You receive an error message, the print operation fails, or partial pages are printed when you try to print to a Citizen printer or to an Alps printer in Windows XP Service Pack 3

When you try to print to a Citizen printer or to an Alps printer in Windows XP Service Pack 3, you may experience the following symptoms:

• When you try to print a test page, you may receive the following error message:
  Test page failed to print. Would you like to view the printer troubleshooter for assistance?
• When you try to print a document that is not a test page, the print operation fails, or partial pages are printed.

This issue occurs with the following inbox printer drivers:

• Citizen Printiva 600C
• Citizen Printiva 700
• Citizen Printiva 1700
• Alps MD-1000 (MS)
• Alps MD-1300 (MS)
• Alps MD-1500 (MS)
• Alps MD-2010 (MS)
• Alps MD-2300 (MS)
• Alps MD-4000 (MS)
• Alps MD-5000 (MS)
• Alps MD-5000P (MS)

Note These inbox printer drivers are available when you install Windows XP.

This problem occurs because of an error in the Alpsres.dll plug-in in Citizen printers and in Alps printers. This problem can also occur with other printers that use version 0.3.1281.0 or an earlier version of the Alpsres.dll plug-in.

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Customer Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

You must install Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) before you apply this hotfix. To install Windows XP SP3, visit the following Windows Update Web site:

Replacement information

This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.