CAUSE
This problem may occur if the Print Spooler service stops
responding (hangs). A scenario may occur where the Print Spooler service loops
back on itself when it makes a remote call (RemoteGetPrinter) to a local
printer. This behavior causes the Print Spooler service to exhaust all the
server's available connections to itself. The Print Spooler service stops
responding because it is waiting on a thread that is trying to load a print
driver.
This problem may occur if you try to open a connection to a
shared printer that no longer exists. For example, this problem may occur in
the following scenarios:
- A printer share is renamed, and you try to connect to the
printer by using the old name.
- A network printer is local to a cluster node, and you try
to connect to it when the cluster node fails over.
In these cases, the Print Spooler service routes the incoming
OpenPrinter call to local print spoolers (including the cluster). If the local
print spoolers do not recognize the requested printer name, the spooler passes
the calls to the remote print provider (Win32spl.dll).
RESOLUTION
Windows Server 2003
Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Windows Server 2003 service pack that contains this hotfix.
To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.PrerequisitesNo prerequisites are required to install this hotfix.Restart requirementYou must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.
However, if you want to restart the computer later, click to select the
Do not restart now check box before you click
Finish when you install the hotfix. Hotfix replacement informationThis hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.File information
The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the
Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Windows Server 2003 32-bit versions Date Time Version Size File name
-----------------------------------------------------
11-Jun-2003 22:44 5.2.3790.54 93,696 Win32spl.dll
Windows Server 2003 64-bit versions Date Time Version Size File name Platform
----------------------------------------------------------------
11-Jun-2003 22:36 5.2.3790.54 274,944 Win32spl.dll
IA-64
Windows 2000 Server
Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft.
For additional information about this hotfix, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
886679
A printer connection that is bridged between Windows 98 and Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server stops working