At Hope’s Library, 90% of our computer problems in recent memory are printer related. Last week, due to a printer misconfiguration and high printing demand, there were quite a few Windows XP computers with stuck jobs in the print queue causing delays and confusion. Normally you open Control Panel -> Printers, right click cancel, but they refused to delete. Reboot – still there. ARGHH!!
No stress, no worries. When Windows bugs out and gives you attitude, just go turbo.
- Run services.msc, or open Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Administrative Tools -> Services.
- Find Print Spooler in the list. Stop it.
- Open c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\.
- Open Tools Menu -> Folder Options. Select “View” tab. Select “Show Hidden Files” and uncheck “Hide Operating System Files (Recommended)”.
- Delete all random looking folders.
- Go back to Services and start Print Spooler.
- Now go back to the misbehaving Printer Queue and gratifyingly delete those suckers!!
Stay tuned… Next, I’ll throw up a batch script that does all this for you – automagically!