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I'm fixing a printer over at a friends house, that has ceased to work with her computer. It's a Lexmark Z715, and wasn't working previously when I tried to get it working.

I uninstalled the printer driver and attempted to reinstall it using the Lxk700 drivers for Windows XP.

When I attempted to re-install the Lxk700 driver, at the end of the installation I received the following error: "The RPC server is unavailable"

After checking in System Services (Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services) and noting that the "Print Spooler" service was stopped, I tried to start it and it said that one of the services dependencies was not running.

I immediately thought of the error message "The RPC server is unavailable" and noticed that the "Remote Procedure Call (RPC)" service was a dependency of the "Print Spooler".

I checked the "Remote Procedure Call (RPC)" service and noticed that it was running, and that additionally the "Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator" service was running as well.

I tried to start the "Print Spooler" service from the command line using the command "net start spooler" and got the error "system error 1068 has occured"

I repaired this error by looking at this thread and this other thread by running the command "del /Q /F /S "C:Windows\System32\Spool\Printers*.*"

And editing the registry key

HKEY_LOCAL _MACHINE\System\Current Control Set\Services\Spooler\DependOnService

Which looked like this:

LexBces RPCSS

and now looks like this:

RPCSS

I restarted the computer, I can start the print spooler just fine now.

And now I get the following error when installing the print driver:

"The specified print monitor is unknown"

UPDATE I got my VM with an old (but vanilla) copy of Windows XP installed on it. I couldn't get procmon working or any of the sofware suggested installed because it's only running sp0 (ie no service packs). However Regshot appears to work. So I took a Regshot before I installed the driver, and I took a Regshot after I installed the driver and then listed the comparison listed below:

(Paste-bin of changes: http://pastebin.com/VEJhMXde)

So I now am wondering if there is an easier way to remove these keys than just looking for all 647 of them. Is there some type of utility that will take a list of the keys and remove them?

fixer1234
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leeand00
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    ruddy mess, what I get from the web is, that the lexmark is mixing it up with the windows spooler (basically) and each step you take just adds one more issue. (according to all the fails on the web) http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312052 Myself I would have to go through and attempt full removal of the software and drivers the hard way, so it could reinstall. Disclaimer: You gotta have "nothing to lose" and a Backup. Disclaimer2 , I am just guessing,. – Psycogeek Oct 23 '11 at 15:41
  • Maybe I need to install the driver on a vm with a fresh copy of windows xp and monitor what registry keys/files are added and remove them in the end. – leeand00 Oct 23 '11 at 19:41
  • Ahh good idea. I always trace my installs with an uninstaller, works most of the time, but something like this kind of install would complicate it also. hmm, it IS possible to trace an install on one computer, than use the un-install log on the other. Also know that some printer/scanner installs want the device OFF during install of its software, which is counterintuitive. – Psycogeek Oct 23 '11 at 19:52
  • I was thinking of using something like procmon to find out what it was doing, do you have any better suggestions? – leeand00 Oct 24 '11 at 03:37
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    RegShot , or total uninstaller (both old and free to use) are tracer programs that trace everything. Regshot takes a pic of the registry, then you make changes (preferably only the ones you want to trace) then take another regshot, and use its compare. Revo uninstaller is also a uninstaller with tracing capability. But Like a full backup, tracing installs has to be done before. – Psycogeek Oct 24 '11 at 19:00
  • @Psycogeek So I now have Regshot of the registry changes; But! There are 647 changes that have been made to the registry...so um...um...are there any tools/utils that I can use to reverse all of those changes? I'm guessing your going to tell me not... – leeand00 Oct 25 '11 at 17:42
  • What a nightmare when your SuperUser print driver question turns into a StackOverflow registry question! – leeand00 Oct 25 '11 at 18:33
  • Lol of course there are 647 changes. but often many of them will be under the same header. I dont know what to tell you, because removing 600 changes is sort of fun sometimes, helps to have a backup, then you just rip into it head first without a lot of worry. common name items like say "lex???" can be searched to save time. – Psycogeek Oct 25 '11 at 20:50
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    Yeah I wish my client had created a back up... :D – leeand00 Oct 26 '11 at 02:59

1 Answers1

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Yes , there is a way to remove the registry items based on the list you have . A Minus sign in front of the key will remove it.

Just put in a minus sign in front of the key in the .Reg file, then import that reg file in. 

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Doc Find Spec MRU]

Like this, The minus sign tells it to Remove the item instead of add it. I dont remember why the [ ] braces are used or if that is nessisary.

The items that are strictly User based S-1-5-21-1715567821-688789844-1343024091-1003 Will not be the same on a different computer, because of the ID of the user will likely be different. but it is not a big problem

Your still going to want a backup, and might have to be somewhat selective on removal. I have only used the minus sign when I want to completly tear something out. soo, I dont know if you can JUST put it in front of all the items in the reg list there and do that.

Psycogeek
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  • But as always...make a backup first! :) Thanks man I'll try this next time I get over there. – leeand00 Oct 26 '11 at 05:39
  • Putting the - sign in using something like VIM macros oughta be easy, but yeah I understand what you mean about being selective. – leeand00 Oct 26 '11 at 05:54