spooler subsystem

i am running XP HE w/plenty of RAM and storage space. i
installed an HP PSC 2210 All-In-One machine over a year
ago. in the past couple of months i repeatedly (and
getting worse) get the following msg when i
boot: "spooler subsystem has encountered a problem and
needs to close". i have researched the problem thur HP
and MS help, followed the advice given and even installed
the latest drivrs for the HP, with minimal help. for a
brief period it will appear to work, then back to square
one. i am on a home LAN, sharing my printer with my
wife. when i receive the error, obviously i dont have
printer capability. also, when running the HP director,
i dont have scanner capability, it says scanner not
available, even though i can access it thru windows. i
have tried it all, and cant seem to fix the problem. like
i said, it worked great for several months, then puff.
please help.
Rod