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Windows Server 2003 uses a service to control the spooling of print jobs. If this service isn’t running, print jobs can’t be spooled. You can check the status of the Print Spooler using the Services utility. Follow these steps to check and restart the Print Spooler service:

1. In Administrative Tools, click or double-click Computer Management.
2. Right-click the Computer Management entry in the console tree and select Connect To Another Computer on the shortcut menu. You can now choose the system whose services you want to manage.
3. Expand the Services And Applications node by clicking the plus sign (+) next to it, and then choose Services.
4. Select the Print Spooler service. The Status should be Started. If it isn’t, right-click Print Spooler and then select Start. The Startup Type should be Automatic. If it isn’t, double-click Print Spooler and then set Startup Type to Automatic.
5. If this doesn’t resolve the problem, you might want to check other related services, including
   • TCP/IP Print Server (if installed)
   • Print Server for Macintosh (if installed)
   • Print Server for UNIX (if installed)

   Tip

   Spoolers can become corrupted. Symptoms include a frozen printer or one that doesn’t send jobs to the print device. Sometimes the print device might print pages of garbled data. In most of these cases stopping and starting the Print Spooler service resolves the problem. Other spooling problems might be related to permissions.