Troubleshooting a print job stuck in queue
Restart the computer and printer: Turn the computer off. Unplug the power cord from the printer. Wait 1 minute and plug the power cord back into the printer and turn the printer on. Restart the computer. Check the print queue to see if the print jobs have been deleted.
Stop and restart print spooler: Open control panel > administrative tools > services. In the list of services scroll down and find print spooler. Right click print spooler and choose stop from the right click menu. Once the service has been stopped, right click print spooler again and choose start. Check the print queue to see if the print jobs have been deleted.
Check print spooler status: Open control panel > administrative tools > services. In the list of services scroll down and find print spooler. Right click print spooler and choose properties from the right click menu. Click the general tab. In the startup type drop down make sure “automatic” is selected.
Check printer status: Ensure that the printer is online. Open control panel > devices and printers. Right click the printer and from the right click menu click “see what’s printing” In the window that opens click the printer menu on the toolbar. Look for pause printing and use printer offline. Make sure that neither of those options is checked.
Delete jobs in the printer’s folder: Open control panel > folder options. Click the view tab. Put a check in “show hidden files, folders and drives”. Apply the setting and close the folder options menu. Open Windows Explorer and go to C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS
Delete any files in the printer’s folder. Do not delete the folder, just the files inside of the folder. Reboot the computer. Check the print queue to see if the print jobs have been deleted.
Verify that the USB and power cables are securely connected: Unplug the USB and power cable from the printer. Then reconnect each one. Unplug the USB cable from the computer and then reconnect it. Unplug the power cord from the printer and from the wall outlet. Then reconnect it.
Other things to try: If you are using a USB cable that is connected to a USB hub and not directly connected to the computer, try disconnecting the USB cable from the hub and connect it directly to a USB port on the computer.
Try a different USB cable.
If you have several USB devices connected to your computer try disconnecting all devices except the keyboard, mouse and printer. The computer may not have sufficient power to run all of the devices.
If you are using an HP printer, HP has a utility called HP Print and Scan Doctor. This utility will diagnose and resolve many printing and scanning errors, network connection problems, and driver issues. The utility will run on Windows XP and later.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?cc=us&lc=en&jumpid=ex_r4155/hho/ipg/ccdoc/printer_diag/&softwareitem=mp-135113-1
Reinstall the printer: If all else fails you can try reinstalling the printer. Open control panel > programs. Locate the listing for your printer software. Select it and click the uninstall button. Follow the prompts to uninstall the printer software. Turn the printer off and do not turn it back on until prompted to do so during the installation. Reboot the computer. Use the installation CD provided with your printer or go to the manufacturer’s website and download the most current driver for your printer. Save the installation file to your desktop or another location and reinstall the printer.
