I'm using the Windows 7 RC (build 7100) on a Compaq laptop. I connect to the internet through my home network which inlcudes an XP and Vista machine. When I first began using Windows 7 I was able to print via a printer connected to the XP machine with no problems. Recently I tried to install print drives to print at my University. The drivers were Pharos drivers that are supposed to allow you to send print jobs to certain printers on campus where you can then release them once you pay the print fee. Unfortunately the drivers didn't install correctly and then I found that I could no longer print at home either. I tried uninstalling the drivers but they wouldn't unistall correctly either so I went into safe mode and manually deleted the directories they had installed too. I'm guessing that the registry is still messed up by the failed install. I tried reinstalling my home network printer but I get hte error message "Windows can't open Add Printer. The local print spooler service is not running. Please restart the spooler or restart the machine." whenever I hit the add printer button. I tried restarting the computer to no avail and I was able to restart the spooler service via the task manager/services button but this only let me get a little bit farther before running into more problems. Going through the network I am able to see the XP machine and the printger that is connected to it but still can't connect to the printer without getting an error message. I talked to a guy at geek squad who said that this is probably a registry problem but seeing as W7 isn't offical yet he couldn't really help me much more than that. Is there some way that I could reset the registry for printing back to the point it was at when W7 was first installed without actually reinstalling W7?

Hi, FYI, the following steps are for resetting printing sub system. Step 1======Start Windows Explorer, and then rename all files and folders in the following two folders:c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86 To rename a file, we can right click the file and select Rename.Step 2 ======1. Click Start, type REGEDIT in the Start Search Bar, and then press ENTER.2. Navigate to and then click the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86 View the list of subkeys. There should be only the following subkeys:Drivers Print Processors If there are any keys other than those listed above, follow these steps: a. On the File menu, click Export. b. In the File Name box, type a descriptive name for this key -- for example, type WindowsNTx86regkey -- and then click Save to save it to your local Desktop. We can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86 registry key to restore the key if you experience any problems after you complete this procedure. c. Delete all keys other than Drivers and Print Processors. Step 3======Navigate to and click the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors registry key. View the list of subkeys. There should be only the following subkeys: BJ Language Monitor Local PortMicrosoft Document Imaging Writer MonitorMicrosoft Shared Fax MonitorStandard TCP/IP PortUSB MonitorWSD PortIf there are any keys other than those listed in above, follow these steps to delete them:a. On the File menu, click Export. b. In the File Name box, type a descriptive name for this key -- for example, type Monitorsregkey -- and then click Save to save it to your local Desktop. We can use this backup of the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors registry key to restore the key if you experience any problems after you complete this procedure. c. Delete all keys other than the 5 listed above. Hope it helps.Arthur Xie - MSFT