Receiving "SPOOLSS.EXE Is Busy" Error or Printer Driver Installation Fails

After sending a print job to an HP 2000C series printer or an HP Deskjet printer in Microsoft (R) Windows NT 4.0, the error message "SPOOLSS.EXE is busy" appears. After attempting to End Task on the SPOOLSS.EXE program (using CTRL + ALT + DEL), the message "SPOOLSS.EXE - This program is busy and cannot be shut down with End Task" appears. Deleting and reinstalling the printer driver does not eliminate the error.

When trying to load an HP 2000C series printer driver or an HP Deskjet printer driver in Windows NT 4.0, either a Core Memory Dump may begin or the error "HP Printer Setup has Ended Prematurely" will appear.

Verify that the three parallel port device drivers (PARALLEL, PARPORT, and PARVDM) have started and then attempt to Stop and Start the print spooler.

1. Verify that the parallel port drivers have been started.

   1. Select Start, Settings, Control Panel , and open Devices .
   2. Verify that the Status column shows Started for the device drivers PARALLEL, PARPORT, and PARVDM. If the Status column is blank for any of the device drivers named above, select the device driver and choose Start.
   3. If any of the above device drivers will not start, contact Microsoft NT 4.0 technical support for additional assistance.
      

      NOTE:The device drivers PARALLEL, PARPORT, and PARVDM must all show Started in the Status column of the Devices window in order for the printer to operate properly.
2. Stop and Start the spooler service.

   1. Select Start, Settings, Control Panel , and open Services
   2. If the Status column for the Spooler service shows "Started," highlight the Spooler service and choose Stop. Once stopped, the Status column for Spooler should be blank. If not, restart Windows to attempt resetting the print spooler.
   3. If the Status column for the Spooler service is blank, choose Start to restart the print spooler. The Status column for Spooler should show "Started" to indicate the spooler service is running. If not, restart Windows to attempt resetting the print spooler.
3. Try printing again if the driver is already loaded, or reinstall the printer driver if the error occurred during the driver installation.

Windows NT 4.0 uses SPOOLSS.EXE to route print jobs to the appropriate print provider (local or remote). PARALLEL, PARVDM, PARPORT and the SPOOLER should be started for proper printing or for proper printer driver installation.