Article ID: 255507 - Last Review: March 1, 2007 - Revision: 3.2

No Local Ports Are Available for Printers

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This article was previously published under Q255507
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/ ) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
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SYMPTOMS

There may be no local ports available when you are configuring printers. Any printers that are connected to a local port may stop working with the following error message:
Failed to open, retrying
Also, you may not be able to print to devices connected to LPT or COM ports.
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CAUSE

The driver for the local port monitor (Localspl.dll) may have been replaced by a third-party local port monitor. This print monitor may have been designed for previous versions of Windows and installed as part of a printer driver for your device.
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RESOLUTION

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To resolve this issue:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the following key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors\Local Port
  3. Modify the Driver string value by double-clicking it, or by clicking it and then clicking String on the Edit menu. Change the string value to localspl.dll.
  4. Click OK, and then quit Registry Editor.
  5. Stop and restart the Spooler service.
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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
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MORE INFORMATION

When you are using the standard local port monitor (Localspl.dll), the available ports are LPT1 through LPT4, COM1 through COM4, and FILE.
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
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Keywords: 
kbprb kbprint KB255507
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