Office apps stop responding until Print Spooler is restarted

Hi,
I have posted this in other forums in an attempt to get to a wide audience so I apologise if you have seen it before and cannot help.

I have stuck a strange print spooler problem that I would like to get some direction on. I have read the solutions presented but I'm not sure how relevant they are. I am also still gathering info but need some pointers on exactly what would be useful.

We have 5 computers in an office of various types with windows 7 (home premium) or windows 10, all exhibiting the same symptoms. Approximately 3 weeks ago the all suddenly started having problems with the print spooler. If the computers are restarted they will work for a while and then the office apps (word, excel, access and outlook) will stop responding. The will either not load (normally word) or will stop when selecting the print function. Other spooler-related issues such as viewing the print queues also do not load.

Stopping the pint spooler immediately fixes the issue, but after the spooler is restarted, the problem will eventually reoccur. Rebooting the computer also fixes the issue temporarily.

There are several different printer models and types in the environment including a couple of network-connected and also directly-connected USB printers.

I am told that there have been no new applications nor software loaded nor were any updates applied around the time that the problem first occurred, although Microsoft patches are applied automatically so they may not have noticed one.


The network in the office is very simple with an Internet (cable) router/switch/wireless access point. Two of the computers are on Ethernet with others being connected via wireless (standard WiFi). There is no file or print server in the environment and all computers print directly to the printers. The only reason for the network connectivity is for Internet access and printing to the network-connected printers.

The stranger part of this is that if the laptop computers are away from the environment, they normally work correctly and do not exhibit the problem. It is only in the office environment that this occurs. I am tempted to blame one of the printer drivers and so will continue my investigation around this for the moment. However, no new printers have been introduced into the office, and I am told no drivers have been updated or changed.

I have asked them to create a log of what is happening when the problem occurs, but haven't reviewed this yet.
Does anybody have any other ideas on where to start on this one?

Hello, I had a same proplem.
What did I do:
1) Delete all printer drivers
2) Delete all files in C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers
There was folder "color' which does not have NT permissions to modify and delete files. I changed folder owner, add permissions and delete it.
3) Delete dependance of spool service in registry:
[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler\DependOnService]
There was two dependances, I left only RPCSS.
Possible all of this does not reqired.