Configure and troubleshoot Print Spooler service

Print Spooler service is required to print documents or to install printers. If the service is not started, then it will instead give an error message (The usual solution is to start the service or clear the spool directory or reinstall printer drivers):

*Printer operation cannot continue due to lack of resources. The print subsystem is unavailable

The RPC Server Is Unavailable

Operation cannot be completed.*

More Info MS KB158042
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To configure the priority of the print spooler threads use these DWORD registry values:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print]
SpoolerPriority = 1 (0 = Normal, 1 = Higher, 0xFFFFFFFF = Lower)
SchedulerThreadPriority = 1 (0 = Normal, 1 = Higher, 0xFFFFFFFF = Lower)
PortThreadPriority = 1 (0 = Normal, 1 = Higher, 0xFFFFFFFF = Lower)

More Info MS KB103411
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To configure the output to the EventLog:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print \Providers]
EventLog = 0 (0 = Disabled, 1 = Errors, 2 = Warnings, 4 = Informative, 7 = All)

More Info MS KB115841

To configure whether to make a notify popup when print job finished. Open Control Panel -> Printers -> File-menu -> Server-Properties -> Advanced-Tab -> Untick “Notify when remote documents are printed”. (This should be reflected with this registry key)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print \Providers]
NetPopup = 0 (0 = Disabled, 1 = Enabled)

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Related Disable Printer Balloon Tips in WinXP

To configure whether shared printers should use bandwidth to announce themselves to the entire network (Internet included):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \Print]
DisableServerThread = 1 (1 = Hidden, 0 = Visible in Network Neighborhood)

More Info MS KB227908
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