Acrobat DC updates failing because Print Spooler service won't start. How do I fix this?

[Cop Admin]

I am logged in as an administrator and trying to install updates for Adobe Acrobat DC. It gets as far as starting the Print Spooler service and hangs there. I tried starting the service just before it gets to this part, but the service won't start (this worked last time I had updates, but no longer works). It hangs for a while and then reverts. I thought about uninstalling and reinstalling but am afraid it would hang on the install as well. Has anyone run into this? How do I fix it going forward?

[kglad · Accepted solution]

3 Ways to Fix a Print Spooler - wikiHow

[Kody.Kahla]

I am having this same issue, and tried fixing the Print Spooler as indicated in that wikiHow article. The issue persists still. What else can I try? I have reinstalled Adobe Acrobat DC and repaired the installation several times, but to no avail.

[Test Screen Name]

The print spooler isn't a part of Acrobat, so if it won't start that's probably not an Acrobat issue either. It could be one of your print drivers locking it; if you feel like experimenting, try removing them one by one (be sure you can get them back!)

[mpenniman]

i was able to install the update by first stopping the print spooler manually/

net stop spooler

[default4mzm622j26ep]

I fixed this issue by uninstalling all other pdf writers under control panel. Mine was caused by a PDF Report Writer (novaPDF 6.4 printer) which is installed with Autodesk 2018.