Fix a crashing print spooler service.

The other day I was battling with a continuously crashing print spooler service. It seemed like every two minutes the service would stop and start again. Trying to diagnose the cause of this problem can be very frustrating, because MANY things can cause behavior like this. One of the first things I looked at was recently installed software. If you can make a correlation between new software (including Windows “patches”) and your crashing service problem, more than likely it is an issue with the newly installed software.

Unfortunatley, that wasn’t the case for me. I reviewed the event logs and it looked like it basically started “out-of-the blue”. I did a little searching and came across the idea that it might be a corrupt printer driver.

To apply the fix, I took the printer driver out of the equation. To do this, simply navigate to the following directory:
c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32×86

You must either change the name or move the w32×86 directory and reboot your machine. (Don’t worry a new directory will be created.)

Once you have accomplished this and all seems to be well with your machine, you may have to re-add your printers and/or printer drivers.

This little trick fixed my printer problem, hopefully it will fix yours!

Ten Windows Services, You Don’t Need.

I’ll start by telling you that windows has a host of processes that start at boot time. Some of these process you need but there are quite a few that you don’t. This article will take a look at those processes that you don’t need.

The reason we want to disable these unneeded processes is because they do occupy memory and can take up CPU time. You can find proof of this by opening your task manager (ctl+shift+esc).

How to disable.

You need to know how to disable the processes so do the following: Start > Run > type “services.msc” and hit Enter

1. Error Reporting.

This enables error reporting on your computer and sends the results to Microsoft. Definitely not necessary.

2. Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing

This service is used for connecting computers with netmeeting. Netmeeting is more of a corprate application and therefore not needed by most home or small business owners.

3. Portable Media Serial Number Service

This service retrieves the serial number of any portable media player connected to your computer. This service is not needed.

4. Network Provisioning Service

This service is not necessary if you are a home user or you have just a simple network. This service manages XML configuration files on a domain for automatic network provisioning.

5. Indexing Service

This service provides indexing to contents and properties of files on your computer or remote computers. You may need this service if you have a large hard drive with many files and you frequently use windows search. A better indexing service is Google’s toolbar.

6. Remote Registry

Enables remote users to modify registry settings on your computer. This one is a no-brainer! Disable it.

7. Smart Card

Manages access to smart cards read by your computer. If you don’t have a smart card or don’t know what a smart card is, disable it.

8. Secondary Logon

This enables starting processes under alternate credentials. You would need this if you had a limited account on your machine and wanted that account to be able to run applications with administrator access.

9. WMI Performance Adapter

Provides performance library information from WMI HiPerf providers. No need for this one, disable it.

10. System Restore Service

Performs system restore functions. This is used to restore old versions of files. Not really necessary but if you want to be cautious then leave it.

All of these service can be disabled to help boost the performance of your computer. It should be noted that you can always enable the services again.