I have a USB printer attached to a Windows 7 desktop that serves as the "print server" for my home network. The problem is that when the desktop goes to sleep, I am unable to print to it. I have excluded the LAN card from being shut off, but I still get an error that the Print Spooler is not running. How can I ensure that the spooler (and all necessary components) remain active even when the desktop is in power saving mode?

When the system goes into the Sleep mode, all system active ceases. Period. It's just like you going to slepp - your brain shuts out outside activity until you wake up. The spooler cannot function until the system is awake. " How can I ensure that the spooler (and all necessary components) remain active even when the desktop is in power saving mode?" You can't. The system is asleep. Period! If you want the printer to be available all the time, you connect it to a router and direct the printing to the 'network' address of the printer. That's what I did with my printers a loooong time ago because a computer with a 'shared' print has to be fully awake all the time for anyone to use that printer.

Don't allow it to go to sleep. Instead, use the power settings to turn off the monitor after a specified time period but not to go to sleep. Control, Power Options, Change when the computer sleeps, set to Never.Rich The only two things that are infinite in size are the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not completely sure about the universe. - Albert Einstein

Hi, Here are some other suggestions you can try: Clear Printer Spooler files and enable the spooler service a. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK. b. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list. c. Click Stop and click OK. d. Click Start, type "%WINDIR%\system32\spool\printers" in the open window, and delete all files in this folder. e. Click Start, type "Services.msc" (without the quotation marks) in the open box and click OK. f. Double-click "Printer Spooler" in the Services list. g. Click on Start. In the Startup Type list, make sure that "Automatic" is selected and click OK. If the issue persists, please capture the error message and upload it here for research. Thanks, Novak