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Print Spooler Service Not Working +Printer Not Showing Up in Device Manager

Anonymous
2024-11-03T17:59:04+00:00

Hello,

A couple weeks ago, I started having issues with printing. It affects not just my Epson ET-4850 printer, but also the virtual printer functions (Print to PDF and OneNote Printer). I don't really use the virtual printers, only the Epson. I'm running a Windows 11 environment.

List of issues:

  1. All printers except Print to PDF have disappeared from the printer selections when I go to print.
  2. When I go to Printers in Settings, my Epson printer shows up, but it shows as "idle" even though I've manually ensured it's "awake".
  3. When I try to print a test page from Settings, I get the error message: "Operation could not be completed (error 0x000006ba). The local print spooler service is not running. Please restart the spooler or restart the machine." When I try to print to PDF, I get the same error message.
  4. The Printers section of the Device Manager stopped showing up a few days ago. I finally found the printer listed under "Other Devices" with a ? icon over it, and it's unable to recognize what kind of device it is, nor find the correct drivers for it.
  5. When I try to reinstll the Epson ET-4850 printer drivers and utilities package, the Wizard completes the driver installation section, but then when it gets to the section where I identify how I'm connecting the printer, I select USB, and the Wizard says there is no printer connected and won't complete the package install.

Solutions I've tried:

  1. Powercycling the Epson printer; plugging it into different USB ports on the computer.
  2. Uninstalling and reinstalling the Epson drivers and utilities package (see Issue #5 above).
  3. Trying to update the printer driver from the Device Manager.
  4. Restarting the Print Spooler Service using instructions found here on the Microsoft Community. When I restart the service, it won't stay running. It stops immediately (not just on system reboot).
  5. Restarting Print Spooler Service using Microsoft Community instructions for when spooler service won't stay running. The files you're supposed to delete from the "spool" folder are not there. This solution did not work.
  6. Uninstalled the two Windows updates that had been installed since this issue began. It did not fix the problem. Incidentally, this is when the Device Manager stopped showing Printers, Issue #4 above.
  7. Called Epson tech support, and escalated the ticket until I got actual one-on-one human phone support. They walked me through Solutions #1-3 above again, and confirmed that the problem is definitely the Print Spooler Service and Windows, and instructed me to contact Microsoft tech support.

I'm at my wit's end, with no ideas of what else I can try. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-04T05:48:54+00:00

    Hi, EmmyEmm

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    We understand that you have encountered a printer-related problem. Judging from your description, you have tried many solutions, but the problem still cannot be solved. Then you can also perform the following steps to eliminate some failure factors.：  I.Perform a clean startThe method is as follows1.Click Windows+R and enter msconfig2.Open the system configuration and select the General tab-Selective startup.3.Remove the check box for loading startup items.4.Go to the Services tab-tap Hide all microsoft services in the lower left corner, and then tap Disable All.5.Click OK and restart the computer.(Please be sure to choose to hide all Microsoft services first, and then click disable all, otherwise it may cause unforeseen problems such as inability to enter the system)See if the problem will reappear.Note: Clean boot is to start Windows with a minimum set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether background programs interfere with your games or programs and help you find out the cause of the problem.It will help you get back on track.*Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem.**These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.*II.Try to repair the system1.Search for CMD, find the command prompt, and choose to run in administrator mode.2.Enter the following commands one by one, please be sure to execute the next command after the previous one is completedDISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealthDISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealthDISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealthSFC /Scannow3.After the scan is completed, you can check the scan information to see if any problems have been checked and fixed.III.Search for CMD, then run in administrator mode, enter the following commandnet user USERNAME PASSWORD /addnet localgroup administrators USERNAME /addUSERNAME PASSWORD CAN BE REPLACED WITH THE account NAME AND PASSWORD YOU WANT. IF YOU DON'T NEED A PASSWORD, YOU CAN NOT FILL IN THE PASSWORD.If there is no problem under the new account, this should be a failure of the account configuration file. Please refer to the plan under repairing the damaged configuration file in the following article to transfer your information to the new account.*Troubleshoot problems signing in to Windows - Microsoft Support* (The steps for Windows 11 and Windows 10 are the same, you can directly refer to the Windows 10 program and perform it.）IV.Use the Media Creation Tool to repair the systemIt is recommended that you can repair the system directly through the Media Creation Tool to eliminate the factors of system component corruption. This is not to reinstall the system, it will repair your system and will not delete files or applications.But if there is important data in the computer, we still recommend backing up in advance.Once the backup is complete, please follow the steps in the guide below：Download Windows 11Visit the site above and select the Download tool now-run the Media Creation tool-select yes-select accept-choose to create installation media for another computer-select DVD ISO file-save as a local file.Since Windows 11 has been updated to the 24H2 version, if you want to use 23H2, you can follow the method provided by the volunteer host Ramesh in the link below to download the 23H2 ISO file:Download iso of windows 11 that is older than the newest update (a - Microsoft CommunityRun local WINDOWS. ISO file-right click-mount-select run setup.exe-Choose not to use it for the time being-choose to keep personal files and settings-choose next-wait for the WINDOWS Repair installation to complete-restart the WINDOWS computer.Disclaimer: Let’s try performing an in-place install or in-place upgrade which will refresh your Windows files and operating system without removing files or applications. That being said, we always recommend that if you have important data, you should back it up before making large system changes. If you want to back up your data first, please do so. Once you are done backing up, you can follow the steps in the following guides:How to run In-place upgrade in Windows 11 - Microsoft CommunityIf you have any progress, you are welcome to contact us at any time.

    Best Regards

    Nicholas.Z - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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