How to fix the error when the printing subsystem is not available in Windows XP. Failed to open Add Printer Wizard Local Print Subsystem

Probably, almost every PC user uses printer. This may be the need to print out reports, coursework, diploma projects, or simply pages from the Internet. But when sending another document for printing, an unsuspecting user receives the message “Error: the printing subsystem is unavailable.” Just calm down, this article will discuss several ways to do this to correct.

Fixing the Windows XP Print Service

First of all, a little theory. This is necessary so that you understand what “the printing subsystem is unavailable” means. This subsystem, in fact, is nothing more than service this operating system, responsible for, as you already understood, working with printing equipment. It sends the selected document to the printer, and if there are several of them, it starts a print queue and arranges for its completion. Let's first say that there are two ways to fix this error. The first method involves launching this service, the second is manual and will require some knowledge from the user.

The first method is to start the service

The very first method is related to direct launch service responsible for printing output. To do this we must take the following steps:

• By clicking on the “Start” button, select “Control Panel”.
• Going to the settings console, select “Administration”. If you are using the classic view, then immediately click on the icon that says “Administration”.
• Double-click to go to services. Here we will be able to see all the services used in the Windows X.P. operating system for various operations. They are designated as local. In the Status column, you can see whether a particular service is running in at the moment or not.
• We find “Print Spooler” in this list.
• If you see that there is nothing else in front of this service except an empty line, double-click on it and go to the settings window.
• The startup mode of this service should be set to “Auto”. This can be checked in the “Startup type” line.
• To start the service, click on “Start”.

So, the service is running and the problem with the inability to print should be eliminated. If this is not the case, read the next method.

The second method is manual configuration

If starting the print service did not help and the print subsystem service does not work correctly, then the problem lies elsewhere. In this case, we can only say with confidence that there can be many reasons: from actions malware until there are no critical files of the system itself.

First you need to remove all print devices from the system:

• Click on the “Start” button and select “Printers and Faxes”.
• A list of all devices associated with printing, scanning, and faxing appears. You need to select your device by clicking the right button and then remove it from the system.
• We answer the system’s question with a resounding “Yes.”

In the next step, we get rid of the print device drivers.

• To do this, go to the “File” menu and click on “Server Properties” in the drop-down list.
• In the window that appears, we need the “Drivers” tab. Now you will need to delete everything that is on the list. To do this, select each of them one by one and click “Delete”.
• Next, open a standard Explorer and enter in its line: “C:\WINODWS\system32\spool”.
• A directory of the same name will open, where we need to delete the “Printers” folder.
• Having done all of the above, it would be useful to scan the system for malware. Any antivirus will do for this (for example, you can use the free Dr. Web CureIt). It can be downloaded from the official website from current version bases.

After completing the system check, you can move on:

• Through Explorer, go to the “C:\WINDOWS\system32” directory. Here we need to find out if there is a print service file “Spoolsv.exe” in this folder. The name of this file must not contain any other characters: only those listed above. Next, make sure that the size of the library file “sfc_os.dll” is approximately 140 kb. If this file has not been replaced, then its size should not differ either more or less from that indicated above.
• To restore the original files, type “C:\WINDOWS\DllCache” in Explorer and, going to this directory, copy “sfc_os.dll” from it, as well as “sfc.exe”, “sfcfiles.dll” and “xfc.dll” .
• Paste the copied files into the “C:\WINDOWS\system32” directory.
• If you cannot find in this folder necessary files, as an option you can take them from another computer to Windows based X.P., which does not have the described problems.
• Now you need to restart your computer.

Based on practice, both the first and second methods will help solve most problems associated with printer output in Windows X. P. Now you know what to do if the printing subsystem is unavailable and how to fix it.

The computer's OS printing system may be damaged after the PC is infected with a virus. This manifests itself in the following: if you try to print a file, a message appears on the screen stating that the printing subsystem is unavailable.

You will need

• - a computer with Internet access.

Instructions

[ Local subsystem printing fails] is a notification that occurs in some cases, and not all users know what to do if such a situation occurs.

This error prevents the printer and system from working properly and prevents printing.

However, you can eliminate it yourself - there are several methods for this, depending on what exactly caused the appearance of such a notification.

Contents:

The essence of the problem

When you try to copy any document or image, a notification from Print Manager, indicating that the system cannot connect to it and the subsystem cannot be executed.

This phenomenon occurs when connecting the device, most often during the first attempt, since it is related specifically to the device settings and its interaction with the PC.

It is extremely rare that such an error can be generated by one that worked properly before.

What does this notification mean? It informs the user that there is an error in the Dispatcher that is preventing him from completing a task or connecting to him.

It is the inability to connect that is often the cause of this problem.

But sometimes there is another reason. This is in the folder that forms the queue.

Such “garbage” accumulates as a result of installing unnecessary and various software for the device, drivers, etc.

Before you try to fix the problem, you need to find out what exactly caused it.

Enabling the service

The subsystem in question is the Dispatcher. It is responsible for building the queue and sending jobs to it.

It can be disabled either by the user himself or as a result of an action malicious files.

The dispatcher is located in the administration settings, so to work with it you need to log in account on behalf of the administrator. Then proceed as follows:

1. Go to Control Panel from the Desktop (right-click on free space), through the Start button menu or using search on the computer, which is especially convenient on operating systems;
2. Find a section Administration and go to it, and from there to the Services section (sometimes there is also an item Local Services, and you don’t need to go into it);
3. A large list will open, which you need to scroll down to Manager (on older versions of the operating system it may be called Queue Manager), and then open it double click left mouse button;
4. Go to the General tab, although this is usually what opens;
5. Find the Startup type field - it must have the Automatic option;
6. If it is not, then install it;
7. If the Run button is active at the bottom of the window, then click on it;
8. Click on the OK button;
9. After that, close the window; saving is not required.

After this, the computer should be restarted. If the problem lay in the service itself and it, then after this procedure everything should work fine.

If the problem has not been resolved, then it is necessary to look for another cause.

Connection

If the previous method did not fix the problem, or if the error appeared immediately after connecting the device, then the problem most likely lies in the connection itself.

Methods for solving it vary depending on which of them is connected - network or local.

Network solution

A universal solution is a local port connection method. With this method, you manually specify the path with which the system should work.

To do this, follow the instructions:

1. Go to Control Panel one of the methods described in the previous method for solving the problem;
2. Go to section Printers and devices(or Equipment and Sound, and from there - Adding a device, if you have Windows 10 installed on your PC);
3. Click on the Install button at the top of the window that opens;
4. A window opens listing possible options devices - click on the section Add a printer;
5. In the window that opens, find the Create a new port field and place a marker in the box opposite the inscription;
6. Below in the drop-down list of the Port Type section, specify Local Port;
7. Click on the Next button at the bottom of the window;
8. A small window will open in which you need to enter the path to it (although it is called Port Name), you must take into account spaces, case, etc.;
9. Click OK;
10. In the next window select required driver For normal operation devices (downloaded or loaded from a memory card or disk);
11. Click Next again;
12. Then click on the Next button several more times, agreeing with what is suggested Port Creation Wizard, until the window closes.

After this, restart your computer. It should now work properly. If this does not happen, then check the spelling of the path again.

Quite often, many people need to print a document. There is even nothing to say about the fact that computers in enterprises were created only for working with documents. Considering the volume of documents floating around, we can say for sure that printing on a computer is extremely important. But users of Windows XP systems may at one point receive a window with a message stating that the printing subsystem is unavailable. Trying to simply restart the printer usually does not resolve this issue. Therefore, you have to use creativity and resort to other solution methods. There are several ways to fix this problem, which will be discussed now.

What to do

If suddenly such a problem happened to your computer that when you tried to print a document Windows system XP displays the message “The printing subsystem is unavailable,” then you should first check your computer for viruses. After all, it’s harmful software often creates obstacles to normal printing. If you have the opportunity to check your hard drive on another computer with high-quality antivirus, then it is advisable to do so. If you do not have such an opportunity, then you can use antivirus utilities, for example, Dr.Web CureIt, Microsoft Safety Scanner or another similar program. These programs usually quickly find the culprit of the error and deal with it.

If you have installed antivirus program from Microsoft, then for a more accurate result it is advisable to use a utility from another developer.

After checking, you can try printing something.

If your antivirus doesn't help

Let's say you scanned your computer for viruses, but found nothing, and the printing subsystem still remains inaccessible. In this case, recovery may help you system files, some of which may have been damaged for one reason or another. A computer is a dynamic system; it is constantly updated and changes its files. It is not surprising that any change led to an error. In order to carry out a similar procedure, you must first log in to the system as an administrator, and only then open command line. The path in Windows XP is as follows:

• All Programs/Accessories/Command Line.
• In the window that opens you need to enter sfc team/scannow.

As soon as you launch it, it will begin checking the integrity of all protected system files. If any problems are found in them, the program will correct them.

There may be a problem with the print queue on your computer. Usually documents, if there are several of them, are placed in a row for printing. To check whether this is true or not, you need to open the Print Spooler service:

• Open the Start menu.
• Select My Computer.
• Right-click on it and go to “Management”.
• In the “Computer Management” window that opens, we need the “Services” tab, where there is a list of everyone working on the computer utilities. This is where the service we need is located. By default, it should be in the “Running” state and the startup type “Auto”.
• If this is not the case, then open the service double click and set the appropriate parameters.
• Let's try again to print a document.

If none of the above methods helped solve the problem, and the printing subsystem is still unavailable, then you should open the C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS folder and completely delete all its contents. You should also remove all printer drivers, then go to the manufacturer’s website and download from there the latest versions of drivers for your printer model. The following files are responsible for the printing system in Windows XP:

• File spoolsv.exe;
• File spoolss.dll;
• File sfc.exe;
• File sfc.dll;
• File sfc_os.dll;
• The file sfcfiles.dll.

You can try to replace all the above files, taking them from another computer and transferring them to yours. Or they may be located in the C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache folder.

If the printing subsystem in Windows XP remains unavailable after this, then you need to try to restore the system to a point in time when there were no problems with printing (All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore).

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Unfortunately, sometimes users computer systems working under Windows control, are faced with a problem when not only is it impossible to print a document, all printers completely disappear from the Device Manager, and the system itself displays a message about the impossibility of completing the operation because the printing subsystem is unavailable. Most often this concerns Windows XP, but cases are not uncommon even in the “seven”, although such situations are much less common.

What is the printing subsystem?

First, a few words about what it actually is. To put it simply and briefly, this is a service responsible for printing based on the interaction of printers with the operating system.

It is expressed by launching the spoolsv.exe file, accompanying executable components and dynamic libraries, which are in system folder System32 in the Windows directory. If the printing subsystem is unavailable, Windows cannot interpret installed printers even based on activated device drivers. Let's look at why this situation occurs.

Reasons why the print subsystem is unavailable

There can be many reasons for such failures, but most often experts identify infection of system files with viruses, sudden shutdown power supply, which leads to problems in the system itself. There are many more reasons that can be given, but these are the most common phenomena.

However, for situations where the printing subsystem is not available, the XP version of Windows, as well as newer ones, has its own solution. Let's look at the simplest ways to fix such problems.

The printing subsystem is unavailable: what to do?

Note that this should not be quick check, let's say boot records or components executed at the time of launch, namely in-depth analysis. This function is provided in almost all antivirus packages.

If the threat scan does not reveal any threats, and the printing subsystem is still unavailable, you should take more drastic actions. First you need to use a system restore to the point when everything was fine with printing. This is done from the Control Panel or by selecting the appropriate service from the Start menu in the utilities section.

In some cases, you may have to use more radical solutions (by the way, no less effective). Such measures require complete replacement service files: spoolsv.exe, spoolss.dll, sfc.exe, sfcfiles.dll, sfc_os.dll and sfc.dll. Typically, they can be found in the dllcache folder.

Here you especially need to pay attention to the fact that the creation date of all specified dynamic libraries (.dll) must correspond to the date of installation of the “OS” on the computer. If the date is later, you need to repeat the scan for viruses, change anti-virus software, or use utilities such as Kaspersky Rescue Disc, which scan before the system itself starts.

Among other things, you can find replacement files on another computer if the necessary data in the dllcache folder is damaged. There's nothing wrong with that. But before copying new files, you first need to shut down the print service itself. Please note that the regular Task Manager will not work for this.

You should use the My Computer icon, where you first select management and then go to services and applications. Here you need to click on the “+” icon and in the services menu that opens, find the print spooler component. Right-clicking on this service brings up a menu with the “Stop” command.

The completion of the process can only now be checked in the Task Manager, and then you can start copying new files. By the way, please note that the dllcache folder is hidden, so you will first have to use the show option to display files and folders hidden files and folders.

Conclusion

Of course, these are not all solutions to situations where the printing subsystem is unavailable. Perhaps in some cases you just need to update or reinstall the printer drivers or check system disk. However, as practice shows, these are the most common cases in the same “expert”. But, as we see, it is possible to correct the situation, and quite simply. In most cases, even a system restore helps. In this case, copying new files and then replacing old data is not required at all.