I had this problem on Windows XP with Excel 97. In my case the print spooler service had failed to start on boot (even though it is set to "Automatic").
I found the error about the print spooler when I tried to delete my printer (with plans to reinstall it to see if that would help) and got the message that the printer could not be deleted because the spooler service was not running.
I did this:
- Press "Window key" + "R" to open the Run dialog
- Type "services.msc", then click "OK"
- Find the print spooler service in the list
- If it is not running, right-click on it and choose "Start"
And then I was able to print from Excel again.
Edit I got a message that another user had a similar problem, but their print spooler was listed as running. In their case stopping it (right-click and "Stop") followed by restarting fixed the problem.