Error 7031 Print Spooler Stops Responding

The Windows spooler service has a function for an assignment of jobs among several printers. For one or another reason the Print Spooler might fail. Then the printer will not respond, and you will see the Spooler Subsystem App. It occurs when gdi32.dll module detects incorrect DEVMODE buffer size from the printer driver. In the event viewer the Event ID will state “7031” that means 7031 Print Spooler error occurred.

The event viewer window for print spooler Windows XP looks like the one below:

 

 

To open the event viewer in Windows 7, type Event viewer in the main menu command box. When you open the viewer window, open “Window logs” folder and pick “System”. Find the line that states “Error” and you will see the Event ID there. If it is the one concerned then read on.
There are different fixes for Windows XP, and for Windows Vista and 7:

Fix for 7031 print spooler error in Windows XP SP 2:

Step 1

For 32-bit system download this file: x86 patch

For 64-bit system download this file: x64 patch

• 1) Right-click on above link and choose “Save as..” (or “Save target as…”).
• 2) Save zip archive on your desktop and unzip it.
• 3) Read text file carefully, double click on the patches’ EXE files and apply them.

Step 2

Open registry editor (how to do it?) and locate key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors

remove all monitors except these ones:
• Local Port
• Standard TCP/IP Port
• USB Monitor

Step 3

Download Microsoft Spooler Fix It  utility and run it. It will find problems and fix them.

Step 4

Reinstall your printer drivers. Try to download the latest ones from vendors.

Fix for print spooler error 7031 in Windows Vista/7 SP 2:

Attention: This fix applies only for following HP printers: Deskjet 710, Deskjet 712, Deskjet 720, Deskjet 722, Deskjet 810, Deskjet 812, Deskjet 820, Deskjet 822, Deskjet 1000

To fix print spooler error 7031 in x64 bit systems download this path and copy the contents of zip archive into:

%windir%\system32\spool\drivers\x64\3

(%windir% commonly is C:\Windows folder)

Replace existing files in this folder with newer versions if needed.

Print Spooler Fix Wizard can automatically fix 7031 print spooler error and many other problems related to printer spooler.

Download Fix Wizard