Vista Print Spooler dies

[Westperson]

I have a problem that for no apparent reason my Print Spooler dies, it seems
to have started back in March when I tried to
install the VISTA drivers my DELL 920 and 922 all in one printers.

I have since removed them and also run the DELL cleanup utility but the
spooler
dies occasionally. I have run Windows defender full check and full virus
scan, all come up clean.

I have recently installed a new Canon ip2500 printer which is working fine
so far
although I did have to restart the spooler 3 times during the installation.

I have 3 printers that I assume are virtual.
ADOBE PDF, Family Tree Maker Printer and Microsoft XPS Document writer. Is
one of these the problem and how do I resolve the problem?

I have removed the 3 virtual printers, however the Family Tree Maker
Printer reappeared once I started the application.

There are references to the Dell printers in the registry and Vista
tries to start a Dell program (dlbkmgr.exe) from a folder in program files
which no longer exists. I found this after running HiJackThis.

Last week (Friday) I had continual spooler fails, I had to regularly
restart the spooler manually using Services. The FTM printer was there still
but sometime the printer folder was empty and info only re-appeared when I
restarted the spooler which then died. Unable to delete the FTM printer as
it requires spooler to be running to do it, catch-22.

I shut the machine down as I was going out and when I started it again 2
hours later no spooler errors! I have deleted the FTM printer and
this worked, I now have just 2 printers showing the canon and an HP DeskJet
840C/841C/842C/843C which is at my house in France so is not connected.

I would also add that on some occasions over the 2 weeks my PC has not
started correctly, it stops after logging on requiring a reboot and safe
mode option. Most cases I opted for full start except that last week it
would not start at all and I had to do a system restore which seems to have
solved this problem.

Any ideas please.

Peter

 

[Alan Morris [MSFT]]

Hi John, thanks for checking in here. Please return and post any hints and
support tips you have regarding the installation of the Dell print devices.
There is an XP print fax scan newsgroup as well.



--
Alan Morris
Windows Printing Team
Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;[ln];kbhowto

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Westperson]

John,

Thanks for the suggested line of attack. At present it is all stable, I have
followed advice from MS and I am no longer shutting down my laptop, I use
Sleep/Hibernate. I have had to reboot twice in the last week and it has
worked OK.

Peter