# printers "greyed out"



## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

My printers are "greyed out" and i cannot add a printer. When I try to print none of the printers show up in the dialog box. When I try to add a printer is says "
The local print spooler service is not running." restart the spooler or restart the machine. Neither work.


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## flavallee (May 12, 2002)

You haven't provided any description of your printers.

Have you installed the Windows 10 software driver package for them?

Are they listed in *Settings - Devices - Printers & Scanners*?

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## SeanLaurence (Sep 6, 2019)

Start by checking your windows updates. I have seen this kind of thing happening when an update is half installed.

Reset and Clear Print Spooler
1. Open an elevated command prompt.
2. Enter the commands below into the elevated command prompt one at a time, and press Enter after each command. 
*net stop spooler
DEL /F /S /Q %systemroot%\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*
net start spooler*
3. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

I always recommend doing a scan with ADWCleaner -it is fast and free. Sometimes unnoticed malware causes odd issues.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

flavallee said:


> You haven't provided any description of your printers.
> 
> Have you installed the Windows 10 software driver package for them?
> 
> ...










My list of Printers.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

SeanLaurence said:


> Start by checking your windows updates. I have seen this kind of thing happening when an update is half installed.
> 
> Reset and Clear Print Spooler
> 1. Open an elevated command prompt.
> ...


I've tried those. No results.


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## bassfisher6522 (Aug 8, 2008)

You have all those printers physically installed?


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

flavallee said:


> You haven't provided any description of your printers.
> 
> Have you installed the Windows 10 software driver package for them?
> 
> ...


Attachment lists the printers and show them greyed out.


bassfisher6522 said:


> You have all those printers physically installed?





bassfisher6522 said:


> You have all those printers physically installed?


Yes, I am a printer. "Copy Cat Printing" We are a print for service business.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

Okay thanks for listening. I am a print shop with 4 workstations and eight wired printers. 3 workstations work just fine. This one however was updated to the windows 10 1903 build and upon restart lost its ability to spool printers and print jobs. Has this happened to anyone else after updating windows?


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## SeanLaurence (Sep 6, 2019)

I have seen PC's that are sharing their printers lose their printer share in a windows update, but that seems to be the opposite problem as to what you have. 
4 more things to try...

Run Printer Troubleshooter
type "troubleshooting" in Windows Search bar and click on Troubleshooting.
From the left window pane select View all.
then from the Troubleshoot computer problems list select Printer.
Follow on-screen instruction and let the Printer Troubleshooter run.
Restart your PC and you may be able to Fix Windows could not start the Print Spooler service on local computer.

Registry Fix
Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler
Make sure to highlight Spooler key in the left window pane and then in the right window pane find the string called DependOnService.
Find DependOnService registry key under Spooler
Double click on the DependOnService string and change its value by deleting HTTP part and just leaving the RPCSS part.
Click OK to save changes and close Registry Editor.
Reboot your PC and see if the error is resolved or not.

Run System File Checker (SFC) and Check Disk (CHKDSK)
Press Windows Key + X then click on Command Prompt(Admin).
Now type the following in the cmd and hit enter:
*Sfc /scannow
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows
SFC scan now command prompt*
Wait for the above process to finish and once done restart your PC.
Next, run CHKDSK from here Fix File System Errors with Check Disk Utility(CHKDSK).
Let the above process complete and again reboot your PC to save changes.

Uncheck Allow service to interact with desktop
Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter.
Find Print Spooler service in the list then right-click on it and select Properties.
Right-click on Print Spooler service and select Start
Switch to Log On tab and uncheck "Allow service to interact with desktop."
Click Apply and then go back to the General tab and start the service.
Again click Apply followed by OK.
Reboot your PC to save changes.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

SeanLaurence said:


> I have seen PC's that are sharing their printers lose their printer share in a windows update, but that seems to be the opposite problem as to what you have.
> 4 more things to try...
> 
> Run Printer Troubleshooter
> ...


Steps
:
1. Run Printer Troubleshooter
2. restart pc
3. result no change

4. open Registry Editor
5. deleting HTTP part and just leaving the RPCSS
6. Reboot your PC and see if the error is resolved
7. not resolved

8.Run System File Checker (SFC) and Check Disk (CHKDSK)
9. done
10. result no change

11. Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter.
12. Print Spooler service set to run
13. uncheck "Allow service to interact with desktop. Done
14. Click Apply and then go back to the General tab and start the service. "Service stopped again."
after starting Print Spooler it stops by itself with a click of the mouse.
15. Reboot your PC to save changes.
16. result no change


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## JustJudy (Apr 4, 2006)

I just ran into this issue. It was solved by removing Windows updates: KB4522014 for version 1803 and KB4522015 for version 1809, and KB4522016 for version 1903


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

JustJudy said:


> I just ran into this issue. It was solved by removing Windows updates: KB4522014 for version 1803 and KB4522015 for version 1809, and KB4522016 for version 1903


Thanks for the tip. I had removed them previously and reinstalled the new updates. They are no longer on my system. See the attachment


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## zebart (Oct 25, 2019)

Do you know when this started? If so, you can check your system restore dates to see if you can roll back.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

JustJudy said:


> I just ran into this issue. It was solved by removing Windows updates: KB4522014 for version 1803 and KB4522015 for version 1809, and KB4522016 for version 1903


Yes, greyed out started, it was Monday, Oct 21. I did a restore to a previous date and all printers were gone after startup. Completely missing. I did the update windows then and they came back greyed out. Since then I have remove all the updates and re installed updates until no more updates were available. I included screen shots to help you understand the problem.


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## zebart (Oct 25, 2019)

Greyed out usually means that printers are offline. If the printers are not connected via USB, you can try pinging each printer then access the IP through your browser to see if you can access its status page.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

zebart said:


> Greyed out usually means that printers are offline. If the printers are not connected via USB, you can try pinging each printer then access the IP through your browser to see if you can access its status page.


Printers are TCP networked, address cannot be pinged. I get "Destination host unreachable." on all printers. Computers 2,3,&4 ping fine.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

ricke11205 said:


> Printers are TCP networked, address cannot be pinged. I get "Destination host unreachable." on all printers. Computers 2,3,&4 ping fine.


I can ping my Roland Versaworks SP-501 Plotter. It prints from its own software and does not use windows "print spooler."


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## zebart (Oct 25, 2019)

Well if you cant ping them, did any encryption change on your router or a firmware update? I would connect to your router via your browser to see if your devices are recognized.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

zebart said:


> Well if you cant ping them, did any encryption change on your router or a firmware update? I would connect to your router via your browser to see if your devices are recognized.


Router pings and is recognizable in Firefox browser. No firmware updates that I know of. I am the only it guy to work on this network. Router and Roland plotter do ping. No network ping to printers.


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## zebart (Oct 25, 2019)

Are you able to install the Canon app on your phone to connect to your printers?


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

Yes my iphone recognizes the printers.


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## SeanLaurence (Sep 6, 2019)

To recap - and clarify:
On the afflicted PC, it you try to start the "Print Spooler" task, it fails to start.
If you attempt to ping all but one of the printers, from the afflicted PC you get a ""Destination host unreachable." error
Pinging any of the other PC's from the afflicted PC also fails.
Pinging the router works from the afflicted PC.

Pinging the printers and printing work fine from the other PC's.

*sc query spooler* returns:
SERVICE_NAME: spooler
 TYPE : 110 WIN32_OWN_PROCESS (interactive)
STATE : 1 STOPPED
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
CHECKPOINT : 0x0
WAIT_HINT : 0x0

Have you had a look in your event viewer for clues yet?


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

Do you have any internet security program, like Norton or McAfee? If so, let's remove them to confirm they are not causing the issue.


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

Couriant said:


> Do you have any internet security program, like Norton or McAfee? If so, let's remove them to confirm they are not causing the issue.


Removed System Mechanic & Java


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

SeanLaurence said:


> To recap - and clarify:
> On the afflicted PC, it you try to start the "Print Spooler" task, it fails to start.
> If you attempt to ping all but one of the printers, from the afflicted PC you get a ""Destination host unreachable." error
> Pinging any of the other PC's from the afflicted PC also fails.
> ...


To recap - and clarify:

On the afflicted PC, it you try to start the "Print Spooler" task, it fails to start. :Correct
If you attempt to ping all but one of the printers, from the afflicted PC you get a ""Destination host unreachable." error: Correct
Pinging any of the other PC's from the afflicted PC also fails. :Correct
Pinging the router works from the afflicted PC. :Correct

Pinging the printers and printing work fine from the other PC's. :Correct
event viewer ? I dont know what to look for.


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

I assume you rebooted and still having issues?


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## ricke11205 (Oct 24, 2019)

Couriant said:


> I assume you rebooted and still having issues?


Yes, now exporer is freezing up. I get a spinnning blue circle but folder wont open. Maybe its time for a windows reinstall. I hate the wasted time reinstalling everything.


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## SeanLaurence (Sep 6, 2019)

I hear you brother. Reinstalling windows is a huge pain. Especially when you have software on your system that requires a software licence.
You could try the WUReset script:
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Reset-Windows-Update-Agent-d824badc
It does a bunch of stuff, designed to fix issues with windows updater, but it will fix other issues in the process.
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Reset-Windows-Update-Agent-d824bad


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## Couriant (Mar 26, 2002)

See if you can do this:


Open File Explorer (use the Windows key + E shortcut).
In the File menu, select Change folder and search options.
Under the General tab, look for "Open File Explorer to" and change it from Quick Access to This PC.
Click OK.


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