Event ID 99 — Print Spooler Status

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2

This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.

Print Server Status controls basic operations such as initializing the spooler, creating threads, and reading the registry.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 99
Source: Microsoft-Windows-PrintSpooler
Version: 6.1
Symbolic Name: SPOOLER_UNEXPECTED_SHUTDOWN
Message: The print spooler encountered a fatal error while executing a critical operation (%1, error %2) and must immediately terminate. Try to manually restart the print spooler service (from Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services or from an elevated command prompt running: net start spooler).

Resolve

Restart the Print Spooler service

Possible resolutions include:

  • If you are using Microsoft Office 2003 or Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 1 on the client computer, install Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2 or newer, or install the hotfix described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 896604 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104696)

  • If you are using Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server on the client computer, you could be experiencing a Graphical Device Interface (GDI) handle leak caused by Windows removing a window before removing a GDI brush object. To resolve this issue, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 826518 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=104697)

  • Restart the print spooler by using the following procedure.

    Warning: Restarting the Print Spooler service causes all print jobs to be restarted. After restarting the Print Spooler service, you might need to reset some printers or turn them off and then turn them back on. On an active print server, perform this procedure outside of normal business hours or during scheduled maintenance time, if possible. Before performing this procedure, take all printers offline and wait for all print jobs to be completed, or pause all printers and wait for all Active print jobs to be completed.

    1. In the Administrative Tools folder, open the Services snap-in.

    2. Locate the Print Spooler service in the list of services, and then confirm that its status is Started. If its status is not Started, select the service and then click Start on the Action menu.

      Note: You can also do this from an elevated Command Prompt window by typing the following command: net stop spooler && net start spooler

    In some instances, you might receive Error 1068 – "The dependency service or group failed to start" – when attempting to start the Print Spooler service. This can happen if the Print Spooler service relies on other services that are not running. To resolve this issue, use the following procedure:

    1. In the Services snap-in, right-click Print Spooler and then click Properties.
    2. Click the Dependencies tab. The first box lists all of the system services that must be running for Print Spooler service to start. These are the dependencies.
    3. Make a note of each service, click OK, and then start each service that the print spooler depends on, if the service is not already started. If a particular service was not already started, right-click it, click Properties, and then confirm that the Startup type is Automatic.

Verify

Perform the following tasks to verify that you resolved the problem:

  • Print the document again.
  • If the print server logs spooler information events, look for Print Spooler Event 10 after printing, and then examine the document to confirm that it printed correctly.

Print Spooler Status

Printing Infrastructure