LPR Port No Longer Appears as an Available Printer Port

ID: Q181624

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

LPR Port no longer appears as an available printer port and the printers that were previously configured for this port no longer exist.


CAUSE

This problem may occur for any of the following reasons:

  • You installed third-party printing software (such as Lexmark or Hewlett-Packard's JetAdmin printing software).


  • There is a corrupt port.



RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, perform the following steps:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

  1. Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).


  2. Go to the following key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print
    \Monitors

    NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.


  3. Remove any third-party monitors listed here. For example, Lexmark installs the following:

    Lexmark update
    Lexmark DLC network port
    Lexmark TCP/IP network port


  4. In Control Panel services, stop and restart the Spooler service.


If you continue to have problems, remove and reinstall the TCP/IP Printing service, reinstall the printer, and then reapply the latest Windows NT service pack.

For more information on how to remove the Lexmark MarkVision monitor, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q155516
TITLE : How to Remove the Lexmark MarkVision Monitor

Keywords : ntprint
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type :


Last Reviewed: February 2, 1999
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