CHECKING THE PRINT SPOOLER IF THE PRINTER DOESN'T WORK
 

1) Click on Start, then on Settings, then on Printers. (For Windows XP, click on Start, then on Control Panel, then double-click on the Printers and Faxes icon.)

2) Double-click on the printer icon for your printer (for example, the HP Deskjet 870).

3) Click on Printer, then on Purge Print Documents (or Cancel All Print Jobs).

Note: Different Windows versions list different commands in the menus here.

[4) Or click on the print job waiting to be printed out, then click on Document, then on Cancel.

5. Repeat for any additional documents waiting in the "print queue" to be printed out.]

6) Wait up to about 2 minutes for the print job to be cancelled.

Note: You may have to restart the computer to complete the print job(s) cancellation process. If a window comes up on the screen when you shut down the computer or during the boot up process that says, "There are X print jobs waiting to be printed out. Click on OK to print or Cancel to cancel them….," click on the Cancel button. Then start the printing process over again after the computer restarts.

Print jobs get stacked up in the Print Spooler when you run out of paper or ink, when the computer momentarily freezes, if the printer was turned off, or if the wrong printer was initially selected. If you keep clicking on the Print button, you will just cause more print jobs to stack up in the Print Spooler and exacerbate the problem. Purge all print jobs, fix the problem with your printer, then try printing again.