I can't seem to print. Regardless of what program I am trying to print from, I always get the following error:

Epspmgr4
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This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. Close

If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. Details

EPSPMGR4 has caused a general protection fault in module USER.EXE...
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I can't even open epspmgr4.exe (Epson Spool Manager4). Every time I try to open it, I get the above error. Everytime I delete the printer from Control Panel/Printers and everything that relates to it, and reinstall the printer driver from my Epson 600Q driver CD that came with the printer, I still get the same error everywhere I try to print from and I still get the same error when I try to open epspmgr4.exe. I think that the said file on the CD is corrupted.

Also If I try to print, after getting the above error, another error pops up saying:

EPSON 600Q
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Error while spooling to "".
Unable to start the spool manager
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The printer does print when I simultaneously press, hold, and then release: the paper eject button and the on button. Each time I do that, the printer prints on one sheet: a nozzle check pattern and the printer's ROM version.

The printer doesn't print from Control Panel/Printers/Epson 600Q/Properties/Print test page. I get the same error when I try to do this.

I get the same error regardless of what program I am trying to print from.

The printer does print .txt files from a MSDOS command prompt in Safe Mode when I type something like:
c:\windows\mouse.txt lpt1

The printer won't print if I change its settings to print: directly to the printer rather than through spooling.

Also, the lpt1.dos method I read about doesn't work in neither Normal Mode nor Safe Mode.

Any suggestions as to how to fix my problem would be much appreciated.

---Oompah.

Try to use the default driver detected by the OS at plug and play time, avoiding that proposed in original CD. That is especially true if you are running Windows XP, as the fact you can print from DOS prompt, but not even print the test page, means the problem is related to a bad driver incompatible whit the OS.

Windows XP and 98 hold good generic drivers for Epson printer, very near in behavior to those OEM released.

I get no errors when I print using the generic (a.k.a. text only) driver. However, If I print a Word document, it prints out all messed up. Things that are suppossed to be underlined, aren't. Things that are supposed to be bold, aren't. Letters overlap. Incorrect line & character spacing. Some characters are completely left out. Is there anyway I can get the word document to print correctly? Thanks.

Sure, to print from Word you need an Epson specific driver handling formatted text.

I did not tell you to use the plain text driver (printer for unformatted text only), but to uninstall your Epson printer then reinstall using the OS default driver for Epson not those stored on the OEM CD.

You are running the wrong or corrupted driver loaded from CD.

What you say enforce my previous diagnosis.