| Kommentare über spoolsv.exe: |
 Alex | Printer Spooler Service |
 Johnny B | It keeps taking up my entire CPU, clogging the system. I have Windows2000, and I don't know how a printer spooler can use 90+ percent of my CPU for 10+ minutes! |
| GinChiller | könnte möglicherweise u.a. den Taskmanager unterbinden!!! Siehe auch: Link |
| ATZE | Die spoolsv.exe gehört zu Windows. Sie sorgt dafür das Druckaufträge nacheinander an den Drucker gesendet werden, und neue Druckaufträge ordnungsgemäss in die Druckerwarteschlange eingereiht werden. |
| Dystaxia | I had this problem on one of our computers. As it turns out, there were print jobs waiting - not on our installed printer - but on Microsoft Image Writer. These print jobs were terminated and all is back to normal. Siehe auch: Link |
 ben | unaware of the true reason why my laptop has been slowed to 10 minutes per operation, "spoolsv.exe" persists through my anti-virus scans and stops normal operation in order to re-boot--also with windows 2000. |
| JFSU | Careful...This one is a worm...quite typicaly found in your computer...if it is delete immediatly... |
| strebor | it's a windows file, it's not a freakin' virus people. |
| Annoyed | I'm experiencing the same as Johnny. Spooler is using over 50+ percent of CPU time and there are no print jobs waiting to be spooled. |
| Manu | It's a spooler. When i deleted this file, I don't know why i couldn't boot i had to reinstall windows. |
| Bryant | It's just a windows file. It running in my processes right now and I KNOW it isn't a virus |
| Tommy | I had the CPU takeover problem, but like Ben said, it was because of print jobs on the Microsoft Office writer, not the actual printer. Go to control panel/printers and faxes and check all printers for waiting jobs. |
 Neomonk | It *could* be a backdoor for hackers. But it is also a valid Windows file. Be careful. This file opened a backdoor and was not detected as the backdoor.ciadoor.b trojan. Siehe auch: Link |
 Van | Printer spooler - harmless, but it takes surprisingly a lot of memory. |
| Gero | Ist ein offizielles Windows-Programm unter System32. Wollte allerdings ohne ersichtlichen Grund ins IN. Hab ich untersagt und keine negativen Folgen bemerkt. |
| | If the spoolsv.exe seems to be causing problems on your computer, you simply have a slow computer. It is NOT a virus, it is installed with Windows and is required for printing. Try defragmenting your hardrives before accusing Windows system process of being viruses. It only uses about 3 MB of RAM on my computer. |
| joe | It's a print spooling application, but is easily targeted for spyware and/or worms. I recently removed it from a friends comp. Along with it came several adware bundlers and a king-kong sized headache. |
| Troy | I agree with strebor. It's the Windows print spooler. If it's taking up CPU resources, you probably have a bad printer driver. Delete all the printers from your printers folder, then reboot. |
| Gemquist | This file causes no damage as a windows file, However, the filename has been used before by some virii. No threat unless you download a virus. |
| Rieky | I had the same problem that Spoolsv was using most of my CPU all the time... but as Dystaxia said there were printjobs waiting on the Microsoft Image Writer, I deleted the print jobs on the Image Writer and now it works fine again |
| Paul | It is a necessary file so leave it for gods sake. Variations of the name can be a worm but this actual file is essential for windows to operate. |
 Nick | It will use some of your ram, but if you run your computer right it will not slow it down really any bit. Mine averages 5,000 K. If you do have a problem do like Tommy said and it should work well. |
| speedcroft | die nimmt die ressourcen von der CPU mit über 90% in anspruch und Bremst den PC gewaltig aus, auch wenn man ihn aus dem Windows Task Manager Löscht so setzt er sich wider rein ohne das der Drucker benötigt wird. Siehe auch: Link |
| joey | Its cloging my system and i dotn even have a printer! |
| Andy | spoolsv.exe is sometimes just a alias and a trojan/backdoor ect ect would be under the covers doing its job. My recommendations is to scan that file for anything |
| rick | i don't have any print jobs... i guess it's another windows security flaw being exploited |
| | If located in system32, it's the Windows Print Spooler - which is _safe_ and _not_ a virus! If it's located somewhere else, it's most likely a trojan, trying to fake you with a bogus name. |
| Ker | Spoolsv.exe is taking 99% of my resources. |
| | Same problem -100%cpu usage |
| Tom Smith | Right now, my firewall (Zone Alarm) is warning me that spoolsv.exe is requesting access to the internet!? |
| | It just take 131MB of my memory.....really annoying |
| Scott | IT IS a worm or trojan. It is a Windows printer spooler, yeah, but about 5 different types of backdoors name themselves "SPOOLSV.EXE" also. If your task manager shows the normal processes, except they dont have a user name next to them, this could be the problem... |
| Ben | it took all my cpu, and it was my fault. This file is coordinating your printing/faxing actions. If you are in a network, one printer could have been installed not properly. Also, most of the times it's only the Microsoft Office Image Writer that as a list of prints to do. |
| Downstrike | If it's so innocent, why would a print spooler need to acces the internet, for crying out loud?! |
| Mexican Cabrón | Pues este archivo esta de la chingada, ya que manda a la madre al equipo en cuanto a rendimiento, pero todo esto sucede porque en WinXP trata de alcanzar las impresoras en red a las que tiene acceso. Siehe auch: Link |
| m@rt!n | Es ist zwar der Drucker-Spooler, aber warum will der aufs Internet zugreifen?!? Das meldet nämlich meine Firewall (ZoneAlarm 5) |
| Albux | I had the same problem with spoolsv.exe taking 100% CPU. A Virus Scan showed me it was infected with Worm.Agobot.30.AP... AVG Antivirus healed the file and now it's all back to normal. By the way, AGOBOT often also infects csrss.exe... Siehe auch: Link |
| Lindsay | This program keeps running and using up all my CPU, even after i close it from the task manager. I have not printed anything in the recent past so I believe there is no reason for it to be running and especially to start back up after close it! For now i have put it in Quarantine |
| hacker | The only thing I wold like to know is why a "spooler" has to access the internet? As far as I know, a spooler puts into memory printing jobs so that the printer can print without locking up the computer that is printing. There should be no reason For a " spooler" to need access to the internet. |
| Johnny | My wife activated the MS Office60 day trial version on a brand New HP Athlon 3200+ (hardly a slow computer as suggested) and it loaded MS Office Image Writer (as I found out). Instantly the computer seemed to come to a near stand still. I checked Task Manager and found spoolsv.exe using over 90% cpu usage. I deleted MS Office Image Writer print job... problem solved. |
| Kim | It was taking up 98% of my CPU, so after reading these comments I checked the printer waiting list. Sure enough there was something sitting there from yesterday. I tried to remove it but it wouldn't go, until I switched the printer back on. Behold, document no longer in queue, computer back up to speed |
| Claire Draper | My system was running very slowly, I could not get on Google or any other site. My Windows Task Manager showed that this file was running at 98% of my processes. I ran my virus software, my firewall kept saying this file was trying to access the internet. Once I had cleared the viruses out of my system(MSN introduced) my system ran normally. |
| thien | My spool was also running at 100%cpu did research and two reason i found for this was that it could be a virus and it could be a print job in microsoft image writer que. My solution was that there was a print job in the que. I just cancel the job and it was fixed "no more spoolvs.exe running at 100% cpu" |
| umm | asking zonelabs it says that spoolsv is required so that outlook can access the internet, I have just tested it and it is not true. Well, loads of programs also word.exe tries to access the internet without reason. Just block it. |
| Z@her | It occurred due to a failure in a print/fax job, to fix the problem go to: control panel - admin. tools - services ; click on print spooler click stop , give a break (2 mins) then click start and all is ok again :) |
| td | This was bugging me for 2 days and then I checked the printer que per suggestion, sure enough there was a test page waiting to be printed... DON'T DELETE THE FILE W/OUT CHECKING PRINT JOBS FIRST! |
| | Same problem..it used 97% of my processor, I solved it by getting rid of the print job on microsoft image writer...and now my problems are gone...thanks who ever put that on first. |
| Camelmeister | Some spoolsv's check the internet for updates - Hewlett Packards especially. You can get a patch from the HP site if you are using an HP printer. |
| ND | Found something !!! : Spooler Failure Causes High CPU Usage in the Winlogon.exe and Spoolsv.exe Processes on a Windows 2000 Terminal Server Siehe auch: Link |
| Hap | As mentioned by many others, delete any jobs from the print queues and this will stop the processor from going bezerk. |
| jobrien | Rieky is correct. The MS Image Writer had jobs waiting and I cleared those and now the CPU usage is normal |
| HeyBaby | it can be infected with some trojans... Use your antivirus software, update it, and remove this suck |
| Anon. | If it tries to access the 'net/network but you don't have a network printer, it's a bit suspicious. |
| Vic | In my case it was a worm with such name that caused a DoS attacks from my computer... |
| ND | Solution for XP users with High CPU Usage in Spoolsv.exe Siehe auch: Link |
| | on peut pas avoir un ptit com en fr svp ? =) |
| rmann | spoolsv.exe hogging 99% of cpu - the fix. Here's the fix. First, get some breathing room - go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and stop the Print Spooler. Turn off the printer. Now go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete the files there. I found '00020.SHD' and '00020.SPL'. Now turn your printer back on and restart the service. Check task manager, spoolsv.exe should be at 00%. Whew! |
| Doug | 99% CPU resources were being occupied, we deleted the Office Image Writer print jobs and went back down to 1-2%, problem solved. |
| bob | look and the jobs on ur printer |
| Ross | I have an athlon 3400 64 bit 1 gig of ram i DO NOT have a fax or printer or anything of that kind and the spoolsv process is draining alot of my cpu and ive found out it is a virus just trying to find a way of sorting it now... |
| R3P1N5 | I was using windows normally, not sending a print job anywere when my firewall poped up saying "spoolsv.exe is trying to send data to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx do you wish to allow?". Funny that my printer spooler wants to randomly send information over the internet :D. Nothing was in my printer queue. |
| Jeffro | The file "Spoolsv" isn't a virus, go to your printers folder, open de Microsoft office printer, delete the jobs, remove the printer then its done, BUT "Spoolvs" is a trojan, notice that the s and v are turned thats the trojan you ppl talk about |
| RealityChecker | Spooler listens on a given oprt for incoming jobs if you have file and print sharing enabled. |
| Sgt. Slaughter | It can be both. Yes it is a print job spooler, yes its easy to make a trojan with the same name. Figure it out for yourself, run a software firewall at least, and watch the activity. If your print spooler is trying to reach remote IP's at suspicious times (like mine was), I'm willing to guess it's not a print queue.... now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Go joe. |
| Jdrumstik | We had errors after trying to pring a mail merge that was over 1gb! and the ram was overloaded. |
| Unz | please, check if the spoolsv.exe is in the system32 folder (win2k, xp etc) or system fodler (win9x) if a spoolsv.exe is found which is not in those directories then you can start worrying. the spoolsv.exe can hog up the cpu to 100% when invalid printer tasks are waiting somewhere on your pc or network, doesnt have to be in the printer's tasklist itself, but can be as pointed out here already in the Microsoft Office tools (print/scan utilities) |
| Dave@CMU | We've picked one called spoolsvs.exe off two computers, both launching DOS attacks against websites. |
| trickyt | spoolsv took 100% of resources. Found unprinted files |
| paulos | It seems to me that if its giving you probs, then just dont let it access the internet and just end process, i know its a pain but in these times its needed |
| | This problem is easy to fix. Hold Cntrl,Alt and Del till Task manager pops up. Hit the process tab. Highlight Sopoolsv.exe line. Hit end process. Close task manager. Open start, printers and fax. Right click each printer, fax or writer with pending jobs and hit delete all jobs. Once they clear the cpu will be freed. Problem is caused by trying to write to a output device that is not or not properly installed. Don't do that. |
| Lorin | I had a friend who's computer kept freezing and when I checked the processes I found that spoolsv.exe was hogging the proccessor. I stopped the service through Control Panel and that did not help. But canceling all of the Documents out of the Printers did. All is Well now. |
| Ken | Its easy to fix the problem of using the CPU for 100%; just delete the print jobs you have in the printer list and you will see that the CPU use is going down to +/- 25% or 10% You don't have to reboot Your PC!!! |
| rmann II | I restarted the print spooler service and CPU dropped back dow to normal. |
| | Its easy to fix the problem of using the CPU for 100% |
| Lukasz Tronina | rmann Thank You Very Much!!! You were right in 100%!!! I've had the same problem with file "spoolsv.exe" blocking all my CPU. I've bought good spyware software to get rid of this problem but it didn't solve the problem. Then I entered this website and risked to do what You've said, because I was in need to restore my laptop CPU power. And it worked perfectly!!!! Thanks once more!!!! Good luck!!!! |
| HY | This file causes my Internet Explorer to be blocked. The connections all work and my computer can ping / be pinged, yet my internet doesn't work. After some experimentation, I ended this process tree and now the internet works flawlessly. I searched my hard drive for instances of this. I found 4. 2 of them were windows files (SYSTEM 32 and a SERVICE PACK), but the other two were a bit out of the ordinary. I promptly deleted the other two, and now my system has no problems. =) |
| Michel Turcotte, author of Win-Hand at "MT Impossible" | The CPU is consumed because your printer is shared on the internet and there is a "virus" outthere that sends print jobs to your computer!!! Solution: disable print sharing! |
| z | was having the same cpu until problem as others, constant 50%. went to printers, open ms image writer printer, sure enough 2 files waiting to print i didnt know about. cancelled them, cpu util for spoolsv.exe went to zero. try it. |
| JOE | Here is a BAT file 1st line (net stop spooler) 2nd line (del /q %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*) 3rd line (net start spooler ) |
| T | Definitely a virus, use http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp to scan it if you're having this problem. |
| Ben | The "W32.Spybot.Worm" virus takes a similiar name "Spoolscv.exe" in system32 folder. Compare with the normal processes of Windows when power up will see the problem. Check out Symantec web site |
| Victor | See the note. Search the file and look at its properties. MS Spooler server is ok, anything else is not. If it is the Spoolerserver, a propable cause is the driver for a disconnected printer (notably HP) still polling said printer. Uninstall the driver and you'll be fine. |
| Tumppi | What's the deal with it trying to access the internet... I've been a bit cautious for the past few weeks because I had a few trojans on my CPU... If somebody could tell me why this is happening cos' I don't believe that it's due to my printer (Lexmark 1100 series) |
| mehmet | Control Panel/Printers and Faxes/Right Click on the Microsoft Image Writer/Cancel all jobs, and you're done |
| Ersin | it's annoying me. my kaspersky av program finds worm.win31.soriw in the spooler directory. and spooler.exe dominates my cpu usage. i can't get rid of this file or whatever it is! another windows silly pack problem i thing !!! |
| Dumi | I had the same problem and I found out that the Microsoft Image Writer was trying to print a doc. Delete that doc and everything is back to normal. |
| emilio | a mi me paso lo mismo. ocupaba al 100 del cpu, reeinstale, y seguia igual, leyendo sus comentarios revise los trabajos pendientes, y efectivamente ese era el problema a, antes de checar antivirus revisen que no tengan un trabajo pendiente en la impresora, Gracias a todos |
| trobinson@3peaks.com | I have fixed this problem a few times myself. I basically went and deleted all printers within the print spool folder and then I change the registry. I had to modify the spooler in the registry I just change the 2 to a 0 and rebooted then went back in a modified it back to 2 to start the service again and everything was fine again and the problem hasn't come back. |
| eagle | my computer is clogging 99% recurses, too |
| Velut Umbra | It makes a PC slower than Timex2048. It is indeed a threat.Still. I don't know what is the extent of the damages besides CPU overusage. |
| | Spyware - It just keeps the cpu usage under 100%. If u kill the process, it will restart after a couple minutes. im still trying to find a way of destroying it, since all antivirus i tried dont detect it as a virus |
| yannickvdb | Dunno what it is but all my prog working on it, my blackice detected it. And it keeps to try sending emails. I think its a worm... |
| Sylvester | I had the same problem , high cpu (98-99%) all used by spoolsv.exe I removed the printer tasks and it seems fixed now. |
| genervt. | vor der installation von service-pack 3 war die spoolsv.exe ca. 50kb groß und hat mich nicht genervt - jetzt hat sie 57kb, will ins netz und wenn ich sie im taskmanager klicke, wird sie ständig wieder gestartet... vielleicht weil unter windows/prefetch eine datei SPOOLSV.EXE-282F76A7.pf sie wieder startet? außerdem liegt spoolsv.exe bei mir auch unter C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\fa6fb01ac82a6e60ca928c584157ebda... ich bin kurz davor, die teile alle zu löschen und durch die alte zu ersetzen! was meint Ihr??? gruss |
| Lorenc | Windows system file for printing |
| kenny | Solution for XP users with High CPU Usage in Spoolsv.exe |
| jbdiver | It is a windows file. I get the CPU hogging problem only when using one program (Print Shop) to send labels to the printer. I can get the machine working again by going to the winnt/sys32/spools/printer folder and deleting the files there. It doesn't explain however why the problem is occuring. I am doing more research to see why this can happen. |
| jbdiver | It is a windows file. |
| martin mika | increases cpu space to 99% if not terminated. id like to thank RMANN for his comment. it worked! now my cpu isnt running at 100 percent now, and my printer now works. thanks alot |
| Ken | A client's Task Manager showed spoolsv.exe using 95-98% cpu usage. I deleted a MS Office Image Writer print job and problem solved! |
| EdC | I want to thank everyone for the info. My new (2 days) machine suddenly start behaving like a 60 meg W31 machine. Found this site and checked and lo and behold I had 3 print jobs in the que. Don't even know how they got there, since I hadn't installed a printer yet. But it was using 98-99% of my 2.5g cpu. Again THANKS |
| salah amleh | it's only a sytem file ! don't worry it's very easy to resolve |
| Spoolup | Habe Zonelabs installiert, danach kam eine meldung dass spoolsv.exe sich mit dem internet verbinden will? schon seltsam! aber vielleicht liegt das ja daran, dass auf dem pc 3 benutzer laufen...(XP SP") |
| Alex Raptor | what i know is that it says windows system 660 kb usage 00% cpu use |
| Fraist | Double clik on windows Image printer and remove the docs for printing |
| Geoff | if using all your cpu , mail me for instructions to sort it out. Siehe auch: Link |
| hg_butte | Troj/Graybird-A ist ein Backdoor-Trojaner. Wenn er auf dem Computer des Opfers aktiv ist, kann auf diesen Computer unbefugt zugegriffen werden. Siehe auch: Link |
| Jack Feder | A realy microsoft fioe and problem, a program accidentally sent a job to the Microsoft image printer (or fax), spoolsv.exe took 50%-100% cpu, even after reboots. Cancelled all print jobs for all printers (one at a time) fixed the problem |
| Nathan W. | Those having computers running Spoolsv.exe between 90% to 99% CPU usage: I have been told it may be a virus or malware. I checked and rechecked and my system was clean. I found an artical that advised there may be something "jamming" up the printer spooler. The article advised to 1. Turn off the Print Spooler in Services 2. Turn off the printer 3. delete all files in folder C:\WINDOWS\System32\Spool\Printers such as '000x0.SHD or 000x0.SPL'. 4. Restart the Printer Spooler in Services. This resolved my issue. |
| ccresanto | this process can be securely turned off and on again if u will use ur printer. by control panel, administrator settings, services, select printer spooling and make that stop or disabled. |
| Paul V. | MAKE SURE it is "spoolsv.exe" and NOT "spoolv.exe" - that's causing the slowdown because "spoolv.exe" is a virus Siehe auch: Link |
| Bruiser | if the file is located in c:\windows\System32 then its safe and required for print jobs, if its located anywhere else its a trojan, virus, keylogger etc. |
| Tomas | It's not harmful, although I suffered the CPU takeover problem - I deleted a print job in the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer and everytihng returned to normal. |
| snowy | Using XP Pro. I had 100% utilisation Only after printing. By looking at each printer i found a corrupt print driver. Was unable to remove it as it caused 100% utilisation every time it was clicked on, so had to manually remove. Unable to follow Microsoft example of removal, as drivers were 'in use'. So disabled the spoolsrv service, restarted and manually removed the registry entries as per Microsoft instructions (see Link). After restart, made spoolsrv an auto start service and had no problems since. My PC has a new lease of life ! Siehe auch: Link |
| Benny | the Microsoft Image Writer was causing my problem where this process was taking 25% of my CPU's resources (dual pentium 4 HT 2.4 ghz) |
| spud | i tried to delete it, and it just re-appears. i have had no problems cept, zonealarm allows it to access the internet. |
| Noel | happened to me. FRUSTRATING I had print jobs waiting in the MICROSOT IMAGE WRITER queue |
| tom | their is a virus variation of the spooler that sits in the system32 folder called spoolvsc.exe. Trendmicro's on line scan picked it up. |
| Sau | I deleted all Image writer print jobs and still had this problem. I used your fix and my PC is back to normal.! |
| Rob | it is part of the OS in normal circumstances, if there are outsatnding print jobs on any device it uses up loads of cpu |
| Ben | Had the same issue, Due to M S Image printer, Deleted awaiting print job, solved the issue, Cheers Guys! |
| SZ | if u dont want it just disable the printer spooler service, but it would be easier to cancel any jobs waiting to be printed |
| k | First use a system search and type in spoolsv.exe. If it shows up anywhere besides systems 32 or whatever then delete it. |
| | can I just delete all instances of this process. I don't print or fax anything off this box and I keep seeing instances of it running. |
| | screw it. i odnt have any printers installed |
| jonas | net stop spooler |
| xpert | This is a windows file |
| Bob | it is taking up all my cpu and i have a good comp |
| Amit | This consume sometimes more than b 90% /b of CPU usage and slow down your system. End task this process if no printing job is in que. |
| Strebor Ekim | It's a print spooler. If it's clogging up your CPU, check all your printer connections for waiting jobs, especially networked printers. |
| Core Master | This program only takes up about 600 K of memory on my system and uses almost no CPU power. It shouldn't be hogging up all the resources! |
| Sung | It was not a virus in my case, print jobs waiting. When I cleared print jobs in Microsoft Office Image Document Writer, CPU util% went to 0 |
| Rick Spitzbart | i found it in my Microsoft Image Writer from one of the guest computers on my network - no dramas - just delete the print job & the problem goes away - all fixed :) |
| Maximus | This file took up all my CPU space I don't even own a printer! Once I deleted it, it freed all the space again. Persisted for a while, but then disappeared totally. |
| James | To avoid the large cpu usage of the spoolv file.. simply go to the properties of the printer and turn off spooling and have the documents sent directly to the printer. |
| LEK | Very Suspicious: always trying to connect to the Internet (zone alarm detected), changing itself and worse: - It comes back after I have deleted from both system32 and ServicePackFiles/i386. |
| bandolex. | when is using 100%+- of your processor is because the print processor is halted. Just go to services and stop/start the print spool service. Then you will be able to delete the stucked jobs. |
| Greg | As mentioned by every one it is a Windows file. Pretty much a valid file. I looked for pending print/fax jobs and cancelled the job. Everything was back to normal. |
| Styler | I had a document running in microsoft image writer and was taking up loads of cpu. Deleted document in queue and all is calm. In fact, I deleted ms image writer as a printer! |
| Emma | trojan, virus- do a search on your system for spoolsv.exe. There should only be one account of this file in the system32 folder. If there is another that is your trojan- DELETE the sucker!! |
| Emma | trojon, virus |
| Chris | Can be dangerous. It is used for spooling prints but there is also a trojan ciadoor backdoor viruse that uses the same name. But if it is going really slow that doesn't mean delete it because the normal spoolsv.exe can slow things down substancially if something that was waiting to be printed was canceled. So get something to scan it with and if it says its a problem get rid of it. |
| seb | if you are on a windows 2000 server and its going to slow open your printer folder you can go to services and stop and restart the printer spooler |
| Nanda Kishore Pamidi | this is taking 50+ of my cpu time. even if i end the process after 5 minutes again it is starting and taking over cpu time |
| The Cleaner | Solution: Get a Mac Siehe auch: Link |
| | i have this on my computer it's take 87-92 ! bud i just stopped the processus and for the moment he d'ont comining back!!!! |
| Jim Fratto | I found that the cpu usage was 99 % . I removed all my printers and reinstalled them. The Image Writer had a print job waiting to print. Once I removed the print job the spoolsv.eve cpu usage went to 0% |
| tim | some printers access "the internet" to print or connect to the printer, they are not really accessing the internet but my HP 3030 gives itself a port on localhost (eg: localhost:1234) zonealarm and firewalls like that think "oh crap and warn you" i have plentl of other things like a pocket PC that also bringsup a warning in zonealarm. |
| ShadowShot | 90 % of the time its unprinted documents in the print que and you can fix it by just cancelling all documents for all printers installed. Youll have to put up with slow computer and start the spooler again (start, run, net start spooler) go to printers folder, r click on each printer and cancel all docs. If that doesnt work, then yes you have the trojan. A good spyware program will remove it. |
| Anthony Stump | Attempts to access internet at random times - usualy your DNS server or ISP's DNS server |
| BendITmorE | I found this file to be taking up alot of resources. It was down to 8 print jobs being stuck in a print queue. I removed these jobs and now everything is back to normal. Check this before worrying about Virus/Spyware. |
| Jay | Search for the file and find where it is located on your system. If the file is in the Windows\System32 directory (XP) and is about 56.5KB ins size it's OK. Check your print jobs.It also appears in the Windows\$NtServicePackUninstall$ directory and Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386 directory on my system. These are all identical file sizes. Anywhere else is probably a virus. |
| suaritos | probably just a Windows file but it slows the system better have the .bat "BAT file 1st line (net stop spooler) 2nd line (del /q %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.*) 3rd line (net start spooler ) " on your desktop to click it and speed up your system when spoolsv goes 100% |
| chandan | it keeps on taking my 100% of CPU unless i cancel it. but it still comes back |
| MrGrey | spooler.exe and spoolsv.exe are not the same. The spooler.exe is a virus, even symantec finds it as a virus. |
| xazal21 | definitely, absolutely a virus which blocks internet explorer,freezes the machine,and prevents to restart or shutdown.U cant easily delete it,or just prevent it by disabeling printer share from the services..I am gonna try Ramnan's advise.. |
| KS | I had the same problem on Win2KServer, as suggested by rmann, go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete the files there. It works fine now |
| fake | it can be a virus. However in my case, it is not. like some people said check all of ur printer physical and virtual, mostly virtual ones like microsoft office documents there will be job waiting to print. and to make sure scan your computer. |
| edd2edd | spoolsv.exe is growing in size each time I print a job. During the day it grows upto 500 Mb Ram before i delete it and reboot. We are currently deleting the file and rebooting at least once a day. |
| Xoy | "spoolsv.exe" is a windows built-in service for managing the printing jobs and operations. If you don't use a printer, it's better to remove/stop this service. |
| Tommy | Door het bestand was een worm onder de naam NAVW32.exe binnen gekomen, waar door mijn processor op 100% draaide. Ik heb de worm moeten opzoeken en verwijderen! |
| Joel | If you end up with 99% CPU usage delete the contents of C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS Siehe auch: Link |
| Prabagar B | it is very easy to fix i found the solution from the following link copy and paste this link Siehe auch: Link |
| Prabagar B | it is very easy to fix i found the solution from the following link Siehe auch: Link |
| Prabagar B | go to the following link and you can find the solution Siehe auch: Link |
| Ahmet | 95% of CPU ? that is terrible. |
| | It continues to build, 2 days ago had 3 *.spl files at about 3GB each, had 1 today at 8gb. |
| Ray P | Follwed the advice of those who said there were pending print jobs. Click on EVERY printer you have listed and delete the pending jobs. Worked instantly for me. Thanks. |
| Vicki | I deleted the print jobs from the factory and now everything is running great. |
| Tom | I had 100% cpu usage by spoolsv.exe lasting 5+ mins for each print job.. As suggested above, I went into Control Panel, Admin Services, services, and stopped spoolsv.exe, then restarted it. Problem seems to have disappeared for now. |
| Working on it | spoolsv.exe is a valid Windows file, however, there are virus out there that will spoof themselfs as the service. First check ALL your installed printers for print jobs... I have seen the "Mirosoft Image Writer" issue stated above (where the print jobs are waiting in the Microsoft Image Write queue). Next, make sure the file is in the C:\%windir%\system32\spoolsv.exe, otherwise it may be a virus. |
| Malcolm Gilks | It causes alot of problem for something that's quick to dort out when you know what to do |
| Bill Toerttoe | running with no problems so far. i need my printer so i let it be as it is and rely on my antivirus and firewall systems |
| zawetzel13 | This is the Print Spooler Service, do not delete. you need it to print stuff |
| White Hawk | Either the Windows' print spooler, or a virus disguised. There are several viruses that call themselves SPOOLSV.EXE in order to confuse the infectee. Please do not dismiss odd activity from this process, BUT be sure that you are infected before deleting essential Windows files! |
| weedmonkey | I have 2 1 in the C/windows/system32, the other in c/windows/servicepackfiles/i386, I think the second one is also valid... |
| Darkwing | Deleted several extra printers I had installed, and removed all pending print jobs... Spoolv.exe no longer takes 100% cpu time. |
| 1337Nerd | Spoolsv.exe is a system executable for the printer, but having multiple or if the executable(s) are eating 90% to all your resources than you better scan your comp for viruses and check the registry to make sure nothing funky is there. |
| Joed-Up | If spoolsv.exe is taking too much memory, its simply because there are printing jobs waiting. Just go to the printers/faxes area and delete all the files waiting to be printed. |
| Miguel | It manages the printer and fax spools. I have WIN XP and it took more than 90% of my CPU. Do not delete file, first review the root cause. As Distaxia and Tommy finally concluded : Go to the control panel for printer and faxes and cancel the pending jobs. In my case it was for MS Image Writer pending "Print" file. |
| larryw | Using 98% CPU. Went back to normal after turning the printer on. |
| Harry | Bottom line this could be a harmless Windows file or it could be a worm/trojan. Check the file and the spooler settings before making judgement! |
| qwad | On my comp it is not a Virus or a file waiting to be printed. Nobody has ever given an answer on how to fix this if it is neither. |
| V | Mine was using 100% CPU!! Checked the printer and there was one print job waiting, cancelled it, and cpu went down to 4%!! |
| Mohammed. Siddiq | Its a print spooler, really this file is creating problem eating up all the CPU almost to 90% , though there is no document pending for printing... I believe it is trojan horse or virus needs to be checked with updated antivirus |
| angus | Everybody READ, look at your processes, there may be two of the spoolsv. One of the ones on mine was spooIsv (the I is an i). I got rid of it and everything seems to be running good. |
| Larry Powell | This spyware over write spoolsv.exe with the same number of KB. The only way that you will know that it is on your computer is with a good spyware program like Xsoftspy. Windows will not let you delete it so you will have to over write it from your Reinstallation CD or copy from another computer service pack 2 will not work on service pack 1 (FYI) |
| david | It wont let me change my background it is just balck at the moment.when i try to delete it,it comes back in about 10 seconds. |
| bluescreen | Windows Print Spooler, consumes all CPU %. This nasty little bugger has burned out hardware (CPU/MB) that was running well within spec. |
| Steve | If spoolsv.exe is in the windows/syste32 folder all is well but if it is somewhere else (as in my case) it caused problems. I renamed it to spoolsv0.exe and the problem went away. |
| Jenny | Print Spooler - A Service When I open up Word, it takes up to 15mins to open a simple document with no pictures or header, when I disable the spoolsv the actual document just opens up fine but won't be able to print coz the spoolsv is disable. so I enable the service again, same thing the document just takes forever. but I can see the printer and print from. Its so frustrating and help! |
| GanniKill | Xoftspy (anti-spyware program) detected it as a trojan and i simply booted in safe mode and deleted this file. when i booted to normal the file didn't appear anymore. at this point I don't have spoolsv.exe on my system and my pc still works great. (i don't have a printer so i don't care). |
| M | window file sure behaves like a virus |
| metz-o | Diese spoolsv.exe lässt sich ganz einfach im msconfig unter Dienste ausschalten! Sie heißt dort "Druckwarteschlange". |
| garyzim | I had the problem (on XP Pro) of this process using 50% CPU. I had earlier tried to print from another computer on my network to a printer attached to my main XP machine. I printed from Word. The print seemed to go through (the print queue icon in the system tray appeared then disappeared on the remote machine), but nothing printed. Following the advice of others, I checked my Printers settings, found the MSO Image Writer, right-clicked and cancelled all print jobs. Solved the problem. |
| Jo | I had this file taking up 98% CPU and after running a virus scan i deleted the microsoft image writer and rebooted and now all is completely fine with PC. |
| Chris Yeowell | It was not a virus in my case, print jobs waiting. When I cleared print jobs in Microsoft Office Image Document Writer, CPU util% went to 0 |
| Max1 | Gehört zu Windows, standard Prozess! |
| Joe | I once thought that this is one of the file from Norton Antivirus, because it's taking up my CPU and slowing down my PC. I delete 4 unused printers driver and now it's not giving my any probleem at all. |
| Liisa | In my case this also was using 95% of CPU, just because there was a waiting job for a phantom Image Writer! Deleted the job and all was well. |
| LordCorkscrew | it is a windows file, not a virus or spyware... the only thing is that, when I close the process (I close all unuseful processes on startup, because I have many), I can't restart it... so when I want to print something I have to restart my pc |
| Omid Kosari | This problem happen when you have some virtual printer or fax viewer and you or somebody printed a file with those printers and some pages are in queue of those virtual printers Siehe auch: Link |
| Steffen | Datei für Druckaufträge |
| ej | It is causing popups on my computer. |
| Sasja | I get that it's just a windows process to do with print jobs if it's in the right folder - but why does it need to access the internet? |
| Syamal | My laptop was in a holt, as "spoolsv.exe" was taking 98% of CPU. It was due to few pending print jobs in a printer. I tried to delete them. All but one got deleted. As suggested elsewhere here, to delete this last print job, I had to go to Start Control Panel Administrative Tools Serrvices and then selected "Print Spooler" to STOP it. Waited for 2/3 mins and STARTed it. Now saw, the left out print file was deleted. Everything is fine now. If this is the case with you, then fine (and lucky). Otherwise, do as others who considered it as virus/trojan, suggested here. |
| | Could be one of 4 Trojans/viruses/worms - Backdoor.Ciadoor.B or VBS.Masscal.Worm or Hacktool.Privshell or Graybird.A. Symantec tells you how to remove all but Graybird (that one at Sophos). It is also the printer spooler. For me it took 99-100% of my resources all of a sudden. Turns out THE ANSWER WAS IN THIS THREAD. Delete the document in the print queue of Microsoft Office Document Image Writer, and the problem will be solved. Thank you Sung. Should have read your comment days ago. |
| CeeJay D-Magic | this file causes as many as headache i can take... At first everithing was normal and then after I installed a Antivirus-programm it began to slow my computer all the time i use it... So i had to close it each time i starting my PC with Win XP (I have a AMD Athlon XP 1800+, 256 MB-DDR) this procedure takes 3 times, because this data starts new after i close it... And I havent any Internet-Connection on my PC!! So theres no Virus etc. MFG, CeeJay D-Magic |
| Hazarika | Spooling is ok as far as os spooler function is concerned but what i got is that any program that were taking merely 2 to 3 seconds now takes more time plus the machine seems to be not responding.What i did is searched the spoolsv.exe fine and delete all it's related components and did a complete pc restart.it's now working fine |
| Burns | The file is from microsoft Windows, anyway I used Xsoftspy (detector for spyware) and it gave me the following: Vendor: Proxy-Agent.g / Type: File / Category: Trojan / Object: C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe / Danger: Threat / Object Details: Unexpected connections to the ip range of 204.209.184, attempts to disable AV software. Siehe auch: Link |
| Burns | The file is from microsoft Windows, anyway I used Xsoftspy (detector for spyware) and it gave me the following: Vendor: Proxy-Agent.g / Type: File / Category: Trojan / Object: C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe / Danger: Threat / Object Details: Unexpected connections to the ip range of 204.209.184, attempts to disable AV software. Siehe auch: Link |
| Tom | spoolsv.exe using 100% on re-boot and when trying to print. Every time I cleared the print spool and closed the process it returned. After running about 7 virus scans (Norton, Mcafee, trend..etc) no virus found. Turned out to be HP5500 printer installed incorrecty, uninstalled printer, after re-install all working fine. |
| B.R.A.S.H. | spoolsv.exe is a Windows operation bundled with a trojan/spyware. I kill the process each time I start. It is programmed to restart 3 times. After that no need to worry (until next start-up). Then...hence the 3 time rule again and again and well, you get the hint. |
| samson | I can't shut it down from taskmanager! Since my computer was on, Pop-ups never end! That's ridiculous! I can't get it out from Microsoft Anti-Spyware + ad-aware + PC-cillin + Symantic Anti-Virus. Even I've updated some of 'em. |
| Dondie | I just wanted to thank everyone for the coments. My computer was running so slow. I looked and I had a print job waiting to be printed. I deleted the job and now everything is going fast again.. thanks for everyones help. |
| Meloni | man muss nur die Druckerwarteschlange leeren, dann sinkt wieder die CPU-Belastung. Bei mir war eine "Remote ..blablabla.. Auftrag" drin?!?! Keine Ahnung woher die kommen! |
| ana | my pc takes around 10 minutes to start and would sometimes reboot itself. thanks to rmann's tip, i followed his advice and the cpu usage went down to 1-3% |
| Robbie | Check all your printers... I'm sure you have a print job stuck somewhere... Drove me crazy... 3 stuck on Imagewriter.. deleted them and it cleared up |
| Mikey | The suggestion above to go to Admin/Services/Print Spooler and start/stop it was exactly what I needed. It was taking up 120meg but now only 11. |
| Vega | Takes 90+ CPU usage. Slow Processing , Impossible to play games or even acces the internet while it's running . How can it be shutdown forever ? |
| Mags | Spoolsv.exe isn't causing me a roblem, but spoolsov.exe and spoolshv.exe are. They appear to be performing mail relaying business. Not good. |
| | If you disconnect your printer and print something, it will take up about 90% of your CPU usage! |
| | i cannot delet this file at all. even i do it , it will recover immiediately. |
| RobertW | 99% CPU useage Fixed when canceled MS ofice image print jobs |
| utpal | it spools any q-jobs either to printer or fax etc. |
| ?? | it just takes all of my CPU up to 100% Siehe auch: Link |
| B | spoolsv.exe and Tcpsvcs.exe Siehe auch: Link |
| philodendron | Nach meiner Beobachtung wird nur der Name "spoolsv.exe" benutzt und im Taskmanager angezeigt. In Wirklichkeit verbirgt sich dahinter ein Trojaner, der von Zeit zu Zeit ins Internet will (beobachtet mit Zonealarm). Läßt man ihn ins Internet, hat man kurze Zeit später ein Programm im Taskmanager, das unterschiedliche Namen annimmt und ähnlich einem Windowsprozess klingt und in der Registry eingetragen wird. Mehr habe ich noch nicht herausgefunden, außer, dass z.B. der Mediaplayer total langsam wird. Ich vermute, dass es ein Trojanersystem ist, das fremde Rechner benutzt, um Spam zu verschicken |
| Jean | Even when I kept clicking Block Always, my Norton Internet Security would keep popping up a warning that Microsoft Printer Spooler Service was trying to access the Internet. I wasn't trying to do File Transfers or Print Sharing, so I didn't need for it to access the Internet. In order to block its internet access, I followed these steps: Open Norton Internet Security, click Personal Firewall, click Configure, click Programs, scroll to Microsoft Printer Spooler Service, make sure that Internet Access is set to Block All and that the Category is set to File Transfer. Click OK. |
| Ben White | I am a computer programmer and I am positive I know what i'm talking about....Spoolsv is not a dangerous file it commonly used for printing, it can also slow down your computers performance and terminating this will not cause any slowing or trouble. the best way to terminate is to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete then click the Processes button and click on "Spoolsv .exe" click "end process" will make you computer run more efficiently. If you have any questions feel free to email me at "gtarskater@yahoo.com" |
| Dustin | there are two immages with that name: one is safe and should be kept if you have it, because it works with your printer: the other kind is a known back door that allows hackers to steal information and put information on your computer, the reason you see strange activity comming from this immage is that a virus or a hacker is using that to do its dirty work. thus it is not a virus, but a open door that hackers and viruses use to access your computer Siehe auch: Link |
| Collins | I don't know anything about this file. From all the comments i have read it seems i have had a virus type. I would leave the computer for a couple of hours as i realised that it was working (fast) but it was doing everything so slow because of it. By the tmie i came back from doing nothing, it used 50mb of sending and recieving. Deleted the file, and it's good to see the 'connected to the internet' icon not continuously lit up. (yeah, go dialup!!) |
| Ralph Kelley | Doesn't work well with lexmark printers and adobe version 7.0 reader if the reader isn't the actual full adobe suite. The downloaded adobe reader turns the spoolsv.exe file off so you don't have a printer any more. you have to turn the windows spooler back on - evrytimee after you use the adobe reader. |
| sookme | i have 5 computers. 2 of them wont print unless spoolsv.exe is enabled and can freely access the internet. if i block it with zone alarm, the document wont print. evertime i print it appears to go online uploading and downloading somth. this has pissed me (a-lilbit) off for 2 years now. |
| Alfred | Like Tommy I had the CPU takeover problem, it was because of print jobs on the MICROSOFT OFFICE WRITER, not the standard printer. To solve this problem go to CONTROL PANEL/PRINTERS AND FAXES and check all printers for waiting jobs. If any job waiting, cancel it.So it´s solved!! |
| | my pc crashed twice then after a microsoft update my pc said that spoolsv.exe had changed and wanted to get on the internet.. so i said no, checked it out- came here and relised my cpu was at 80 so i went on my firewall and blocked a few projrams and its between 10-49 now... |
| hellboy | i dont even have any printers or fax connected to my CPU!! this shit using up to 99% my cpu usage!! i just noticed it.. because i was trying everything to find wat was casung my pc to slow down .. so dam slow! i cant even serv my files on the irc!!~ |
| | Stop talkin' Crap about printer drivers and fucking defragmented harddrives. I had this file on my father's pc sucking 98% cpu all the time, starting by hisself after killed. He made liveupdate of norton go bad and stopped windows firewall! |
| timbo | Spoolsv.exe is just a file that keeps windows to print stuff, if you have a wireless network or so or cancelled a print job but didnt do it properly and then turned off your printer this is the problem. just turn back on your printer |
| flyan | tried multiple spy/virus checkers, everything else recommended by HP; found file in image writer, deleted it and now I'm fine. don't know what it is or who created it, but it sure caused a lot of worry til I saw this site!! thanks |
| AvolA | In my tasklist is spooler.exe and spoolsv.exe. Spooler.exe is taking about 50 untill 60% CPU. I havent got MS image writer. And no printer installed. And i cant find any print jobs undone. And where can i turn off the spooler? |
| Paul | This is defenitly not a virus when you start windows, but there are viruses that attach, keep a close eye on it, and keep it clean, other than that, you should be ok, mine is really virused up, it starts when IE does... BAH! |
| Tim | Not a virus. Just check printers and faxes in the control panel and see if your system is detecting your printer. I have two printers and one was not showing after a botched print job. Quick reinstall and everything fine. |
| | I get a spoolsv.exe error occasionally and it deletes all my printers I've found spoolsv.exe in for locations on the computer including system32 and Ntservicepack folders should it be installe din four places? |
| Dmitryu | MAY be something corrupted after cleaning against of viruses I get Task Manager kill the process and in the %system% renamed this file after xp installation ask me for insert disk and write new spoolsv.exe |
| Shaun Lee | When terminated it fixed a bug that froze my macine for half a second every 7 seconds (word and freehand only). When I then changed a printer setting (spool directly to printer) the problem was fixed. |
| | Well my norton internet security keeps asking if i want to let it access the internet, i said always allow, then never allow, and it just keeps popping up over and over again? What does this mean? |
| ghezus | Its safe aslong as its in the right folder. and the acses to the internet is windows looking for lan printers.... And if it consumes alot off cpu then you are doing something wrong with your pc |
| Reiner | Diese Datei, wenn infiziert, benötigt 90% CPU Auslastung, wird sie aus dem Task-Manager entfernt, kommt sie wieder und wieder...wenn entfernt, dann kann kein drucken mehr vorgenommen werden... |
| Scott | I had this taking up 98% of CPU and it turned out that there were 13 jobs queued to the Microsoft Document Image Writer. Cancelled all these and deleted the "printer" and no more worries. |
| Joerg | Fand diese Datei (obwohl mir ihr Zweck bekannt war) in weiteren Unterordnern von Windows! Nachdem ich diese löschte und in ZoneAlarm mal auf "verweigern" stellte ging die CPU-Last runter. |
| hspwolle | Zwar offiz. Windows - aber warum soll windows mit "DRUCKWARTESCHLANGE" auf das internet zugreifen dürfen - oder ist das mal wieder eine der "kontrollen" von Bill ??? ;-) |
| Christian Pierce | if you have a good firewall keep spoolsv.exe from accesing the internet.you have now blocked a possible backdoor hack.I recomend Kaspersky or Zone Alarm 5...pro |
| apoc | As others said above, the cpu load issue was related to my printing of a (!!!) 1.36 GB job!!!! (just a 26 page pdf file... why it was so big who knows...) |
| WSS | I had a job with status of printing in que for Microsoft Image Writer that caused this. Canceled the job and cpu usage instantly dropped. Thanks, Omid. |
| massi | it's true!!it isn't dangerous.check yours printers and find the problem: Microsoft Office Image Document Writer; no spyware no virus |
| Luis | Usa el 100% del CPU y ralentiza la PC, si lo elimino me quedo sin servicio de impresión, los antivirus no lo detectan ni eliminan. |
| ? kenmat | I have 4 spoolsv.exe on my machine. One in Windows\ststem32 and three in Windows\Software ditribution\Download\ - Alert? |
| Bumbaclaat | It needs access to the internet to print internet pages etc. Don't give it access if your not trying to print a page. |
| Akber Ali | I think it is of no help to show statistics that who thinks what? I think the correct answer should also be mentioned |
| MertMan | Must check the print queue MS image writer. My problem was same and solved by clearing the print queue |
| Mr.Pink(el) | Das sie ganz schön übell den Rechner auslasten kann wenn man Windows XP auf ein 400MHz und 128MB halt |
| RAW | After windows update, this thing took over. Looks like someone got their patches messed up. |
| catherine dumas | spoolsv.exe is causing periodically errors and is closed by windows. What solution ???? |
| SyndroM-666 | HARMLOS... nur man muss aufpassen: Es gibt Viren die so eine namensähnliche EXE haben |
| corey | try this site for help cleaning out the print spooler Siehe auch: Link |
| | It will reduces speed of the system. |
| | trojaner |
| mikes | Same opinion as Downstrike: it wants to acces the internet, but why? Just don't trust it! |
| SzymonPajacyk | die datei sendet,aber was?ich weis nicht ob das backdor datai ist aber nervt. vielleist nicht löschen aber ins internet nicht zulasen |
| jkj | it clogs my CPU... |
| gooza | It does not put too much load on CPU but I noticed that it spoolsv.exe is trying to access internet on address 217.6.176.24. A/V software did not detect any trojan attached to the file. |
| gangstercago | Backdoor programm,wenn es gross geschrieben ist ,ist es ein virus,C/windows/SPOOLSV.EXE |
| zeb | I just had SPOOLSV.EXE taking up most of my cpu. I cancelled that job and now have spoolsv.exe running but taking up virtually no cpu - looks like the one in capitals is the one to watch out for, the lower case version is probably the windows spooler. Running an AVG virus scan right now to see if any damage was done |
| laytonjp | A user on my network is having this issue with one of her printers. HPLJ4100N..if this is set to default the cou spikes over 90%. When not default it is fine. No virus or spyware found, updated the printer driver from hp.com, cleared cache, and extra drivers..Still no luck. |
| Rich | Increases CPU usage by 90 +%. To fix, first delete all pending print jobs in the print queue. Next, go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services, and restart the service. Problem fixed. |
| Harry | spoolsv was using 100% of CPU. Turned printer on and off and usage goes down to 0%. Don't know why but it worked |
| MuyGordo | It's a print spooler. It shouldn't need to access the Internet, but it tries. Does anyone know why? |
| Christian K. | A valid Win file, which can always be a duped. However, print spooling is not needed. You can turn off printer spooling in printer properties. |
| Falo | Yeah it uses a considerable memory, the norton antivirus detects it as a hacktool |
| Jumblock | It might be poorly made, but it's not dangerous. Only the trojan process is dangerous. |
| MarkT | Just delete the pending job in Microsoft Office Document image writer, PROBLEM GONE after a year of dealing with this |
| gman | spoolsv.exe was taking up 99% of CPU until I followed rmann's fix. I had about 8 open files in there to clean out. Once they were gone, spoolsv.exe was back down to 0%. Worked great! Thanks rmann |
| rimmer59 | I uninstalled my pdf printer...cutepdf. Now my 99% spoolsv.exe just went to 3%. |
| Jesus Tovar | El archivo spoolsv.exe se encuentra localizado el C:\Windows\system32 y es un Printer Spooler. El mismo consumia el 90% de mi CPU debido a que otra aplicación de bajo Nivel (worm) usaba el archivo. |
| Dez | Look, my system was very slow and I did not set up anything to print. However, I checked my printers and someone in my home had 5 items in cue. I cancelled them all and now spoolsv is just fine. System runnin' like ConRail...no wait, that's not a good example... |
| M. Atif Farid | Its just a print spooler, Those having computers running Spoolsv.exe between 90% to 99% CPU usage: I have been told it may be a virus or malware. I checked and rechecked and my system was clean. I found an artical that advised there may be something "jamming" up the printer spooler. The article advised to 1. Turn off the Print Spooler in Services 2. Turn off the printer 3. delete all files in folder C:\WINDOWS\System32\Spool\Printers such as '000x0.SHD or 000x0.SPL'. 4. Restart the Printer Spooler in Services. This resolved my issue. |
| wolfi | Previously I had lpt1 and lpt2; I removed lpt2 but one DBASE application still printed to it--Result the spooler clogged up. I fixed the source of the problem which was the old DBASE program printing to a good printer at a now non-existent printer port |
| | remowe windows imige writer from printers |
| Eric | just the print spooler...a safe Windows file...I had the 99% CPU usage until I cleared all the print jobs waiting in the printers |
| Alex,sun Taiwan | spoolsv.exe is a Microsoft Windows system executable which handles the printing process to your local printers. |
| Jorge | This is a Windows File - In my case it was when I installed a Anti-Virus (Panda). After removing it the cpu was normal. Tryed to reinstall Panda again, and I got the same result. Being so there is s aconflit with spoolsv and my antivirus. |
| N Sidheshwar | Its and System File, Delete all the Printers Installed and reboot M/C |
| Nelis | uses a lot of cpu when printing to an image file, especially when the job can't be completed and stays in the que... just restart spool service |
| Amir | A file named spoolsv.exe can be used by a hacker to access your personal information on a pc and create a cmdshell with elevated privileges, allowing a user that does not have Administrative rights to obtain them.,,at first hacker will try many tools to enter your PC, ZoneAlarm Pro may help you to protect but be aware it may not help some times,a hacker may target users who are working with CPU.exe or FTP server, telnet, and ... ,onfigure your email server to block or remove email that contains file attachments that are commonly used to spread viruses, such as .vbs, .bat, .exe, .pif and .scr files. |
| Tyron | Warning: I just found an Executable called spoollv. This is NOT the Printer spooler, it's a Virus |
| l´allemand | spoolsv.exe est un piece regulaire de windows. ne parle et peut expliquer en francais trop bien LOL ;-) REGARDE LA http://www.infos-du-net.com/forum/127772-11-processus-spoolsv.exe-100-demarrage Siehe auch: Link |
| Jeff | It slow done all of my pocesses. If i try to delete it, it simply returns. When I close it the system works fine, however sometimes it cannot be closed. |
| Joe | This file is commonly for windows print jobs, but it CAN be a trojan infected file that opens back door so kill it in task manager and if u need to print reboot use it then kill it just to be safe |
| NRM | So, why if this is an innocous file is it always trying to access the internet from my PC? Especially as I don't have a printer installed. |
| greg | thanks Dystaxia seems by deleting a print job in the images printer as you suggested problem solved |
| Juan Manuel | Es el archivo que controla las impresiones y los fax de la computadora, solamente elimine los trabajo de impresion del spooler y reinicie y todo volvio a la normalidad, just try it. |
| El Chingon | Priter spooler, update sp, if not printer or fax attached to you PC set the printr spooler sewrvice to disable and rename the spoolsv.exe, make sure the xp protection is turn off "You bunch of morons" |
| | Its both, definetly a windows service + could be a virus. If it is taking up a LOT of your CPU usage when you are doing NOTHING, then delete it right now!!! If its not taking up so much cpu usage, then leave it alone. |
| Steven | My Mcafee VirusScan just notified me that it had changed since I accessed the internet thru dial up. It asked if I wanted to grant it further access to the internet. The file was in the right folders, and worded correctly, but I blocked access. |
| Silver | Bei mir wurde die Auslastung verursacht weil im Microsoft Office Document Image Writer eine Testseite in der Warteschlange rumdümpelte..... Also erstmal das checken bevor man formatiert.... |
| X13 | Funny thing is I don't have any printers and I can't get rid of this thing. |
| marisa | This "spoolsv.exe" program does nothing to my computer. |
| Johnny | Printer Spooler Service: After checking the printer queue I found unprocessed print jobs. Deleted the print jobs and CPU usages returned to normal.. |
| cyrus | This file is the Printer Spooler Service - It should run zero-cpu-time - It can be hang on computer by printing, because this process converts the data in printable sigs - 99 % CPU in priting mode - this process is maybe requesting to the internet, because it also handles network-printer |
| MS Loather | Unsure of the legitimacy of the file? Do a search and note it's location. If your spoolsv.exe file is NOT located in your Winnt or System32 folder, it's probably a nasty file. However, even if it is the legit Windows file, there is NO harm in ending the process, provided you don't plan on printing anything. I have no printers installed on my PC and there is never anything in my print queue. Despite this, spoolsv.exe uses up a lot of my so I don't ever need to have that process running. |
| Dee | really annoying...it's annoy everytime i use Yahoo Messenger... here where you can get this thing : http://www.music-flash.net/flash.exe : click here...n you'll get infect.. |
| Chris | Microsoft image writer on my computer was shared and there were two files to be printed on it, possibly from someone on my network. After unsharing image writer and canceling thet printing jobs, spoolsv.exe went to 0% resources from 90-100% |
| Woodsy | My PC was so unbelievably slow but when I checked for print jobs, I had one I didn't know about worth 1.85GB! |
| --==Zeus==-- | This proccess increases my CPU's temperature with 20celcius... |
| TriggerHappy | Well it could be a Virus because it keeps trying to access the internet but it may just be used for windows |
| Casey | It's fine in the system32 file. Otherwise clear it's path(s). If your computer is running slow, just check the print que. |
| Baldur | Simple shut off the automatic shared printer and file detection, than the CPU-usage will be reduced to nearly 0% |
| Ross | It clogs your system up bigtime. It takes my PC like 5 minutes just to load up windows explorer DELETE IT IF YOU CAN!!! |
| binich | try to open Control Panel Printer and Scanner and try to open Microsoft Image Writer and delete all tasks. |
| BluHog | Using WinXPSP2, it should be in the winnt/system32 folder. I allowed it to run. |
| zippy | This file was running 90-99% CPU, and found it was because I had jobs waiting in an PDF print queue |
| Patty | It was in fact a job in the queue for Microsoft Image write. As soon as I cleared, everything returned to normal. |
| Groove | In my case there were files waiting in the MS image writer in the print queue. I was unable to delete them, however, so followed advice and link from ND, above. After turning off the print spooler as directed (control panel, administrative tools, services, stop print spooler); turning off the printer; going to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\printers and deleting the files I found there; turning the printer back on; restarting the service; I found spoolsv.exe to be running at 0% on task manager!! |
| NORIK | Printer spooler |
| | This has no effect on you pc it you are running a good pc. end of |
| XeCuter | Habe noch nicht mal einen Drucker :( und die datei war von jetzt auf gleich da und mein pc hat sich 2 mal ohne irgend einen grund runter gefahren.Werd versuchen die jetzt zu löschen. Greez XeCuter |
| Pontus | Spoolsv.exe used 100% och my CPU amd 3700+ 1gb RAM it was caused by the fact that microsoft office created an printer which I could not empty when I had shut down Spoolsv.exe so i had to wait while the darn used the entire system until it finaly loaded the printer menu and i could empty the printe file - a rather easy task took me about two days .... ;-) Thanks for your support |
| | Some people need to learn the difference between a kilobyte and a megabyte |
| Aslee | This file is your printer's current processing. If your printer is currently pending something and your printer is not connected, it will take up approx. 97-100% of ur CPU. If your printer is currently doing something, then this will take up a lot of space. |
| | Doesnt do anythin.. Just eat your memory |
| Osvaldo | This is a windows system file. If it is getting all cpu resources, probably you have a printers/fax configuration problem. |
| John W. Carlsen | Cancel pending print jobs in print spool and you'll get your cpu usage back. |
| edy | manage the printers on local pc/network nut if i dont't use a printer.. should i turn it off ? |
| morpheus | i have found two applications quite samly named!!! spoolsv.exe and spoolsv32.exe! which one is dangerours |
| Xavier | Seems to be a lot of trouble for Windows 2000 users. *Get XP* I have tons of shizz like this on my computer and it's harmless, most of it, but it is annoying. |
| G-Unit Solider | Go to Control Panel Printer and Faxes Delete every printer other than ur default one an ur OK! |
| PowerPlay | Can either be Windows printer spool service or a backdoor trojan, depending on the location of the file. If it is running from C:\Windows\system 32 it's not a problem. If it runs from anywhere else, delete it. |
| Artanis | I always solve the CPU usage problem by deleting the process in the Task Manager. Often I"ll be playing a game or something and the computer slows down to 10%. I don't think the file is a virus in itself, but it isn't written properly or it is bugged somehow w/ a leak so that it can take up too much CPU. As I said, terminating the process in Task manager when it acts up works fine. |
| Fiska (Feb 9 2006) | In my case, it eats almost all of my cpu. If I end the process within Windows Task Manager, all problems go away. But, from what I hear, it is also a print file. I would only delet it if your system returns to normal after ending the process (search your system). |
| Hate_Hackers | Some Hackers use this prosess as a keeping for Worms. Like me for instance i got hacked earlyer. And my anti vir detected a Worm in it. |
| | Doesnt seem to have a major inpact on my system |
| Anand Tanna | Spoolsv.exe is windows system file. But some how it started consuming 100% cpu utiliastion. It seems that it was infectd with some virus or spyware but my anitiviurs & spyware didn't tell me that it was infected. Hence un install my printer driver & run system restore in XP & problem resolved |
| AnnoyingSpoolsv | Always freezes up Adobe file and any other print previews. My solution: Task Mgr end-task it, run spoolsv.exe again and wait 30 seconds to resume Adobe/other file preview/print. |
| bassman | Will aus unerklärlichen Gründen ins Internet, und ruft 66.165.109.33 (www.robgt.com) auf. Hab's mit ZoneAlarm blockiert, und keine negativen Folgen bemerkt. Siehe auch: Link |
| Simone W | I was unable to delete / cancel print jobs for CutePDF printer (not a physical printer - prints documents to a file). Unable to delete printer itself and rebooting made no difference. rmann's workaround to stop service and manually delete files in spool folder fixed the issue. |
| Franky | Ich frage mich, wozu dieser Task einen Zugang zum Internet in meiner Firewall eingerichtet hat !! |
| Shelly | Had same 98% usage of CPU and like others it was a document stuck in the documents image writer. Deleted job and all well again. Didn't even know something was stuck in there. |
| Mark R. Ringwald | Takes control of every laser printer in my school.Connects to the internet.... uses remaining CPU space. |
| Andy murray | don't know much except the CPU instead of 100% is now 2% after deleting a print queue on my scanner !!!! Norton Anti-Virus did not detect a virus so by default I suspected a file running out of control. |
| Sonia | it is a printer storing doc's to be printed |
| Drel | It's a spooler file. I followed Jobrien's advice and deleted the jobs in the imae writer queue. My CPU usage went down temendously. It is now normal. |
| Printer/Worm | This SHOULD NOT use your CPU if you are not printing, but a worm can "Hijack" this name and it depends on what it is doing, if it only works while you are printing you are fine, if it is running when you arn't using the printer you should end process, it is always safe to end process, cause if anything goes wrong, you can reboot your computer and it will be back there (this is for any program) |
| Mr. Wise | Its a Windows Printer/Fax File, and you don't have to have a printer or fax machine installed on your sytem for it to take your CPU usage up! Your Windows PC's have the Microsoft Office Document and Image Writer on them in the Printer and Fax folder in the settings folder. Go into that and delete all of your printing jobs you have in their, because they'll never print, cause you don't have a printer, even if you do have a printer, they still won't print! Just delete the Image writer itself, you don't really need it at all, Microsoft just loves to waste space. Siehe auch: Link |
| | spoolsy.exe is standard system print spooler for windows. Watch for hung print jobs. Keep in mind that if the spoolsv.exe file is showing up in %systemroot%\$NTUNINSTALL type locations, that if a trojan or virus has infected you, it could have imbedded itself in the uninstaller folders for your service packs and your system restore folders in WIN XP. |
| Kiran | This file is used for windows print jobs. I was looking for a solution to fix this problem thinking this to be Trojan. After reading through the suggestions made on this site, I checked the Microsoft Image writer & sure there were three large files waiting to be printed. Once I deleted those, problem was solved. Thanks for the people who put their experience on this site first. |
| CJH | It spools print jobs for a printer or image writer. If it is taking up too much memory it is becasue there is a print job that is not properly being processed. Open your Printers on the control panel and cancel outstadning jobs. Your memory usage should return to normal |
| Kent | Can have errors, remove from task list if it is slowing your computer down. |
| Bigjeep | My spooler was taking up resourses also. Up to 80%. I didn't have any print jobs waiting that I knew of. But there it was. I would delete it and it would come back in a few mins doing the same thing. I then checked one of my other printers that I had installed but not currently using. Bam! there was a print job waiting on one of the other printers. I deleted it and no more spooler hogging my resourses...... |
| #1 | this process is a normal windows process, but other viruses and malware have the same name, and if you look in windows task manager, it will show that it doesn't use a lot of memory (mine is less than 2k) but if it does (i saw another process with the same name, taking up 20k), it could possibly be a virus. |
| wva | irritating hopfully not in windows vista |
| Kinb Boy B | It seemed respossible for massive CUP usage, then I checked and my printer was unplugged. I plugged it back in and the cpu use instantly went back to normal. Check the basics first I guess |
| Rohit Chawla (India). | I was also spooked by this file for almost a month. Thought it was a virus or something. Was planning to format my PC. But then I read a few of these threaded articles and then went to my printer status window and found that indeed 1 had 4 print job in queue for the Microsoft Image Writer. Simply deleted them and WOW - its alive...... My computer came back to life..... Pretty harmless but a sure shot frustration generator.... Wonder why Microsoft hasnt patched the loop hole yet.... |
| Jon | *If its using a high amount of your CPU* Start - Control Panel - Classic View (on the top left) - Administrative Tools - Services - Find "Print Spooler" - Click Stop - PROBLEM SOLVED! |
| Justin | I did as said and deleted all outstanding print jobs. CPU Utilization went to 0 and all is now working great. |
| Lovethe | When my PC run very slow I look at Task Manage and I saw it. |
| Blackstar ISS | Recently Installed CA, AV& ETrust Firewall Apps Whenever I attempt to go online the software asks for permission (Allow/Deny) The Destination IP is 24.29.103.10:DNS If I don't allow no Internet access is allowed! It is a MS Application so you wise guys should have some idea of whats happening here. |
| Edgar | It is a Windows file to control printers and faxes. If you get high CPU rate for this executable it is an operating system problem, then try to stop and restart spooler service. |
| kmax | I'm running Windows XP and during routine stuff like running Excel or something, it will tie up like 75% of my processor...that shouldn't happen. I have even deleted it from the System32 folder, and it keeps coming back. |
| cbruce | according to Symantic Security Response spoolsv.exe is a legitimat Windows file that the "Backdoor.Ciadoor.B" Trojan uses to invade your system. When that happens the good spoolsv.exe changes to the evil spoolsv.exe. So it looks like all of the comments so far have been right. |
| Danboy06 | I had this problem, but when i turned my printer on, and it started printing the jobs in queue, the pc ran normally again. |
| raubi | sie kann das system total verlagsamen wenn Dokumente im spooler , auch nach dem neustart verbleiben, für die kein drucker gefunden wurde. |
| Carl | If it's just a matter of the file bogging down your computer, go to your printers in the control panel and make sure none of them (even the Microsoft Image Writer that ALL Windows machines have!) have any documents waiting to be printed. This simple task cleared my computer up by about 88%. (It was constantly stuck at 100.) |
| Al | Only when I print it uses the CPU and more than 4k mem. |
| Nicholas | Going to the printers and deleting all the outstanding jobs did it for me. The culprit was hiding in Microsoft Office Document Image Writer. I am so glad I found this page before I trashed my pc having had it running at 100% for the past 2 months. |
| Maur | This handles printing and print spooling (queuing). Print Spooler uses it to load files to memory for later printing. |
| Chris | Cheers everyone that mentioned about the print jobs still outstanding. Really appreciated!!......well worked for me anyway |
| iconoclasticrisx | spoolsv.exe is a windows system file for printing purposes and it will definitely cause problem if you have printing pending otherwise it's a virus. |
| Diomedes | Printer/Fax spooler: To view or disable process, use Task Manager, (Ctrl-Alt-Del in WinXP), You can test this way for mem activity |
| Matt B | I just had the problem of csrss and spool using most of my CPU. I found out that there was a quesed print job under Adobe PDF writer that was doing it. Canceled job no more CPU usage. Hope that help. |
| ArcNemesis | This spoolsv.exe suddenly eat up my CPU at 99% and my computer become as slow as a snail. But this trick does work. Try cancel all print job in the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer. After the print jobs were terminated, all is back to normal. |
| KasMage | It is a known Windows system file and a known virus. It can be either. There shouldn't be any arguing over it. If you are having problems, and it is taking too much memory, that is probably because it is a hoggish system file (cause it is). But if it is REALLY causing problems, make sure you do a quick scan for problems. |
| Mark | I don't even have a printer hooked up to my computer and it is running this! |
| Philippe | no problem in itself. can be infected, yes. if one cancel an already started print job, there can remain a bad print file, and the program will turn wild. check all printers and kill all jobs |
| Harish | Was taking 100% of CPU. That was becasue 2 ghostscript files got stuck in the Microsoft Image Writer. Deleted these 2 files from the control panel, and we also deleted a printer that could not be located anymore. Problem was fixed. |
| http://cianjg.bebo.com | This file is a windows file BUT viruses have been known to use the name so be careful only delete if your sure it is a virus |
| M155P3RF3K7 | Die Datei ist ein Prozess, der das System deutlich verlangsamt. Wenn der Prozess nicht sofort nach Start beendet wird, dauert es evtl. 20 Minuten bis der Rechner nicht mehr so viel arbeitet. Zudem hat der Benutzer fast nirgenswo Zugriff drauf und es werden viele Fehlermeldungen ausgegeben. Außerdem nimmt spoolsv.exe viel Speicher in Anspruch. Siehe auch: Link |
| vergis thomas | this was because there was a print job waiting in Microsoft Document Image writer. |
| Jaime | If it exists anywhere outside the system32 folder it is very likely a virus. |
| Ken Blakely | spoolsv.exe is a Windows system file. I could also be a trojan. If the print spooler is attempting to access te internet (use ZoneAlarm) then it's likely a trojan. Now I have to figure out how to get rid of it. |
| | Spoolsv.exe misbehaves if you have a bad driver on your network trying to print. Use Start- Administrative Controls- Services to disable your Print Spooler, then go to C:\Windows\System32\spools\printer and delete everything. When you restart the service, everything should be back to normal. |
| charles | its a problem that comes many times when i want to print.it shows error n deletes all printers installed but when i restart computer it prints then displays the spool error again. Am fed up |
| Seppi | spoolsv.exe ist ein Windows Prozess die für Druckeraufträge sorgt! |
| LocalHost | The legitimate version of spoolsv.exe is simply your print job spooler. It is a Windows component. That having been said, malicious programs / code can be named anything. As a rule of thumb, always keep your security software updated and running. |
| Dustin Thai | Go to the printers and remove all print jobs that did the trick as mentioned above |
| Julian | It's just Windows. You solve this prob by deleting all waiting print jobs or just install Linux :P |
| nephisto2 | Not dangerous if inside the windows folder |
| Zeb | Its to do with the printer spooling but my firewall (Zone Alarm Pro) pops up now and then saying its requesting access to the internet. A print spooler wanting net access? I'm blocking it every single time with no ill effects - next time will be a permanent block. |
| jon | followed advice of others and cleared my print queue. CPU time on spoolsv.exe went from 50+ down to 0. in most cases, this is probably not a virus...i think |
| Ad Astra | Today i've found a spoolsvc.exe file located on my windows/system32 folder. Well, that's a Trojan, just delete it. Do not confuse it with spoolsv.exe (a windows legitimate program) |
| | Yep print job waiting on image writer,, fixed it ! |
| bob | When a document gets 'hung up' between the computer and the printer, it will nearly completely take over your CPU causing great slowness. Go to Control Panel, Printers, and clear waiting documents. |
| maddin | Wenn die .exe so harmlos sein soll, warum versuchst sie dann verbindung mit dem Internet aufzubaun? Als ein Programm das die Druckeraufträge einreiht, braucht dieses doch keine Verbindung zum Netz... Oder lieg ich da etwa falsch? |
| Angelique | It's on my pc as well, and it was taking up 99% of my processes, finally I took Ben's advice, and found a pending print job on my document writer (which I don't use), so I cancelled the job and my cpu usage was back down instantly! So NOT A VIRUS, JUST CLEAR YOUR PRINT JOBS ON UNUSED PRINTERS, OR ERASE ANY PRINTERS YOU DON'T USE!!! |
| ken may | Windows Spooler Service |
| James | really annoying process, don't quite see the point in it. most printer programs have a spooler now anyway. WHAT IS THE POINT TO THIS PROCESS? just another one of those annoying windows freak processes with no useful purpose. thanks you all helped me lots with this process. does anyone know how to delete it? |
| FRED INSTEAD | Can be corrupt, But the reason why it has to connect to the net, is because sometimes you print pages from the net. So it has to access them. Go to control panel/admin./services and set print spooler to manual. after you stop the process. |
| Peter B | Don't delete it! It's a part of windows that will handle the printer. It might use loads of memory if you have unprinted documents. Go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete all the documents if you are having problems with it. Problems with Spoolsv.exe, might be connected with the virus called Backdoor.Ciadoor.B Trojan, so have an updated anit-virus program. |
| | Okay, This is ridiculous. This is a place to post user opinions. The problem is, you can't say that it isn't a virus/trojan, and you can't say that it is. This is a valid windows process, but it isnt hard to build a virus with its process name as SPOOLSV.EXE . One way to Identify if its genuine, look at the Process Identifier (PID). If it matches the PID of the genuine Spoolsv.exe, then you are safe. With the downloading part, you can download it without you knowing it easily as an active x control, or just by visiting a site. But it doesnt matter if you Download it, only if you execute it. |
| Brian | This is completly safe, when I first formated my hard drive and installed windows xp os on my computer, and a couple of drivers it was on the process list (and this was before I was connected to the internet so I am completly sure it's safe) |
| Bernardo | If Spoolsv.exe takes a lot of CPU usage. Go to Printers and Faxes and cancel any pending documents that may be at the MS Office Image Writer spool. That fixed the problem in my computer. |
| Anonymous | Here's another way to fix. Visit here http://torque.oncloud8.com/archives/000384.html This problem should fix immediately or if you keep it for long time, it gonna spoil your CPU |
| Brian | With my computer, anything Adobe seems to get the spooler off and running - Photoshop and Reader both cause me problems. Killing and restarting the print spooler service stops the problem until the next time I run an Adobe product. |
| | Wenn dieser Prozess Fehler verursacht müssen meistens einfach nur alle Druckaufträge gelöscht werden. Dann funktioniert es wieder. Zumindest bei mir. |
| Pinoy | If you have high CPU on spoolsv.exe that won't go away even after reboot, go to "Pinters and Faxes", click once "Microsoft Image Writer" just to highlight the icon. Left of the window under "Printer Task", select "See what's printing". If you see pending printing jobs, cancel all of them. spoolsv.exe will let go of your CPU. If you don't have a need for Microsoft Image Writer, just delete it. |
| -Z- | Unhandeled print queue causes huge performance usage to the cpu. Note that, also cases when you have removed ur printer from your computer and the queue has been unprocessed, it will take take perfomance as long as there is that printter installed |
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