Why doesn't my networked printer work?

Question

Our new computer systems are experiencing GPF faults referring to rundll.32 as well as GDI.EXE. We are running Win95/98 Desktop and laptops networked into a PIII Win NT server with a DIGI modem and a HP laserjet 4000 series 6 printer. The problem occurs most often during an attempt to print. Can you please suggest where I can look for the source of this error message?

Thank You in advance.

Jeff

Answer

This question was answered on July 14, 1999. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

The following information was taken from your printer's support web site, hopefully it will be helpful to you.

Try one of the following solutions to correct Spool 32 errors, such as "Spool 32 Caused a General Protection Fault in Module GDI.EXE."

Option 1 (preferred)

Change the Windows 95 spooler process to have the program and printer working full-time. This solution provides full-time use of the program and full printer functionality.

First try (Option 1)

1. Restart Windows 95.

2. Click Start, click Settings, and click Printers.

3. In the Printers window, right-click the HP LaserJet or DeskJet icon.

4. Click Properties.

5. Select the Details tab.

6. Click the Spool Settings button.

7. Click the Down Arrow next to "Spool data format."

8. Change the setting from EMF to RAW and then click OK to close the "Spool Settings" window.

9. Click OK to close the Properties window.

10. Close the Printers window.

11. Restart Windows 95 and try to print again. If unsuccessful, restart Windows 95 again and proceed to "Second Try," below.

Second try (Option 1)

NOTE: These changes disable the spooler in Windows 95. The computer will be limited in its ability to multitask (slower than normal) while printing. This option will not work with a Host-Based Driver.

1. Click Start, Settings, and Printers.

2. In the Printers window, right-click the HP LaserJet or DeskJet icon.

3. Click Properties.

4. Select the Details tab.

5. Click Port Settings.

6. Click "Spool MS-DOS (R) print jobs" and "Check port state before printing," clicking any check-marks to clear both options; click OK.

7. Click Spool Settings.

8. Select "Print directly to the printer." The Spool data format will default to RAW.

9. Click OK, Apply, and OK.

10. Close the Printers window.

11. Restart Windows 95 and try to print again. If unsuccessful, restart Windows 95 again and proceed to "Option 2" below.

Option 2

Temporarily close the interfering program for printing purposes.

1. Press CTRL + ALT + DELETE to open the Close Program window.

2. Highlight any fax/answering machine program listed and select End Task. Repeat this process for each program listed that may interfere with the printing process.

3. Try again to print. If printing is successful, the program(s) closed was interfering with the printing process. Repeat the above two steps each time you print.

Option 3

Permanently remove any interfering terminate-stay-resident programs (TSRs) from the computer by uninstalling the software through any regular means. For assistance, contact the manufacturer of the software or the computer manufacturer.

Option 4

Remove any unnecessary "*.TMP files. Check the C:\TEMP and C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directories for any unnecessary ".tmp" files. Delete any unnecessary .tmp files and then run DEFRAG and SCANDISK. Contact the PC Manufacturer for further assistance with this step

Author

Posted by Ken of Data Doctors on July 14, 1999