Spool32.exe Error When Printing on a Network

ID: Q167775

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2.1

SYMPTOMS

When you print from a Windows 95 workstation on a Token Ring, Ethernet, or Windows NT network to a printer shared on a Novell NetWare print server or a Windows NT network-based server, you may experience the following symptoms, which occur in sequence, on an intermittent basis:

  • Printing stops responding (hangs) for a short period of time.


  • The Printing dialog box displays a spool32 error message.


  • The print job is usually printed correctly.


  • When the workstation recovers from the hung state, there are no printers listed in the Printers folder. The next time you attempt to print, you may receive the following error message:
    There is no default printer.
    To install and select a default printer, click the Start button, point to Settings, click Printers, and then double-click Add Printer.


When you restart the computer, the printers are displayed in the Printers folder again.


RESOLUTION

This issue is resolved by the following updated file for Windows 95 and OSR2, and later versions of this file: 


   SPOOLSS.DLL  version 4.00.952  dated 04/17/97  86,528 bytes



NOTE: The updated Spoolss.dll file can be used only with the Microsoft Client for Novell Networks. If you are using Novell Client32, Novell Intranetware, or Novell VPN, please contact Novell Technical Support to inquire about the availability of a similar patch or configuration information.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). An update to address this problem is now available, but is not fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft does not recommend implementing this update at this time. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for additional information about the availability of this update.

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.


MORE INFORMATION

To implement the resolution provided by this update, you must follow these steps in addition to installing the update:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.


  2. Right-click the printer, and then click Properties.


  3. Click the Details tab, and then click Spool Settings.


  4. Click "Start printing after last page is spooled."


  5. Click OK, and then click OK again.


NOTE: This procedure must be completed for each printer on each workstation using the updated SPOOLSS.DLL file.

For additional information about issues resolved by updates to this component, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q159873 Err Msg: SPOOL32 Caused a Stack Fault in Module SPOOLSS.DLL...



For additional information about Windows 95 updates, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q161020 Implementing Windows 95 Updates

Keywords : kberrmsg kbnetwork kbprint osr2 win95
Version : WINDOWS:95
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: June 30, 1999
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