spoolsv.exe crashes instantly

Print spooler was crashing on Windows XP client. spoolsv.exe and the c:\windows\system32\spool\printers directory was empty.

mkdir c:\prtspool

Pop open regedit,
go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Print\Printers
and change the DefaultSpoolDirectory to the new c:\prtspool
net start spooler
it works.
Don't ask me why or how. I don't rightly care, but then I'd probably want to run scandisk or something.