The free Open Source software Winflushprintjobs is basically an advanced version of the batch file that I posted in the stuck print jobs guide. The program is offered as an installer, portable version and source code. It ships with three different applications, a batch file called flush.bat a C program that has been specifically designed for Windows 95, 98 and ME, and a C program that deletes all print jobs on all local printers.

Most users will make use of the batch file to resolve the jammed printer issue. The batch script basically restarts the print spooler to resolve the issue. Restarting removes all print jobs from the queue including the stuck print job that cannot be deleted.

The C program on the other hand tries a different approach. Instead of resetting the print spooler, it tries to delete all print jobs on all local printers individually instead.

Both programs should be run from the command line if output is needed for verification, as no output is displayed if the programs are started with a double-click on the program icon.

Winflushprintjobs is a versatile program that’s best suited for situations where multiple printers are connected to a single desktop PC. The program does not support network printers.

Windows users can download the portable software from the developer website. The program is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit edition for all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Update: Download do not seem to work right now. You can download both releases from Sourceforge instead.

Print Friendly is a web based service that is available on their main website, as a bookmarklet and for website owners as a script to put on their websites directly. Print Friendly will basically remove certain elements like advertisement by default from the website. By doing this it reduces the printer ink needed to print the website. More important than that is probably the option to remove additional elements before sending the rest of the document to the printer.

This makes it possible to remove additional unwanted elements such as tags or images from the document before printing it. Print Friendly offers an option to automatically remove all images from the document to make things easier if a document contains many of them. It also features an undo function in case the user wants to go back to a previous state.

The optimized document can then be printed or turned into a pdf at the Print Friendly website. The bookmarklet makes it easier to use the service while surfing the Internet as it will automatically load the active website in the Print Friendly website.

Print Friendly might come handy in situations where other tools or extensions that can remove elements from websites before printing are not available.

Print Service Manager is another software program for the Windows operating system that can help with stuck print jobs. It displays a basic interface that provides information about the state of the print service of the Windows operating system with buttons to stop, start and restart it immediately. The left side of the program contains the option to clear a stuck print queue forcefully in case the restarting of the print service is not yielding the desired result.

Print Service Manager is compatible with Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 and requires the the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0.

The print management software displays the local and remote printers along with connected domains in the main interface. The status of each printer and the assigned print jobs are displayed next to each printer which provides a great overview. Selecting a printer in the left menu will display the print jobs with information about the name, computer, document and status of each print job.

A right-click on a print job will provide options to cancel, resume, restart and preview among other options. The print management software will display print job information such as the number of pages and copies, time and date, paper size, duplex mode and position in the queue among other information with the option to edit the properties of each print job.

Managing the print jobs is however only one feature of Remote Queue Manager Personal. A click on the Resources tab will display information about ports, drivers, forms, monitors and processors. It is possible to configure print servers and ports with the print management software. It is for instance possible to open the driver’s manufacturer website to download drivers to add but also remove them.

This can all be done in the Windows command line for maximum effectiveness or in the Windows Explorer interface for users who prefer to click their way through the process. To use the GUI approach you press [Windows R], type [services.msc] and look for the Print Spooler service. Right-click that service and select [Stop] from the context menu. This will stop the Print Spooler which will make it possible to delete the print jobs in the print queue. Keep the window open as we need it again to start the Print Spooler service.

Now use Windows Explorer to open %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\ and delete all files that are found inside. Once that has been done it is time to start the Print Spooler service again. This is done in the same menu where it was stopped. a right-click will not show an option to [Start] the Print Spooler service again. All print jobs should be gone and it should be possible to run new print jobs again.

If you prefer the command line you can run the following four commands for the same effect. It is probably a good idea to add them to a batch script.

net stop spooler
del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.shd
del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.spl
net start spooler

The script does exactly the same as the manual method.