Windows cannot print due to a problem with the current printer setup

I have now tried removing all printers. I have removed the printers from Device and Printers, removed all print drivers using Windows 7 Print Management console, deleted all drivers listed in -

*C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64*

deleted all printers listed in -

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers

deleted all drivers located in -

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers

I have also uninstalled Adobe Acrobat 9. After doing this as well as numerous reboots, I have reinstalled all

HP printers using HP's latest 64 bit PCL 6 Universal Printer Driver (ver 5.2 and using same driver for three HP 1518ni and one HP CM3530 MFP), reinstalled two Canon MX850 multifunction printers using Canon's current 64-bit drivers for both MX850's, reinstalled two Seiko label printers, and replaced Adobe Acrobat 9 Standard with Adobe Acrobat X Standard. After doing all of the above, I still subjected to the same error where the user randomly cannot print to ANY printer nor print to Adobe PDF. I get the same event log error:

Log Name: Application

Source: Application Error

Date: 15/01/2011 6:59:19 PM

Event ID: 1000

Task Category: (100)

Level: Error

Keywords: Classic

User: N/A

Computer: T500

Description:

Faulting application name: splwow64.exe, version: 6.1.7600.16385, time stamp: 0x4a5bd3ca

Faulting module name: hpc6r109.dll, version: 0.3.1544.8874, time stamp: 0x4ccaf4fa

Exception code: 0xc0000005

Fault offset: 0x0000000000077f8b

Faulting process id: 0x7d0

Faulting application start time: 0x01cbb522438d898b

Faulting application path: C:\Windows\splwow64.exe

Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\hpc6r109.dll

Report Id: 9c78a2a9-211c-11e0-a1e3-00247e15479f

I would like to again point out that we cannot use HP's UPD PCL 5 driver nor their UPD Postscript driver. The PCL 5 driveroutputs weird spacing in MS Word prints (simple Arial 11 font) and the Postscript driver is much too slow for the user. My guess is that the driver is not corrupt since we have had this same issue going back with ver 5.1 of HP's UPD PCL 6 driver. It appears to be some compatibility issue around HP's print drivers and 64-bit version of Windows, although on the forums, I have read the same problem occurring with Xerox print drivers and splwow64.exe. I am starting to think that Windows 7 64-bit has some bug with printing with 64-bit print drivers. Anyone have any ideas what I should be trying next? Should I be reporting this to Microsoft support directly?

From the error you mentioned one of Hp printer driver is corrupted,so either to reinstall the driver or remove the device from the system.

mohanad

Let me just point out that restarting the print spooler does notresolve this problem. When the user experiances this problem, if restarting the print spooler is the very first thing I try, the problem still exists where he cannot print to any printers nor print to Adobe PDF. The only way to fix he problem is to simply close off whatever windows he may have, which is generally just MS Word, Outlook and sometimes Adobe acrobat. Also, the problem is intermittant. It doesn't happen all the time, so Method 3 would not work as I can't have the user running in a Selective Startup for any lenght of time (other process that are important for his workflow would not function). I will try Method 2 and uninstall all printer drivers as well as Adobe Acrobat and try again. Hopefully that will resolve this issue, however there seems to be many others experiencing this same problem with splwow64.exe. Seems to be a common issue when running Windows 7 64 bit, however I haven't found any reports of a fix.

Hello Torbuk,

Since the faulty module is the dll for the driver, it appears to me that the issue is related to the broken drivers. However, you can try the below methods to fix this issue.

Method 1:

Since restarting the spooler service fixes the issue, I suggest that you run System File Checker tool and check if you have the same issue. You can refer the below link that will give you information on ‘How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7’:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833

Method 2:

I suggest that you uninstall the Printer drivers and try to install it again. Refer the below link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Find-and-install-printer-drivers

Method 3:

a.     Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

b.     If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

c.      On the General tab, click Selective Startup.

d.     Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.

e.     Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.

f.       Click OK.

g.     When you are prompted, click Restart.

After the computer starts, check if the issue is fixed, then follow the steps mentioned in the following KB article to narrow down the exact source:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

You can also set the computer to normal startup once you determine the service causing the issue. See the section on how return your computer to a Normal startup mode by following the steps under “Reset the computer to start as usual” in the above article.

If this does not work, I suggest that you contact HP Support to help you better.

Thanks,

Irfan H, Microsoft Answers Support Engineer. Visit ourMicrosoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.