# Print Spooler Won't Delete a Print Job



## AsheJoe (Feb 5, 2004)

My problem seems to be so universal with Windows that I'm sure this request has been answered somewhere on this forum. I just don't know what to call it ?

What continues to plague me with MS-Windows print spooler is trying to delete a print that has already been spooled out. You go down to the task bar / open active printers / highlight the print you want deleted / Windows says it's in the process of deleteing the file.... and then just stops ! Ten minutes latter, Windows is still trying to delete the print. (And naturally, you can't print anything else in the mean time.)

Shutting off the printer doesn't help. Nor does rebooting or shutting of the computer. The pesky SOB is still there preventing anything else from being sent to the printer. _And you just can't get rid of it._ The only thing that's ever worked for me, was to make PrimoPDF my default printer and go in and delete the HP5500. Believe me, uninstalling and reinstalling is faster than the endless wait on the spooler as it "tries" to delete the print.

I've run into this on so many computer / printer combos I've lost count. If memory serves me correctly, this has been a problem ever since Windows 3.0 !

Any ideas of how to get rid of an unwanted print hung up in the spool ??

Thanks

Joe Ashe


----------



## Guest (Oct 4, 2006)

Try "using printer offline" or delete the printer than re-install


----------



## Shadowmare (Oct 4, 2006)

One other thing to try is to stop and restart the print spooler.

Start
Settings
Control Panel
Administrative Tools
Services

Right click on print spooler and click stop.
Let Windows stop the spooler.
Right click again and hit start.

This will usually clear the job in most cases.

Hope this helps.


----------



## StumpedTechy (Jul 7, 2004)

I concur with shadowmare usually if you have a stuck job it will be cleared by stoping and starting the spool service.

I do have another fix that reduces the number of stuck jobs though. This is a simple settings change by going into the printer dirvers and the spool settings and print directly to the printer in alot of cases the only time that you really "need" the spooler is if 1) your PC is acting as a sever for another person to connect ot the printer or 2) The job is a high capacity job that requires alot of memory and your printer does not have the available internal memory (which is alot less frequent these days than it was back when printers had 2 megs of ram installed)

Note this doesn't work on all printers I know but I know it works well on the HPs I have used it with.


----------



## AsheJoe (Feb 5, 2004)

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll give'em a try.

Thanks again

Joe Ashe


----------

