Knowledge Base

You cannot add a printer, and you receive printer spooler error messages

Article ID: 324757

Article Last Modified on 11/9/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

This article was previously published under Q324757

SYMPTOMS

You may experience any of the following symptoms on your Windows XP-based computer:

After you start your computer, you may receive the following error message:

Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close.
When you try to start the Print Spooler service, you may receive the following error message:

Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close.
When you try to stop the Print Spooler service, you may receive the following error message:

Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close.
When you click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes, you may receive the following error message:

Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close.
When you click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes to try to view your printers, no printers appear. This issue may occur even if you have a printer installed.
When you click Add a printer, or when you try to print, you may receive the following error message and cannot add a printer:

Operation could not be completed.

CAUSE

This issue may occur if a third-party printer driver or a third-party service that is installed prevents you from adding printers, or if the third-party printer driver or the third-party service affects the functionality of a newly installed printer.

For example, this issue may occur if the Lexmark print service (LexBce Server service) is installed and is running on your computer before you try to add another printer.

RESOLUTION

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

If you do not have a Lexmark printer installed, go to step 4. If you do have a Lexmark printer installed, go to step 2.
If the Lexmark print service is installed on your computer, turn off the LexBce Server service. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. Expand Services and Applications, and then click Services.
3. In the details pane, right-click LexBce Server, and then click Properties.
4. On the General tab, in the Startup type list, click Disabled.
5. Under Service status, click Stop, and then click OK.
6. Right-click the Print Spooler service, and then click Start (if it is stopped).
7. Exit Computer Management.
Test whether the issue is resolved. If the issue is resolved, you do not have to follow the remaining steps. If the issue is not resolved, go to step 4, and then follow the remaining steps.
Start the computer in safe mode. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. On a computer that is configured to start multiple operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot menu appears.
2. Select an option when the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, and then press ENTER.
3. When the Boot menu appears again, and the words "Safe Mode" appear in blue at the bottom, select the installation that you want to start, and then press ENTER.
  
  Note For more information about how to start your computer in safe mode, click Start, click Help and Support, type safe mode in the Search box, press the ENTER key, and then click the Start Windows in safe mode topic.
Start Microsoft Windows Explorer, and then delete all the files and the folders in the following two folders (where C: is the drive where you have Windows XP installed):
- C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers
- C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Drivers\w32x86
Start Registry Editor. To do this, click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
Locate and expand the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86

View the list of subkeys. There should only be the following subkeys:
- Drivers
- Print Processors
If there are any subkeys other than the subkeys that are listed in step 6, follow these steps:
1. On the File menu, click Export.
2. In the File Name box, type the name that you want to use for this key, such as WindowsNTx86regkey, and then click Save.
  
  You can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86 registry key to restore the key if you experience any issues after you complete this procedure.
3. Delete all the subkeys other than the subkeys that are listed in step 6. To do this, right-click each subkey that is not on the list, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.
Locate and then expand the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers

The registry entries for the printer drivers that are installed on the computer are stored in the Version-x subkey or subkeys, where x is a number (typically 2 or 3).
Export the Version-x subkey or subkeys. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the File menu, click Export.
2. In the File Name box, type the name that you want to use for this key, such as print driver, and then click Save.
Expand the Version-x subkey or subkeys, and then delete the printer driver entries. To do this, right-click each printer driver subkey, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.
Locate and then expand the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors

View the list of subkeys. There should only be the following subkeys for the default print monitors:
- BJ Language Monitor
- Local Port
- PJL Language Monitor
- Standard TCP/IP Port
- USB Monitor
If there are any subkeys other than the subkeys that are listed in step 12, follow these steps:
1. On the File menu, click Export.
2. In the File Name box, type the name that you want to use for this key, such as MonitorsRegkey, and then click Save.
  
  You can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors registry key to restore the key if you experience any issues after you complete this procedure.
3. Delete all the subkeys other than the subkeys that are listed in step 10. To do this, right-click each subkey that is not on the list, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted to confirm the deletion.
If you have a printer attached, disconnect the printer cable from the computer, and then restart the computer.
Verify that the Print Spooler service is running. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.
2. Expand Services and Applications, and then click Services.
3. In the details pane, right-click the Print Spooler service, and then click Start (if it is stopped).
4. Exit Computer Management.
Note If you cannot start the Print Spooler service, follow the steps in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to start the Print Spooler service:

919750 You experience problems printing, viewing printer icons, and adding printers, the Print Spooler service does not function correctly, and you receive print-related error messages on a Windows XP-based computer
If you have a printer attached, reconnect the printer cable to the computer, add the printer that you want, and then try to print a test page. To add your printer, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
2. Click Add a printer.
  
  The Add Printer Wizard starts.
3. Follow the instructions in the Add Printer Wizard to install the printer that you want.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about how to troubleshoot printing problems in Windows XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

314085 Advanced troubleshooting for when you cannot print in Windows XP

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

Keywords: kbresolve kbregistry kb3rdparty kbenv kbprint kbdriver kberrmsg kbprb KB324757

Microsoft KB Archive/324757

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