Vista APPCRASH error with spoolsv.exe

I'm running Vista Ultimate and I kept getting this message: "Spooler SubSystem App stopped working and was closed." The details indicated the following:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: spoolsv.exe

Windows Vista has a nice "Reliability and Performance Monitor" which gives you an index of system reliability. Just click START and search for "Reliability" or type in perfmon.msc. It tracks application failures, so you have an idea when things went downhill. I could tell that the application failures I had were related to spoolsv.exe and began on 03/26/2007.

While the "Reliability and Performance Monitor" tracks application installs, it does not seem to track printers as hardware installs. Fortunately, I realized that I added a network copier and allowed it to install the drivers, which were actually designed for Windows XP.

So, you you keep seeing spoolsv.exe appcrash errors in Vista, try removing the printer AND the driver. Here's how:

1. Go to the Control Panel and click Printers
2. Right-click on the white space and click "Run as administrator > Server Properties"
   
3. Click on the "Drivers" tab, click on the offending printer and click on the "Remove" button.
   
   When prompted, click "Remove driver and driver package."
   
   Answer "Yes" when prompted to delete the driver.
   
4. You will then see a dialog indicating that driver package information has been collected. Click on the "Delete" button.
   
5. Back in the printer list, delete the offending printer by clicking on it and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard.
   

For really stubborn printers that refuse to delete, note the files the printer driver uses and delete them while in safe mode. To do so, on the "Drivers" tab (see above), click the printer and click properties. Sort the "File" column alphabetically by clicking on the heading. Write down the files involved and also write down the "driver path" above the "File" column. Delete these files in safe mode, then repeat the removal procedure above.