BleepingComputer.com: spoolsv.exe restart problem.

i have a slight problem, error started a few days back.

first it hangs when i tries to shutdown my laptop.

now i realise something else, taskmanager appears to have spoolsv.exe kept appearing and dissappearing for a period of time before pausing for another wave. this causes my page to jumps while it is in progress.

done a scan on Symantec AV, Malwarebytes and Ad-Aware but doesn't detech any virus or whatsoever. what can be the problem?

Spoolsv.exe is the Windows Printing Spooler. It can hog quite a bit of system resources. This might cause the hang if you computer is "stressed" and low on resources already.

yes i understand and know that it is the printing spooler, but i'm not connected nor am i in the range of a wireless printer what is causing it to run automatically?

the hang only occurs when shutdown is activated and the laptop is displaying only the background prior to a normal shutdown.

Is there anything in the Print Queue? If there is, then it might cause Windows to continually search for a printer.

the problem is there isn't.

Are you sure that the problem is actually the Printing Spooler program?

You might try going into services (Start/Run...type services.msc and hit Enter) and manually stop the print spooler service (default settings are Start/Automatic).

I would then run a chkdsk /r on the system (Start/Run...type chkdsk /r (with space between k and /) and hit Enter. Answer Y to onscreen query, hit Enter or OK. Reboot, let command execute...system will boot into XP when command has completed.

I would then check the status of the service in Services. If it is still manually stopped, restart it with the default settings.

Louis

The Print Spooler is normally set to start automatically and will show up running in the Task Manager as spoolsv.exe.

This is normal but if the spoolsv.exe is consuming large amounts of CPU that is a problem. The CPU column is usually 00 if there is nothing to do and will change slightly as printing happens but should settle down to 00 eventually.

To be sure your print queue is empty, look here:

C:\Windows\System32\Spool\PRINTERS

These are jobs waiting to print and can't be removed until they print or the Print Spooler service is stopped and you delete the jobs manually.

If you are sure there is nothing that needs to print, stop the Print Spooler service, delete any files and restart the Print Spooler service.

The Process window of Task Manager may appear to "jump around" as things start and stop and the spoolsv.exe gets pushed up and down in the window - could be normal.

You need to be sure your spoolsv.exe is behaving properly first, and then troubleshoot your shutdown problem if it still exists.

This problem can also be exhibited depending on what printer/printers you have installed on your computer.

It is a known problem with some HP Multifunction printers and HP knows about it.

If you have an HP Multifunction printer, I would also look to see if HP has updated the drivers/software for your printer.

Hope this helps,

thanks guys, found out the main problem. fixed it. now it isn't bothering me anymore.

That's good to hear you have it fixed.

Could you let us know what you did please?

It may help someone else who has or might have the same problem in the future.

no problem glad to share.
It basically is my blunder. I was issued by my company a laptop with SP2 XP Pro.
When i was given this, the bluetooth doesen't appear in my control panel and taskbar thus downloaded a widcomm bluetooth sw.

The bluetooth printer service is set to be activated automatically(by default).
The sw then tries to run spoolsv.exe which failed, thus it kept trying to run it.

The error ceased to exist when i set the bluetooth printer service to manual.