Printer Stall
March 8, 2011 7:27 AM Subscribe
System stall if I send a print job and the printer is off.
I'm running Word 2007 under Win7 Pro with an HP 2050 PCL6 printer.
When I send a document to print but the printer is off, the print queue freezes and I can't unfreeze it. In particular:
-- Turning on the printer doesn't work.
-- It doesn't work to go into Devices and Printers and try to restart the print job, or cancel it, or cancel all print jobs. The commands freeze and don't execute.
The only solution is to make sure the printer is on, do a cold boot, immediately go into Devices and Printers and delete the job, and then print again.
So, how get the print job to run without a cold boot?
I'm running Word 2007 under Win7 Pro with an HP 2050 PCL6 printer.
When I send a document to print but the printer is off, the print queue freezes and I can't unfreeze it. In particular:
-- Turning on the printer doesn't work.
-- It doesn't work to go into Devices and Printers and try to restart the print job, or cancel it, or cancel all print jobs. The commands freeze and don't execute.
The only solution is to make sure the printer is on, do a cold boot, immediately go into Devices and Printers and delete the job, and then print again.
So, how get the print job to run without a cold boot?
I'm on WinXP, but if you can follow along with Win7...Open Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Services. Scroll down to "Print Spooler." Right click and click Restart. You may have to double click on the Print Spooler and click Stop/Start if the restart process hiccups.
You should also be able to Start --> Run --> type in "services.msc" and you'll get the Services screen to find the Print Spooler.
posted by jmd82 at 8:23 AM on March 8, 2011
You should also be able to Start --> Run --> type in "services.msc" and you'll get the Services screen to find the Print Spooler.
posted by jmd82 at 8:23 AM on March 8, 2011
Previous suggestions likely cover the resolution legwork here, but just so you know--print jobs have been doing this for as long as I can remember printing in Windows. Print jobs that can't immediately execute and go into an error state (usually happens in 30 seconds or so of not being able to print) like to get stuck. In my experience, the only way to get past it via the GUI is to right click-cancel, then wait 2-3 minutes, then delete the job, then wait 2-3 minutes again. Usually at that point you can delete the job as normal.
Of course restarting the print spooling service as indicated earlier should also resolve this. And you may want to look into having a little text script that restarts the print spooler whenever you click it for this situation. My point is that it's not really so much a problem on your end that there will be a clear resolution to. This has been the typical behavior for botched print jobs on most Windows machines for time immemorial. I've definitely seen it on every iteration from vanilla XP to 7 SP1. I'm guessing it's some holdover legacy support of old printer spooling protocol, or what have you.
And to be honest, sometime's it's desirable rather than having 10 accidentally queued jobs start pouring out of the printer when you get back on the same network. Just yesterday we lost a ream of paper to a series of reports queued repeatedly while an employee was out of the building.
posted by Phyltre at 8:48 AM on March 8, 2011
Of course restarting the print spooling service as indicated earlier should also resolve this. And you may want to look into having a little text script that restarts the print spooler whenever you click it for this situation. My point is that it's not really so much a problem on your end that there will be a clear resolution to. This has been the typical behavior for botched print jobs on most Windows machines for time immemorial. I've definitely seen it on every iteration from vanilla XP to 7 SP1. I'm guessing it's some holdover legacy support of old printer spooling protocol, or what have you.
And to be honest, sometime's it's desirable rather than having 10 accidentally queued jobs start pouring out of the printer when you get back on the same network. Just yesterday we lost a ream of paper to a series of reports queued repeatedly while an employee was out of the building.
posted by Phyltre at 8:48 AM on March 8, 2011
Can you install another printer to the machine and see if it does it to just yours?
I'm sure you tried reinstalling the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website? This link has a good process for reinstalling the drivers. It's for XP but works for Vista/7.
I'm curious whether restarting the print spooler would work...
posted by dozo at 10:04 AM on March 8, 2011
I'm sure you tried reinstalling the latest drivers from the manufacturer's website? This link has a good process for reinstalling the drivers. It's for XP but works for Vista/7.
I'm curious whether restarting the print spooler would work...
posted by dozo at 10:04 AM on March 8, 2011
HP makes the industry's most disastrous Windows printer drivers, bar none. The only thing worse than HP's printer drivers is HP's printer driver installers. Next time you buy a new printer, get a different brand.
Until then, restarting the Spooler service should unconstipate things nicely.
posted by flabdablet at 6:00 PM on March 8, 2011
Until then, restarting the Spooler service should unconstipate things nicely.
posted by flabdablet at 6:00 PM on March 8, 2011
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posted by deezil at 7:42 AM on March 8, 2011