Fix: “Print driver host for 32bit applications has stopped working” Error in Windows 7

One problem I’ve experienced when using my Windows 7 64-bit computer with networked printers is that I intermittently get the error:

Print driver host for 32bit applications has stopped working

It appears that this problem occurs for most people when printing to network printers, but I was seeing it even when not printing (I would wake my computer from sleep and the message would already be on my screen).

After doing some research, I discovered that this problem seems to be a flaw in Windows.  Apparently, Microsoft did not include a full list of printer drivers on the OEM installation CD, so some printers get installed incorrectly and cause your system to throw this error.

The Fix

Step 1: First off, you need to uninstall any printers that you have on your computer.  Click Start –> Devices and Printers, locate your printer, right click it, and select Remove device.

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Step 2: Now you’ll need to reinstall the printer as a locally attached network printer (don’t worry, it will work just the same as before).  To do this, click the Add a printer button in the Devices and Printers window from the previous step.

printer1

In the resulting window, select Add a local printer.

printer2

Then click the option for Create a new port and select Standard TCP/IP Port from the dropdown menu.

printer3

Step 3: Type in the networked printer’s hostname or IP address.  The port name will automatically fill itself in with the same information.  Be sure to leave the Query the printer and automatically select the driver to use box unchecked, then click Next.

printer4

Step 4: Click the Windows Update button to retrieve an updated list of printer drivers from Microsoft.  Locate your printer in this list and proceed with the installation – this should fix your problem.

image

If you continue to experience problems with the print driver host for 32-bit applications crashing, try downloading the driver from the printer’s manufacturer and using that in Step 4 by selecting the Have Disk option.

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Evan Wondrasek

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Comments

19 responses to “Fix: “Print driver host for 32bit applications has stopped working” Error in Windows 7”

  1. Post Avatar
    Post

    Any good network admin does not want users printing directly to a network printer.

    1. Bob Avatar
      Bob

      Why?

    2. Avatar
      Anonymous

      but to my understanding, windows 7 can’t add or doesn’t work properly with shared printer.

      and to my experience in the past, windows update hardware drivers are a joke. end up not working properly, best to go to the manufacturer website and get the driver. becareful when running windows updates, if hardware has an update, go to the manufacturer and download the latest driver from there instead. 🙂

    3. Billy Joe Avatar
      Billy Joe

      why is that?

      1. Urban_Elementz Avatar
        Urban_Elementz

        yea, I would like to know why also?

    4. crimsy Avatar
      crimsy

      Don’t feed the troll.

  2. Win7_User Avatar
    Win7_User

    Yes, this worked. Thank You!

  3. Fireice303 Avatar
    Fireice303

    this didnt work, I only recieve this issue from adobe non 64bit products like Acrobat pro and illistrator

  4. Keelr Avatar
    Keelr

    I already set the printers up this way and it is happening.  In our environment the “Windows Update” is not an option and we use Uni Drivers per HP’s site.

    any other ideas?  This is only happening on one PC thus far
    Thanks,
    Rich

  5. Phillippe Avatar
    Phillippe

    Will this work with Adobe Acrobat Printer…

  6. Qq Avatar
    Qq

    Works! Bravo!

  7. Stefan Avatar
    Stefan

    Just encountered this in our Citrix XenApp 6.5 environment. to network printer on a dedicated print server. Only happened with one user printing one very large pdf (800 pages) In this case, I pinpointed the pdf as the source of the corruption, not the driver or network config. I went into adobe’s advanced print settings then selected print as image and it worked.
    I think the corruption was caused by the document mixing vector and raster tables, text and graphics cmyk and rgb etc.

    1. Nelson Avatar
      Nelson

      That worked!
      Thanks Stefan

  8. Sean Rignall Avatar
    Sean Rignall

    With a massive amount of DDR3 memory, you can accelerate your PC’S performance and multi-tasking power to the next level…….http://www.myhomeimprovementsolutions.com/best-gaming-desktop/

  9. Pants_Up__Dont_Loot Avatar
    Pants_Up__Dont_Loot

    Save your time. This is useless.

  10. Nevla Avatar
    Nevla

    Fantastic! Worked a treat, where everything else failed

  11. Wayne_B Avatar
    Wayne_B

    1. Right click on the printer and go to “Printer Properties” and then “Advanced” then make a note of printer model. Do that for all your printers.
    2. Make a note of your network printer settings on the printer causing the problem and any others that are the same printer model so you can put them back exactly how they were later.
    3. Remove the printer and any others that are the same model by right clicking on them.
    4. Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Print Management, All Drivers.
    5. Right Click on the printer model of the problem printer and choose “Remove Driver Package.”
    6. Check to see that it is gone. Now you have removed the corrupt printer driver.
    7. Put the printer(s) back the same way and enjoy error free printing.

  12. A**neck Avatar
    A**neck

    I had this error reported in our print server environment, with an HP4250N, utilizing the Universal PCL6 driver, running on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard. Whenever we see the PCL6 in use, we roll back to PCL5, which is much more stable. I did that in this case, and also updated the printer’s firmware to the latest version through HP Webjet Admin. Once I get confirmation from our user, I’ll update this post.

  13. Nabil Lanang Avatar
    Nabil Lanang

    Thanks, it works for my new HP Deskjet 4729 (4720 series)

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