Got a call from a friend and he told me he his computer is acting very slowly. When this happens, mostly it is due to spywares. The first thing I’d do when a computer is running really slow is I run the Windows Task Manager and check which image name is using up all the CPU resources. I found out that an executable file called spoolsv.exe is at 99% usage all the time and never goes down. I tried ending the spoolsv.exe process but after a few seconds, spoolsv.exe automatically runs in background and start hogging on the CPU usage.

From the file name, I could guess that most probably it had something to do with printer spool. I searched around the Internet about spoolsv.exe and it’s not a virus. spoolsv.exe is the spooler service responsible for managing spooled print/fax jobs. After a while, I manage to find a way to solve the spoolsv.exe from shooting up to 99% cpu usage problem.


It is advised to turn on the Print Spooler service first. You can do it from Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. Look for Print Spooler and stop it.
If it is already stopped, just follow the next step.

Delete ALL files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS. It should have files something like 00020.SHD, 00020.SPL and etc…

Now spoolsv.exe should run but it’s at 0% CPU usage. Nice fix found at tim’s journal.

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