Today I had a problem with an XP machine that was unable to print. The sprinter spooler service would crash everytime. I go to services.msc, start it up, it would crash. Clicking on more information reveiled ZSR.DLL was the file that was causing the crash.
After a few Google searches I realized I needed to remove the LaserJet 1020 printer. However with the spooler service unresponsive, this wasn't possible. I tried to remove via add/remove programs however - no luck.
Then I read about the Windows 2003 resource kit. I'm sure there are many great tools in this kit but I was most impressed with cleanspl.exe. This program will totally reset the printer spooler. Not only will it work on the machine you are using but it works on other computers remotely. For example you can put in the netbios (or dns) name of another workstation and as long as you have administrative access you can reset the spooler. The whole thing took about five minutes and after a quick restart the printer was reinstalled and working great again.
To Sum Up
- Download the Windows 2003 resource kit
- Run cleanspl.exe
- Now start the spooler service by clicking on start then run and typing in net start spooler
- Now clear out the printers and reinstall the printers
