How this was fixed:

I ran Microsoft's Fix It tool in "full" mode, which resets all printer
settings.

I then was able to reload each printers software from CD.

Why the printers disappeared are still a mystery, hopefully someone will post
an answer to that.

Bob C


"Bob C" wrote:

Folks,

New to this forum, but someone always helped in the past when I used TechNet
over the years.

One office PC with XP Pro seems to be running into printer headaches.

Few weeks ago both the local and network printer disappeared. Re-started the
print spooler and all was ok.

Happened again yesterday. Print Spooler is running, no errors in the event
log. Tried to manually start/stop the spooler (net stop/start spooler). It
says it's succesful, yet no printers are out there.

I tried running "sfc /scannow" to see if any Windows files are missing or
corrupt and nothing came back. Meaning, it ran to completion with the XP CD
in the drive and never said it found a problem.

I tried for the heck of it to re-install the local printer (USB) software,
and even though it installed ok, still can't print.

I ran the diagnostics with the Brother printer and it seems the printer
ports are not communicating.

Not sure where to turn next. Only quirk with this PC is Quickbooks is
installed and has been for several years. After the 1st print problem occured
(had to restart the spooler), QuickBooks lost all it's customized print
forms. they where rebuilt and things worked ok for several weeks until this
happened.

Any advice - I'm still searching TechNet........

Bob