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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
March 8, 2009
Q.
Sometimes when I try to cancel a print job,
I get the message that it is deleting, but
it never does. What causes this and how can
I fix it?
A.
The usual way to fix this is to reboot, but
at times even this will not clear the print
job. Then there are times when you really
don't want to reboot as you may lose the
document that you need to print. This is
especially true if the document is one that
you receive as a result of something you did
on a web site.
For each print job there are two spool files
generated by the Windows spooler. These are
created in the
C:\Windows\System32\Spool\Printers folder.
One file with the .SHD extension for job
settings, and one with the .SPL extension
for the drawing commands. All of these files
have to be deleted to clear the spooler. So
just what is this thing called a spooler?
The
spooler is temporary working area where data
is placed so that another program can access
it for processing at a later point in time.
The term "spool" has nothing to do with a
comparison to sewing as some have indicated,
but is an acronym of "Simultaneous
Peripheral Off-line Output Listing". This
temporary working area could best be defined
as a file on a storage device, but probably
not a buffer since it is maintained in
non-volatile memory.
If you've ever experienced this print hang
up problem then you may or may not be
familiar with the Windows Print Spooler
window. You can view the print spooler's
content by selecting the relevant printer
from the Control Panel's Printers and Faxes
applet.
You
should be able to clear the spooler by
delete this "hung" print job without
rebooting. To do this open a command prompt
by clicking on Start, then Run. Enter CMD,
click OK and then enter the following five
lines pressing the enter key after each
line:
net stop spooler
del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.shd
del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.spl
net start spooler
exit
This
stops the spooler, deletes the print files
then restarts the spooler. Now, remembering
these five commands on the rare occasion
when they are needed will probably not be an
option for most people. So, I have created a
small batch file called "ClearSpooler.bat"
that can be used to perform this process for
you. If "ClearSpooler.bat" is not something
that you feel you can remember, then rename
it being sure to retain the .bat extension.
It is in the Download section of this site
or can be downloaded by clicking
HERE.
For Vista users only: In Vista you will have
to open the command prompt with elevated
privileges. Click the Start Logo, enter CMD
and at the top of the list right click on
cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator.
To run the downloaded batch file, you will
have to right click on the file name, and
select Run as Administrator. This elevation
is required even if you are already logged
on with administrator privileges. Why this
difference in Vista?
Before Vista, being logged on as an
administrator meant that for all practical
purposes you were the Administrator.
In Vista there is a difference between being
logged on with administrator privileges and
being logged on as 'THE' Administrator. The
true Administrator account is hidden by
default, and one way to access it is by
using the "Run as Administrator" setting on
a case by case basis. There are other ways
to make this true Administrator account
visible, but that's for another article.
To
see more on the "Net" commands built into
Windows and used in this process, see
Microsoft Knowledge base article
KB556003.
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