[Samba] The dreaded SPOOLSV.EXE error

[Kevin Long]

I'm seeing quite a few SPOOLSV.exe postings here, so I figured I'd share my
experiences with you, as I have run regular NT and W2K print servers that
also cause this. There are essentially 3 reasons for this. In order of
likelihood:

1) Drivers that mismatch the Windows version
2) "full" spooler directory
3) bitmap fax drivers

Number 1 is the prime culprit. Even if you have "Windows 2000 version"
drivers, they may be NT4 version, and will cause this behavior. You can
verify this by looking to see if they are version 2 or 3. 2 is incorrect.
The locations for these files are, on Windows:

c:\winnt\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86 

and then in the directories 2 & 3. These directories correspond to the ones
created on the server when either SAMBA or Windows is a print server. Once a
driver has been installed, it stays there, even if you aren't using the
printer any more. You need to delete all the 2 entries.

The next step is to rid yourself of any registry entries << registry
disclaimer goes here >>. The keys are:

HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT
x86\Drivers\Version-2

and a corresponding group ControlSet002 and CurrentControlSet. There is also
the definitions in the HKCU "hive":

HKCU\Printers\Connections

which may list connections to invalid printers, which in turn will
autodownload the bad drivers unless removed.

2) When printing to a remote printer, which is configured for lpr, the local
spooler will not delete the print job after it is done. There's a KB article
about it, but I don't have the reference. A login script to delete
c:\winnt\system32\spool\PRINTERS\*.tmp will take care of this one.

3) If you've installed a "bitfax" print driver, it's got to go. Search the
KB for this. 

KB refers to the Microsoft Knowledgebase.

Kevin Long.