HP Laserjet 1000 shared and spooler issue

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.print_fax (More info?)

I have an HP Laserjet 1000 connected to a PC via it's default USB/parallel hybrid connection. It is shared across the network via "File and Print Sharing". I have a laptop in the same Workgroup and this printer is mapped on it.

The problem is that the printer always appears "Offline" and when I attempt to view the printer properties I receive an error message that the print spooler needs to be started. When I check the spooler service, it is already running and is set to start automatically. I have tried stopping and restarting the service but to no effect. I am able to print to other printers on the network though they are not in the same Workgroup. This is the only printer in that Workgroup. I am able to ping between the laptop and the PC hosting the printer so network connectivity is not the issue.

I thought that spoolsv.exe might be corrupt so I ran SFC but it did not find an issue. I thought the problem might also be related to the user's firewall. He is running them on both the laptop and the PC. However, I have double checked the configuration and have this same problem when they are disabled anyway.

Could this be related to the fact that it is on a USB connection or is it more likely that the problem resides with spoolsv.exe being corrupt? If it is corrupt is there a way to re-install it without having to re-install the whole OS?

Thanks.