Simple problem, i thought - probably the print spooler service has failed, or the print server is down, or something. Logged onto their print server, and it seems fine, it could print test pages and everything. It had shut down over the weekend though, due to a power cut, so i wondered if a service hadn't started correctly. A quick look at the services showed everything to be ok, so i did what every self-respecting sysadmin does when in doubt: a reboot.

It took a while to come back online (it's an old server now), but the same problem was occurring. I wasn't getting much joy with googling the error, but had to persist. Eventually, i found a list of codes that are generally unrelated to the actual problem i was getting, but had this specific error code listed as being a problem with clocks being out of synch. 

Ahah! A quick check on the server clock, and yes, the time and date were wrong - much have been the power cut, and probably a failing CMOS battery, which of course on a server that never usually shuts down, you'd never notice.

Flicked the time and date back to the present, and within a matter of seconds, people are printing away with glee.

Just a note to MS: I'd have saved about 20 minutes work if your error could say something a little more descriptive. Just saying.