Pesky print jobs won't cancel

[Fran]

I have a printer shared from the server (it's a network printer but
installed on the printer...I just "connect" other PC's to it.)

THis is an HP4200 laserjet printer. My problem is that once a week I
get a call that a user cannot print. When I look at the printer on the
server it shows an error on the first line and all the other spooled
jobs below (error: printing is the message I get.)

I cannot seem to delete this error'd print job. I have to literally
restart the server to remove this persistent job.

How can I cancel/delete this print job WITHOUT rebooting the server?!?

Thanks all for any help.

<fran>

 

[steve bill]

I think I've had this problem before. Have you tried
using "cancel all documents" instead of just cancelling
the one that is having the problem? That might clear the
queue so that you don't have to reboot. The other thing
you might try is deleting the printer then recreating it.
I'm not sure if it will let you if there is a job in the
queue though. If it works it might take less time than
rebooting the server itself. Just make sure that you
recreate it exactly as it was.

 

[steve bill]

Oh and I forgot, stopping and restarting the spooler
service might fix it also. As a matter of fact, that is
probably the first thing you should do.

 

[Jack Kaupf]

I didn't think to stop the spooler. Is there a quick way to do that?
I certainly don't want to delete a shared printer then recreate it
EXACTLY as it was risking screwing up all the shares that are pointed
to it...that seems like a wrong way to fix this.

 

[Bart Crane]

C:> net stop spooler
C:> net start spooler

I didn't think to stop the spooler. Is there a quick way to do that?
I certainly don't want to delete a shared printer then recreate it
EXACTLY as it was risking screwing up all the shares that are pointed
to it...that seems like a wrong way to fix this.

 

[Steve bill]

You're probably right about deleting the printer (sorry
about that!). That should be a last resort. If you have a
lot of computers pointing to that printer you could end up
having to re-do them.

If you go into Services (from computer management) you
will see the spooler service. Open it and click the "stop"
button. Once it is done stopping, click the "start"
button. This has been known to fix alot of printing
problems. Keep in mind that while the spooler service is
stopped, ALL PRINTING is stopped at that server. This
could cause your phone to ring ALOT if you are serving
alot of users. Fortunately, it doesn't take long to
restart.

 

[Fran]

Stopping the spooler, deleting the files and restarting did the trick.
Don't know why I didn't think to do that a long time ago! Thanks, all
for your input. This will get filed with my other trix!

-Fran-

 

[Joe]

Once you have tried once to clear queue Stop and Start the
Print Spooler Service and if you have TCP/IP Print Service
active you will need to start this first.