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Can't clear print queue

H

Herzl Regev

Flightless Bird
How do I clear the print queue?
I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
/WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.

The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"Herzl Regev" <HerzlRegev@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03C416F4-BE1D-4CE5-A865-4F5D0FD3EC57@microsoft.com...
> How do I clear the print queue?
> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>
> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.

What happened when you deleted the files in the Printers folder? Did any of
them stay behind? Any screen message?
 
P

Patrick Keenan

Flightless Bird
"Herzl Regev" <HerzlRegev@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03C416F4-BE1D-4CE5-A865-4F5D0FD3EC57@microsoft.com...
> How do I clear the print queue?
> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>
> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.

Have you restarted the PC?
 
L

LD55ZRA

Flightless Bird
You just need to right-Click on the systems tray icon for the printer and
then select open. You can now delete the jobs listed in there but you need
to be an administrator or a user who sent the job in the first place.

hth

"Herzl Regev" <HerzlRegev@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:03C416F4-BE1D-4CE5-A865-4F5D0FD3EC57@microsoft.com...
> How do I clear the print queue?
> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>
> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.
 
H

Herzl Regev

Flightless Bird
First of all, the problem went away, but it might return. Re the replies:

before trying the way I listed, I already tried the way suggested by LD55ZRA.

when I deleted the files in /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, nothing was
left, but the printer queue stayed occupied. I didn't reboot the PC. What
seems to have worked was that I closed that window that I got from "opening"
the printer. Before that I disconnected the printer, turned it off - didn't
help.
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"Herzl Regev" <HerzlRegev@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:27322FB6-8A35-49B2-962B-53835385BBD9@microsoft.com...
> First of all, the problem went away, but it might return. Re the replies:
>
> before trying the way I listed, I already tried the way suggested by
> LD55ZRA.
>
> when I deleted the files in /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, nothing was
> left, but the printer queue stayed occupied. I didn't reboot the PC. What
> seems to have worked was that I closed that window that I got from
> "opening"
> the printer. Before that I disconnected the printer, turned it off -
> didn't
> help.

I think you were deceived. Cleaning out the Printers folder is a
non-approved way of doing things and your printer screen will not update
itself automatically. If you did a screen refresh (e.g. with F5) then you
would immediately see an empty print queue.
 
H

HeyBub

Flightless Bird
Herzl Regev wrote:
> How do I clear the print queue?
> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>
> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.

You may have to build in a pause (the "ping" command).

The following batch file works for me:

@echo off
echo.
echo Purging the print queue . . .
net stop Spooler
echo Deleting all print jobs . . .
ping localhost -n 4 > nul
del /q %SystemRoot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*
net start Spooler
echo Done!
ping localhost -n 4 > nul
 
J

John John - MVP

Flightless Bird
HeyBub wrote:
> Herzl Regev wrote:
>> How do I clear the print queue?
>> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
>> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>>
>> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.
>
> You may have to build in a pause (the "ping" command).
>
> The following batch file works for me:
>
> @echo off
> echo.
> echo Purging the print queue . . .
> net stop Spooler
> echo Deleting all print jobs . . .
> ping localhost -n 4 > nul
> del /q %SystemRoot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*
> net start Spooler
> echo Done!
> ping localhost -n 4 > nul

Actually, when taking a second look at the batch file you will see that
all that the ping command does is give the user a bit of time to see and
read the echo...

John
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"John John - MVP" <audetweld@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote in message
news:-OPqbpkE0KHA.6140@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> HeyBub wrote:
>> Herzl Regev wrote:
>>> How do I clear the print queue?
>>> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
>>> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>>>
>>> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.
>>
>> You may have to build in a pause (the "ping" command).
>>
>> The following batch file works for me:
>>
>> @echo off
>> echo.
>> echo Purging the print queue . . .
>> net stop Spooler
>> echo Deleting all print jobs . . .
>> ping localhost -n 4 > nul
>> del /q %SystemRoot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*
>> net start Spooler
>> echo Done!
>> ping localhost -n 4 > nul
>
> Actually, when taking a second look at the batch file you will see that
> all that the ping command does is give the user a bit of time to see and
> read the echo...
>
> John

The batch file comes out of my kitchen and yes, this was exactly the purpose
of the ping command. Some day, if you're interested, I'll explain the
contortions I had to go through to get around the UAC restrictioins under
Windows 7 . . .
 
R

regbrown

Flightless Bird
"Herzl Regev" wrote:

> How do I clear the print queue?
> I've tried "net stop spooler" and deleted all in
> /WINDOWS/System32/spool/PRINTERS, to no avail.
>
> The OS is XP Home SP3. The printer is HP psc 1200.
 
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