Spoolsv wants internet access

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I’m running Windows 2000, Zone Alarm … spoolsv.exe keeps asking for internet access. Spooling is turned off. The printer is local to one computer … not shared on the network. So why does spoolsv need to access the internet? Any ideas? I have it blocked by Zone Alarm, and I don’t see any problems with it being blocked … But … why?

Al

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See some of the threads in this spoolsv.exe – Google Search. It could be nothing or you could be infected.

Joe

--Joe

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As I recall, the spool service is looking for network folders and printers on your network. This can be disabled by unchecking one box.

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Interesting … but my “folders options” doesn’t show that first line and check box.

Al

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Sorry, I was using my XP laptop. I was hoping it was in the same place. There is an entry like that in W2K. I will check as to the correct location on Monday when I go into the office unless I go in on Tuesday instead.

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Spoolsv.exe runs Printer Spooler service, that loads files to memory for later printing. For example, if your local (connected to parallel or USB port) printer is unavailable (is powered off or is busy with another print job), Printer Spooler will alarm you and call your local printer every 5 sec to send your print job. Without this service your print job in such case will be lost. In the future you can decide to connect your printer through the wireless network, that’s why it is better to run this service and make ZoneAlarm to remember your permission. However, if you want, you can prevent Print Spooler service to access your network or even stop it and change startup type to Manual (logon to the account with Administrative rights and select Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services).

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Accessing my local network … is fine. I understand that. It doesn’t need to do it because the printer(s) are not shared, they are strictly local to one machine. No spooling is activated … everything is print directly to printer. For my operations that’s the way I prefer it. So spooling doesn’t need to send any alarms or try to access the printer.

Accessing the local network (wired not wireless) is one thing … BUT … what purpose does spoolsv have in wanting to go on line to the internet? I don’t do any printing on the internet ……

Changing the spooler to deactivate removes all printers from the list in Control Panel | printers.
Likewise selecting Manual removes all printers.

It’s not a real big deal … Zone Alarm is refusing spoolsv access to the internet. It’s just a puzzle as to what is going on in the background.

Al

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This Google search might have an answer to your question.

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Thanks for the Google links … Looks like I’m not the only one with the question … but there don’t seem to be any definitive answers to the question. Oh well … I guess it’s just another of life’s (read MS’s) little mysteries.

Al

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Try these tweaks:
1) Uncheck “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks”. Repeat this step for each network adapter you have installed.
2) Disable the Printer Server Browse Thread (Windows NT/2000/XP)
When this option is enabled, the print spooler does not send shared printer information to other print servers.

Registry Settings
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControlPrint]
Value Name: DisableServerThread
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = enable server thread, 1 = disable)

3) Disable Windows 2000 IPP Internet Printing

Windows 2000 supports Internet printing protocol. IPP is beneficial because a user can print to a URL over an intranet or the Internet, view printer and job related information in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, and download and install printer drivers over the Internet. To disable this functionality, use the following registry hack:

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows NTPrinters
Name: DisableWebPrinting
Type: REG_DWORD
Value:
1 Disable
0 Enable

4) Disable Printer Announcements

When you share a printer on a Windows 2000/NT machine, it will begin notifying other print servers on the network (via broadcast) that it has a printer available. It does this every 10 minutes. This can cause an excessive amount of network traffic. To disable this activity, add the following to the Registry on the local machine:

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl Print
Name: DisableServerThread
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

A value of 1 disables the thread, and causes the announcements to the network not to occur. This also means that the printer that is shared will not be visible by browsing the network. It can still be accessed by entering the name in manually when connecting to the printer from another machine. To turn the announcements back on, change the value to 0 (zero).

As always, please us caution and frequent backups when working with the Registry

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Thanks for the info. Seems to me, at a quick look, that some of this would also disable file sharing between computers on the local network, in addition to the printer. But I will do some experimenting with it. Thanks.

Al

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