Process "splwow64.exe" in Win7

Win7 x64 Home Premium - I was fartin' around my OS, doing some maintenance and what-not, and noticed the process splwow64.exe running in the Task Manager. A quick Google search tells me it's a legit Windows process (I figured it was safe) related to printing. Now, this is fine and good, but I do NOT have a printer connected to this PC; I have NEVER had a printer connected to this PC, not even via a network. I don't even have a printer in my house (I don't need one - if I need to print something, I do it at work; I spend more waking hours at work than at home anyway). So, what is a printing process doing in my list of active processes?

 

dlb,

Have to agree that is odd. I just fired up a Win 7 64 bit machine that also has never been associated with a printer, I don't show that process.

This probably doesn't help, just thought you'd like to know this is not apparently universal to Win 7, 64 bit.

 

I was going to attach a screen shot of the Task Manager to show the process, but by the time I got around to it, the process splwow64.exe had simply closed on its own and was no longer listed . . . . weird, no? :confused

 

Weird, yes.

Any chance there is something running in your services related to this?

 

Apparently, this is part of windows.
Microsoft Corporation 5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)
Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205)
Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6001.17052 (longhorn_rc1.071129-2315)
Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6001.18000 (longhorn_rtm.080118-1840)

Haven't found the Win 7 version yet.

 

I don't know . . . I'm not at home now, but I'll take a look when I get off work. I'm thinking that I might have accidentally clicked on "Print" instead of "Save" or "Save As..." when I was messing with a .TXT file early this morning.... :zzz .... I was probably half asleep.

Yeah - I knew it was legit, I was more curious as to why the process would even be active considering I've never had a printer hooked up to the PC in question....

 

Still odd.

I'm on my home computer now, W7, 64 bit, Canon printer.

I don't show that process.

 

Maybe just the mystery that is windows. A process/service starts, checks if you have a printer then shuts down?

From time to time my computer (2K) hangs and I get a popup about windows Fax Service not responding. The computer in question doesn't have a dialup modem so there is no possibility that I could send a fax. I certainly never set up the service nor have it running and yet somewhere in the dim recesses of windows, it fires up!

 

I have same setup with no printer (and never had one for same reason). this process runs (tries to run) when I close WORD. It is the win 7 (and maybe vista) print spooler program and, as in all previous versions of windows I have noticed, runs whether you have a printer or not. I think the old one for XP was spooler.exe? I block the splwow64.exe using my process firewall.
There might be a service you can turn off?

edit. Oh, and it only runs when you use a program that would use a printer, like word, excel, etc. hence why some folks dont see it in their process list.

 

I am on 64-bit Windows 7. I have MS Office 2010 (64-bit version) installed alongside MS Office 2003 (which is 32-bit). Now, splwow64.exe does not start up with Windows, it only starts up when you run a software that requires the 32-bit printer spooler service -- which is the case when starting Word 2003, for example. So any time I start Word 2003 for the first time it will start the splwow64 process.

I also have the SoftMaker Office 2010 suite, and when I run TextMaker (just like Word '03), the splwow64.exe also starts up. It does this with several 32-bit word processors, and also some other softwares that require the 32-bit printer spooler service. Another example: when you start AbiWord, the splwow64 process also starts.

So whenever you start a 32-bit program that requires the printer spooler service (the ability to print) on a 64-bit system, the splwow64 process will start up. It is normal, tho slightly annoying to have that 'hourglass' showing when it loads for the first time. It would be nice if they could just have the splwow64 process start whenever you actually click on the "Print" button, but alas it isn't that way.