Ok, got a call this morning from a user saying she couldn’t print. I mentally went over the obvious, and decided a service call would be in order. This user is on Windows XP. Here is what I found:

To start with when the print spooler was started either from Run -> Services.msc -> Print Spooler -> Start / Restart OR from a command prompt with “net start spooler” you would get an error message within 20 seconds or so saying:

After some troubleshooting, I saw that the error logs revealed that the error was coming from a file called ZSDIMF.DLL. I searched the computer for that file and saw that it was related to the user’s HP LaserJet 1022 (I HATE HP DRIVERS!!). See the screenshot:

So here’s the solution:
Make sure the print spooler is stopped. You can even go to the task manager and kill the process called “spoolsv.exe.”
Go here: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\Printname and find the printer with the offending driver. Right click and delete. Note that a registry backup may be a good idea if you are unsure of what you are doing.

Now you can go to to Control Panel -> Printers & Faxes and go to File -> Server Properties. Go to the drivers tab and delete the offending drivers (in my case this was HP Laserjet 1020 series drivers). Now go to the manufacturers website and download new ones and reinstall your printer.

Quick Update
I did get the error again after the first reboot. I deleted all the temp files, including the prefetch (though it should make any difference…), and searched the computer for the offending file again. No file found. After another reboot, everything was fine!
That should do the trick!

Another Update

This also works for Vista!