Network Printing And File Sharing

I got a good deal on a laptop... ... I thought it was a good thing until I started setting everything up. I have ZA, AVG, AdAware, Spybot, SpywareBlaster installed no problem. I dumped Norton because I hate it. I have set my pc up to share files and printers and set up my local network. I used the network tool to set up the network between pc and notebook. I have set the printers to shared.

Now, my issue is that when I try to print from my notebook over wireless (no prob when wired) I get this:
Document failed to print. Would you like to view the (useless) print troubleshooter for assistance? The print spooler is not running.

When I try to access printing preferences it says:
Printing preferences cannot be displayed. The print spooler service is not running.

Am I an idiot for not knowing how to get my spooler service to run??

Thank you!

momo

Moderator Edit: Moved topic to more appropriate forum. ~ Animal

CAUSE
This error occurs because the Spooler service has not been started or has stopped working. To start the Spooler service, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

3. Double-click the Printer Spooler service, and then change the startup type to Automatic. This sets the Spooler service to start automatically when you restart the computer.

4. If you want to start the spooler service immediately, click the Start button under the Service Status field.

Okay, I had set the properties on printers to spool and when I went in thru ad tools it says that printer spooler is started... on pc & notebook. Still no printing.

I am beginning to see why people call the Geek Squad.......

I will try again tomorrow.

Thank you so much for your response. I will update after I troubleshoot.

momo

Okay remember when I said printing wired was no problem. Now that is a problem too. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers. I connected the printer directly to laptop to make sure that it worked. It did. Then I hooked it back up to my pc.

When I open my wired network from my laptop I can see both computers. I cannot open my pc, it says I do not have permission.
When I look at my printers, I have it installed as a local printer and also as a network printer (2 different icons). At some point I was able to set it up on the network and it worked one time, now it cannot connect.

My internet connection through the network is working fine.

I have run the Network Setup wizard multiple times on both computers.

I am at a loss as to what the problem is.

momo

Try using mirrored accounts on each PC. In other words, if there's an "Owner" account on the pc with the printer, ensure that there's an "Owner" account on the laptop (same password too!).

Can't remember if you have to be using the account or not - so try it with your original account first, then with the new "Owner" account. Please let us know the results so that this can help others.

Thanks!