Vista - Vista 32 bit Print spooler problem?

Hey everyone, one of the VP's in my buisness is running into a very
frustrating problem with a print spooler issue.

He is using a HP, build up with Vista 32 bit, but when he starts the
computer, he has to make sure the print spooler is not running. when he wants
to print to a network printer and starts the print spool service, the entire
machine hangs and he cannot open apps, or cancel the print job it just sits
and "thinks". he can access the command line and stop the print spooler and
the computer begins to work normally again. I have made sure all drivers and
updates are current, but im stumped at this point. I'm going to attempt to
connect a printer locally and see if the network ports are causing the print
spooler to "freeze" the machine, but after that im out of ideas. Help!