines running Windows 2000. When trying to print, add a printer, or view printer properties, I receive a dialog box indicating that "Printer operation cannot continue due to lack of resources. The print subsystem is unavailable." On each reboot, I receive a message that spoolsv.exe has been closed, and an error log has been created; however, the Event Viewer only tells me that the service stopped and doesn't give a clue as to why.

I've tried stopping and starting the service locally, but it stops again when I try to print/add printer/view printer properties (it is set to start automatically). I've scanned for viruses (both PCs are clean) and checked Technet (no answers). I even replaced the spoolsv.exe executuable and .dll with one from a known-good machine. Still no luck.

The printers themselves are working fine, and this issue is present on local and network printers. I know that both of these workstations were printing perfectly well last week, so it's driving me nuts that I can't find the source of the problem. Has anyone else seen this problem before? Thanks.....

5 replies

by bwheel

The only time that I have see what you are describing, is when the rpc service is not running, or functioning properly. I would check into that. See if it is running, and I don't know what you would do if it is always failing. Drivespace would beanother easy, but often overlooked issue. Maybe clear out the spooler directory, (usually c:\winnt\system32\spool\printers) as maybe a job is stuck, and it is trying to restart it and immediately bombs.

by timmitchell

Thanks, bwheel. The problem was two jobs stuck in the spooler; as soon as I deleted them, I restarted the service and it worked great! Thanks a ton, you saved me a Win2K reload.....

Tim

by curacao_dejavu

First look at the following artickle.
SYMPTOMS
You may receive the following error message when you boot your computer, try to use a printer, or start a program that interacts with a printer:

Spoolsv.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being created.
The Spooler service then stops, but can be restarted. While the spooler is stopped, the following error message is generated:

Printer operation cannot continue due to lack of resources.

CAUSE
This situation can occur if BitWare for Windows is installed. The current versions of BitWare are 3.30 and 7.0. They are not fully compatible with Windows 2000. To check to see if BitWare is running, look for instances of Bwagent.exe or Bwprnmon.exe in Task Manager.

MS KB Article ID: Q257859

If it doesn't help or not is applicable to you: delete the printer and add it back with the latest driver (or update the driver it it permits you to do so). make sure that the printer is on the w2k compatible list.
Try to remember what you installed or removed during last week.

regards,

Leopold

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