I have Vista 32bit and the system recently "lost" its printer.

I have checked the HW and the printer and cable work fine on another system. The strange thing is when I go control panel > printers the pane is blank - not even the XPS writer is there.



When I press add printer I get error "Windos cant open Add Printer. The local print spooler service is not running. Please restart the spooler or restart the machine.

Checking under services the spooler appears to be there and running.

I have tried to use the Brother driver removal utility but it ends with a failure. I have tried reinstalling driver and I get the pop up from the taskbar saying driver installed and device ready to use but it just does not work!

Play with the spooler settings again.
Go to start
Type services in the search box
Scroll down to alphabet P = Print Spooler
Right click and Start the service

Now the printer should appear in the Device and Printers box.
Test by printing to confirm, and if it still does not, stop the spooler service and start it again.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks Koolkat77 - I have tried to stop/start the PrintSpooler service without any success. Even when the service is running the printer pane is blank.

I have also tried http://www.print-spooler.org/2012/05...and-windows-7/

Originally Posted by richdave

Thanks Koolkat77 - I have tried to stop/start the PrintSpooler service without any success. Even when the service is running the printer pane is blank.

I have also tried Local print spooler is not running error in Windows Vista and Windows 7 - Print Spooler Fix Services

Have you restarted and tried adding the printer?

yes I have tried rebooting system many times. I would not be asking for help if it were that obvious...

Have you pushed the Start button on print spooler settings? Check the attachment to see what I mean. The service may be running - automatically there but you will need to check if actually is after adding printers. Otherwise I don't see any reason for your printer not working.

Thanks for your continued interest. Yes I have "started" the service and stopped/started it as well without any success. The printers in control panel remains blank even though the driver appears to load OK...

Okay.
Could you got to services again start Bluetooth Support Services.

I'm not very sure it will help. But try it and post back and I'll come back with more suggestions.

Uninstall all the drivers and try installing them after a while. You may take a look at this thread from our seven forums too, for ideas: Brother HL-2140 Printer Not Working w/ Win7 - Windows 7 Forums

You may also try the above on a new user profile, inserting in another outlet.

thanks for the posts. The PC does not have BT functionality at all. I have tried other USB ports, I cant use a different user - I am logged in as ADMIN and I has to work under ADMIN. The HL2140 thread did not provide anything useful that I haven't already tried.