Really large pain in the neck. When I purchased my main PC, it came with one of those "free" Lexmark printers that chew ink for breakfast and force you to clean the cartridges every two minutes.
A couple days ago, I decided to do my "let's analyze Task Manager and see if there is anything I can clean up" mid-year cleaning. I discovered a few applications that had managed to sneak back into the startup sequence either through updates or simply running them (I hate Apple QuickTime with a vengance). And I noticed a number of SYSTEM processes running. After uninstalling the Lexmark drivers and applications about a year ago, I noticed that Lexmark had kindly left stuff installed. I also noticed that I couldn't shut down and disable the Lexmark printer service without also eliminating the printer spooler. I realized it was going to be more effort than it was worth, so I left it alone.
Which brings me to today. Today I finally eliminated the last remnants of the Lexmark printer drivers. I got some hints from an Experts Exchange dialog that happened between someone else who wanted the same thing, but I realize that there are a LOT of people out there with the same problem - LexBceS.exe and LexPPS.exe keep coming back from the dead and showing up in Task Manager complete with dependencies on the printer spooler. So, I've created a solution that takes just a few keypresses and 'poof' everything Lexmark printer driver related is removed from the system:
http://www.cubiclesoft.com/Unrelated/RemoveLexmark.bat
The above batch file is pretty cheesy looking when it runs (as far as applications go, it looks very old-school). It also only works properly on Windows XP and later. You can easily tweak it by saving it to your hard drive and right-clicking and selecting the 'Edit' option. The "XP-only" feature in question is the 'taskkill' section. 'taskkill' is a utility that kills a running process from the command-line. You can replace those lines with pskill from SysInternals (www.sysinternals.com) but that is an extra download and I was feeling lazy.
Even when you finish running RemoveLexmark.bat, you will want to go into the C:\WINDOWS directory and search for Lex*.* files. On my machine, three files that were supposed to be deleted by the batch file didn't get deleted. So I manually deleted them.
The fact that it takes a batch file from an advanced programmer that executes a ton of commands to remove Lexmark's terrible print drivers from a system says something about the quality of the programmers at Lexmark.
A couple days ago, I decided to do my "let's analyze Task Manager and see if there is anything I can clean up" mid-year cleaning. I discovered a few applications that had managed to sneak back into the startup sequence either through updates or simply running them (I hate Apple QuickTime with a vengance). And I noticed a number of SYSTEM processes running. After uninstalling the Lexmark drivers and applications about a year ago, I noticed that Lexmark had kindly left stuff installed. I also noticed that I couldn't shut down and disable the Lexmark printer service without also eliminating the printer spooler. I realized it was going to be more effort than it was worth, so I left it alone.
Which brings me to today. Today I finally eliminated the last remnants of the Lexmark printer drivers. I got some hints from an Experts Exchange dialog that happened between someone else who wanted the same thing, but I realize that there are a LOT of people out there with the same problem - LexBceS.exe and LexPPS.exe keep coming back from the dead and showing up in Task Manager complete with dependencies on the printer spooler. So, I've created a solution that takes just a few keypresses and 'poof' everything Lexmark printer driver related is removed from the system:
http://www.cubiclesoft.com/Unrelated/RemoveLexmark.bat
The above batch file is pretty cheesy looking when it runs (as far as applications go, it looks very old-school). It also only works properly on Windows XP and later. You can easily tweak it by saving it to your hard drive and right-clicking and selecting the 'Edit' option. The "XP-only" feature in question is the 'taskkill' section. 'taskkill' is a utility that kills a running process from the command-line. You can replace those lines with pskill from SysInternals (www.sysinternals.com) but that is an extra download and I was feeling lazy.
Even when you finish running RemoveLexmark.bat, you will want to go into the C:\WINDOWS directory and search for Lex*.* files. On my machine, three files that were supposed to be deleted by the batch file didn't get deleted. So I manually deleted them.
The fact that it takes a batch file from an advanced programmer that executes a ton of commands to remove Lexmark's terrible print drivers from a system says something about the quality of the programmers at Lexmark.
Thank you so much, I tried everything to get the LexBec Service out of the services menu. Every-time I disabled it I could not use my printer and the printer and fax icons were removed. The Lexmark printer was uninstalled but I found these .exe in the System 32 folder LexBec.exe and Lexmark.exe.
ReplyDeleteThe printer I have now is a HP. I contacted HP and they gave me instructions to change it but it did not work. I am going to send them your link.
Thanks again
Connie, I'm glad this was useful to someone. I wrote this entry several months ago and was somewhat disappointed no one had used the tool up to this point (or at least no one ever let me know).
ReplyDeleteI use a HP LaserJet 1020 now...and it is an amazing little printer - high-quality B&W laser.
Worked like a charm for me! I had purchased a new HP Photosmart 3310 All-in-One in January (quite a nice device BTW), installed the software, but the Lexmark drivers prevented me from getting full functionality out of my scanner. Even HP Tech Support could not help me, and Lexmark...forget about them! There were several other annoying glitches, too. So, when I finally lost the scanner completely, I removed the HP software, found your "RemoveLexmark.bat" and puff...the dreded Lexmark is toast! Then I reinstalled the latest HP software and everything now works smoothly as it should. A BIG THANKS to you Tom!
ReplyDeleteNeil
psycleman: Excellent! And you are most welcome. I'm a software developer. Most technical support people really don't do much but follow a "script". Should you ever need something done along these lines again (i.e. where regular tech. support is beyond useless), I'm the man for the job.
ReplyDeleteExcellent fix! Worked like a charm for me after trying numerous other 'fixes' that didn't work. Why Lexmark makes the Spooler dependant on their proprietary print driver is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteHello Thomas.
ReplyDeleteI too am fighting with my Lexmark drivers, so your wee tool is just thing ... BUT ... while running your .bat file, you say do not continue if under 'Dependencies' anything other than 'LexBceS' and 'RPCSS' is shown.
Mine shows those two AND "http".
What to do? I am a little scared to continue as I do not want smoke to come out of my machine :-)
Can you help please?
Perhaps some 'environment information' would help you. I am currently using an HP all-in-one (2610) successfully, on an HP laptop running Vista. I also use a wireless router from D-Link which INCLUDES a wireless print server. So essentially I have made my printer wireless via the router. I suspect that that is where the "http" piece comes from.
Thanks a ton.
Ivan
Thank you for having this file available. I had been using a Z82 and have had nothing but problems since I moved with WIN XP machines.
ReplyDeleteThe printer works fine, but after all these problems with drivers. I'm giving up and getting something else.
Sorry for the delayed reply everyone. I just completed a move from the Lansing, MI area to Tucson, AZ.
ReplyDeleteivan: The first step is to find the 'http' NT service and determine what it is. Then, if you need the service it refers to, you'll need to modify the batch file before executing it. This is a pretty delicate operation. Feel free to call me - 517-803-4197. That's my business line.
I am going to try this tool on a computer shortly. Unfortunately, I think the printer spool is already screwed up from attempting to manually remove the driver, so it may not solve my problem (spool service will not start). I'll be sure to post the results.
ReplyDeleteHi, first of all, thank you for this wonderful software.
ReplyDeleteI haven't removed my Lexmark driver yet cuz the "DEPENDENCIES" lists the following:
DEPENDENCIES: RPCSS
: http
Can i continue with the removal? If not, can you let me know what else I should do?
Tiffany - You seem to have the same problem as 'ivan' above. I did some quick Internet searching. If you are running Windows Vista, the 'http' NT service dependency might be the cause of the extra service (finding the service dependency can be tricky apparently). My recommendation is to NOT run my tool unless you are familiar with how to make changes to batch files.
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Lexmark driver removal batch file you wrote. I don't own a Lexmark printer, but I did install one while over at a friend's house with my Vista laptop trying to work on his computer (long story; won't go into it). Since then I've tried to remove it, but had all the standard items left over. Your tool removed them all. I would guess that tracking down all the hooks Lexmark puts into the driver was probably the hard part. I just want to thank you for putting that time in for all the rest of us.
-Mark
Mark - Thank you for the compliment.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to install VerifyMyPC on your friend's computer as well. Yeah, I know, tooting my own horn as I wrote that product too (but who cares? If you like the Lexmark removal tool, VerifyMyPC is worth checking out).
The sole purpose of VerifyMyPC is to make diagnosing software problems easier - it assumes there will be computer problems and tracks only those changes to the system. It allows people like you and me to go back and understand any recent computer problem in five minutes or less. It doesn't directly fix problems. It merely collates all the system's changes into coherent English sentences with the assumption that something will go wrong and that humans with a technical background are smarter than computer programs. Basically, for us tech. support people, VerifyMyPC helps us.
So, try VerifyMyPC out on your computer first. If you like it, put it on your friend's computer too. Anything that simplifies our lives is a great piece of software.
Hi! I have a 'little' problem with Lexmark 5200 Series software. A few days ago I went to a friend with my laptop to print a very important document, because I thought it would be easier to install the printer on my computer. I have Windows Vista. When I connected the printer, it installed everithing it needed from the CD. The printer did not work, I couldn't print the document, and now I am stuck with all that useless software that's in the Windows Startup as well. The problem is I cannot find a way to uninstall it, as there is no entry in the Add/Remove Programs and no shortcut in Start/software folder for an uninstall operation. I found your bat file, but it says to uninstall all the software before running it. Any idea how could I remove the useless software?
ReplyDeleteThere should be an Add/Remove programs entry, but if it has already been run or if the drivers were simply installed without any associated applications (also a possibility), then the system is ready to run the batch file.
ReplyDeleteYou will still need to wander through the C:\Windows\System32 directory (and Printers subdirectories) and look for anything leftover. Lexmark printer drivers have this amazing ability to come back from the dead.
Thanks, it never occurred to me that one could readd RPCSS to Spooler service with sc config, had the stupid lexmark service running for ages without having a physical printer. I only use a print to PDF file driver now and have my stuff printed at a copy shop. Got tired of dried up cartridges. :)
ReplyDeleteHuh! THANK YOU! &.. Merry Christmas :)
ReplyDeleteI just can't thank you enough. I'm a support technician and have had trouble with this problem before. Luckily I came across your removal tool and it worked like a charm.
ReplyDeleteAlso in windows vista you have to give this program Administator's rights by right clicking on the program and choosing Run As Administrator.
Thank you very much!!
Chad - You're most definitely welcome. Thanks for the Vista tip. You're definitely right about it being necessary to run the batch file as Administrator (Elevated privileges) as it has to be able to interact with Windows Services and tell the Lexmark and Print Spool services to start/stop/etc.
ReplyDeleteYou are wonderful!!! Worked GREAT! Thanks for sharing! Lexmark "LexBec" virus if you ask me. But also...I wouldn't have had to buy a new printer were it not for Vista's Device Incompatibility issues, who knew...what a PITA.
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
This is brilliant - I've been griping about this forever and just found your solution. Worked perfectly. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteB, partlycloudy - you are both welcome.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.....after months (3 to be exact) of hair pulling, purchasing a NEW printer and several go rounds with Lexmark, Hp and Microsoft.....now I find your fix for a problem that never should have been. I will NEVER buy another lexmark printer. Thanks for taking the time to help out those of us who aren't developers....and apparently the lexmark developers as well since they couldn't be bothered. You are a life saver!
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteI have the lexmark curse also and getting the http listed when I run your file. Is there a batch file for vista home premium? Or is it safe to run yours?
Thank you for your help!
bc - I don't know if it is safe or not. No one to date has figured out what the 'http' service is.
ReplyDeleteI've had a X63 for years and the printer part has been dead for many of them. I have been using just the scanner for some time. However, I had to change computers and I couldn't get the X63 scanner to work without the printer. Even the Lexmark scan manager couldn't scan. Error msg said the port was in use by another process, etc. I used you .bat file and it cleared out all of the printer drivers and low and behold, the scanner now works like a charm. Great work. Needless to say, I'll never ever have anything to do with Lexmarka again.
ReplyDeleteI finally got my dell printer working, something leftover from lexmark kept shutting off my printer spooler but all is fine now that i found this.. thank you very much
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this. (I can totally relate to what you said about tech support people being worse than useless when they are just following scripts!!)
I had a lexmark, actually ended up returning it because my computer kept trying to boot from it, got a dell instead, and discovered that the dell is almost exactly the same animal, right down to the graphic design of the accompanying software. I had the same USB booting issue, which I eventually ended up fixing by turning off USB emulation in my BIOS. However, the printer still just does not work very well. The biggest issue I have with it right now is that when my printer USB is plugged in, none of my other USB ports will work, including my wireless adapter, which, as you can imagine, is very annoying. Once upon a time, using a different USB cord, it worked, but I've since tried several cords and none of them worked, so I'm not really sure the cord is the issue.
Anyway, last week, I got a stop error when plugging my wireless adapter back in after using my printer. (Communication between my computer and printer has been degenerating in general--often I can't scan from the user interface these days.) Anyway, I feel pretty sure that the stop error was caused by my printer driver in some way. I looked at the device manager and saw that my computer sees my printer as "USB Mass Storage Device", which other websites have said is due to my printer having memory card slots. However, I feel like my computer might really not be using the appropriate drivers for my printer, and that maybe that is what is causing all these issues. Thus, I began to try to force my computer to use the right drivers, and...what I discovered is that tons of stuff from my old Lexmark is still all over my computer.
So, I downloaded Revo Uninstaller and CCleaner, neither of which got rid of all the Lexmark stuff. I tried your .bat thing, which ran fine but I don't think it really fixed my problem, because I don't think I had the spooler dependency issue.
So here are my questions:
1. Do you have any idea what else I can do to purge my computer of remaining Lexmark crap? The most obvious thing I see is the folder C:\drivers\printer\5400, which is full of tons of Lexmark stuff. Can I just delete that safely?
2. Do you have any idea what else I can do to improve my printer functioning? It'll be interesting to see if getting rid of the last traces of Lexmark helps. I kind of doubt it, though. I'm not really sure how to force my computer to actually use the _printer_ driver, not the _USB Mass Storage Device_ driver.
Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks so much.
Update: I reinstalled the Dell printer stuff from links provided on Fixya (the guy there was saying that there were known issues with the original printer driver). Now the USB driver is still showing up, but at least a printer driver is as well, which is definitely an improvement. I haven't tried printing yet, so I don't know if the performance is more stable. Hopefully so. And hopefully I won't get a repeat of the stop error.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I still can't have both my printer and my wireless adapter working at once. And, I'd still love to get rid of the rest of the Lexmark crap. So, please do let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!
You say you installed "Revo Uninstaller and CCleaner". I've never heard of the former and the website is indicative of various spyware vendors. CCleaner (along with most registry cleaners) is known to make problems worse and/or create new ones, essentially forcing a reinstall of Windows. Running the batch file for the Lexmark printer driver removal has very specific instructions. Failure to heed the instructions can result in an unstable system.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your buried questions from your first post:
1) I've never seen the Lexmark drivers installed to that directory. The Dell driver installation program probably extracted those to that location as C:\drivers is a pretty typical target for Dell. Deleting those files will most likely have zero effect.
2) No idea. The next time you get a BSOD, write down the information on the screen (or save a tree and use a digital camera to take a picture of the screen) and search Google for the STOP code, which will turn up results that should be relevant to the actual problem.
3) Try reinstalling Windows but what you describe is incredibly bizarre. I've never heard of anything like your scenario of "booting from a printer". Something, somewhere is seriously hosed if your computer sees the printer as a boot device. If reinstalling the OS doesn't work, it is lower-level than that and the hardware is bad (probably the motherboard).
But before jumping to the conclusion that the hardware inside the computer is bad, USB devices require power. I found out, the hard way, that many motherboard manufacturers skimp on supplying power to each USB slot:
http://cubicspot.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-learned-something-new.html
If you have a LOT of USB devices plugged in (more than three), this could be your problem as well. Insufficient power to USB devices can cause all sorts of weird junk to happen. Getting an external, powered USB hub is an easy solution to power issues.
Huh. 262 million results for:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/search?q=pc+attempts+to+boot+from+printer
Make sure that USB devices are searched for after the hard drive. Other than that, I really don't see how a printer could be used as a boot device. Some forums say something about SD cards and printers (e.g. an SD card reader on a printer), but if nothing is in there, it shouldn't affect anything. Even then, you would need a specially formatted SD card to be bootable. I'd be very leery of an SD card that is labeled as bootable (a virus perhaps).
As I said above, USB devices tend to draw a lot of power of the total 200mA alloted to the hub and pretty much assume they are the only device on each hub. So something simple like a mouse, printer, and USB thumbdrive together can easily draw more than the 200mA the motherboard supplies (at which point all bets are off in terms of a stable machine). Mouse + printer works, mouse + thumbdrive works, each individually works, but altogether they draw more than 200mA.
I'd wager half the people with problems involving their printers doing weird stuff are actually experiencing insufficient power issues. Dell cuts a LOT of corners and the motherboard is probably one of the first corners they cut - and USB hubs and power are probably the first thing to get cut by cheapskate motherboard manufacturers.
Thanks Thomas!
ReplyDeleteFinally I got rid of that bloody driver. And the machine as well....!
Thank you. Been grappling with this problem since 2003!
ReplyDeleteI just found this great site but had the opposite (I think) problem. My daughter just installed a new Lexmark series 5000 all-in-one and now has a boot problem that leaves her with only a black screen and blinking cursor unless she starts up the CPU before plugging in the printer. Lexmark tech support says ya have to disable the USB Emulation but that only the manufacturer can do it. (it's a Dell XP, SP3) Like, HUH? After reading this last post of yours, I'm 99.9% convinced it's a motherboard problem. I've been telling her for weeks now that she has a hardware problem and her cooling fans are not running. I pulled off the case and it helped a bit, but I'm not putting any further effort into resurrecting the tired old, semi-fried Dell to work with her new printer! Relocated from Lansing, eh? So did I!
ReplyDeleteI got rid of a Lexmark 4200 series after it failed during a print job a couple years ago.
ReplyDeleteNow I am not able to uninstall the software, b/c the print job was incomplete. I have read some of the posts here, but I have an additional issue. I am reluctant to do too much to rid my pc of the Lexmark files, because I replaced the old Lexmark with a different Lexmark printer. (DOH!!)
Now what can I do to fix this matter ?
I've always done this manually (with a lot more work), but just ran into a need for one of my clients to do it without me.
ReplyDeleteFound your great little batch file, made a few changes to it and sent it to my client :)
Check out my changes if you wish at:
http://www.computerems.ca/Files/RemoveLexmark.bat
Feel free to use it if you like it...
Lexmark X6170 vista XP NT trace removal tool
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. After a whole day of frustration, following instructions from the Lexmark site, and many others, the batch file here works like a charm. I had to right-click the CMD file before I ran the batch file thru it, to run it as an administrator.
Congratulations. Feeling free of Lexmark !
ReplyDeleteWow. Double click, hit the spacebar a couple times, and it's gone for good. Nice and neat.
ReplyDeleteWOW you are the best man! I have been trying to install my lexmark for like 3-4 days until i found this. I ran it, rebooted, installed, and now it works!
ReplyDeleteThomas, would this batch file work in the following situation?
ReplyDeleteA friend had XP and I upgraded her to Vista, and then to Win 7 (not the best idea, I know, lol). When I uninstalled the XP printer driver and tried to install the Vista printer driver (Lexmark's site says Vista driver will work for 7), the setup file says something about the old driver version still being there and that it needs to uninstall it and restart. I've done that several times but it never uninstalls the old version. I'm stuck in a loop of sorts.
Would your batch file uninstall the XP driver completely for me so that I could try installing the Vista driver?
Yvonne - It might not completely uninstall it, but it should disconnect the driver from the system so that you can delete the files. You may have to do what I did which was to run the batch file, then search for files that looked like Lexmark files (searching for '*lex*' tends to turn up locations), and then delete those files. You may have to repeat the procedure a couple times. But eventually Windows will give up and let you delete everything Lexmark related.
ReplyDeleteThomas-
ReplyDeleteAfter running the program, I checked the batch files and see several items with "Lex". However, when I try to delete them, it says "You require permision from TrustedInstaller to make changes to this file". What do I do now?
@Arryn - Try running the batch files as Administrator (right-click, Run As Administrator...) That should handle most things. Then, to delete any remaining files, you may have to run a Command Prompt as Administrator (same process) and delete them by hand.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming you are running Vista or Windows 7, which, by default, runs processes at a lower privilege level than Administrator. Makes removing things like the Lexmark printer driver a bigger pain in the neck.
Thomas, I have just made two cardinal sins of using helpful sites like yours - barging in too quickly & overlooking "small" details, and not reading down the other posts. Now I fear I may have let a genie out of the bottle.
ReplyDeleteTo explain, I an running Win7 Home Premium, and until recently was able to get my old Lexmark P6210 to work with it - just. After some home network issues, I deleted the printer driver from Control Panel, but when I tried to reinstall the driver from the Lexmark website, it repeatedly told me that it needed to uninstall an old version first.
So I eventually made it here to your site & ran your batch file. What I negelected to do was follow the advice given to Ivan & Tiffany, as I also had "http" Dependency listed, and ran the batch file anyway.
So my question is whether I can "undo" what the batch file did and restore http? I seem to have cleaned the system so well that I can't get the new driver to load at all.
I am also getting a runtime error message popping up repeatedly: "Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library...Runtime Error! Program: c:\windows\system32\spoolsv.exe".
This is all a bit overwhelming for an old fella looking to just print a letter!
Thanks in advance.
David
Restoring the 'http' dependency is doable. On Windows Vista and later where the 'http' dependency shows up, edit the batch file in Notepad and locate the line that says:
ReplyDeletesc config Spooler depend= RPCSS
Replace it with:
sc config Spooler depend= RPCSS/http
If you ran the batch file and accidentally damaged the print spooler process (Spooler), simply rerun the batch file again after making this one change.
'sc' is a command-line tool that is found on WinXP and later to manipulate Windows Services. That specific command says to modify the configuration of the Spooler NT Service so that its dependencies are 'RPCSS' and 'http'.
Reboot after making the change and then try installing your print drivers again.
No surprize here --- all these new companies are fishy and make you install crapwear to use their printers. Why --- MONEY!!! How? the software examines your usage, and does other horrable things. Google "lexmark using spyware" and you'll see.
ReplyDeleteBTW: batch files are NOT cheesy! My old color inkjet (it was one of the first color inkjets in the world ;) ) used a batch file to install the driver, and it included ONLY the MINIMAL driver, no extra crapwear!
THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteI was having issues with printer redirection. The remote host had the redirected printer, and when you printed, it just never printed - the job was stuck in the queue. Uninstalling didn't fix the issue, but uninstalling and running this utility did the trick!
THANK YOU
wow, what a blog. this post has been around a while, but thought i'd venture a post:
ReplyDeletei installed this printer driver on my Win7 Starter system. i probably didn't want it. alas, it doesn't show anywhere, so i can neither use it nor uninstall.
is there a way to find and uninstall this driver?
http://support.lexmark.com/index?docLocale=en_US&page=content&id=DR21179&locale=en&userlocale=EN_US
As far as I know, this should still uninstall anything Lexmark installed. Just because it doesn't show up anywhere doesn't mean there aren't files on the system that need to be removed that this little utility can't take care of. It is still a tenuous process that you have to be careful with but it should work fine and the comments contain all sorts of useful tips regarding the tool. Lexmark drivers aren't easy to remove.
DeleteHi Thomas,
ReplyDeleteIs your lexmark bat file still available, the link up top does not seem to be working. i have had huge issues with my x4650 lately. major pain, even went through 4 levels of technicians trying to uninstall their software on my cpu remotely and they all failed, finally i reinstalled windows 7 and all was fine for a while. Now again the printer fails to print and i am at it again trying to remove every trace of lexmark drivers, but no luck, the newest 64 bit driver software installation keeps saying i have old print drivers that need to be removed. i remove them (supposedly) and then restart, software installation again repeats that old drivers are installed. if your bat is still available i would love to try it out.
Oops! I moved my website to a new server and transferred most stuff. This rather popular file didn't get moved during the main migration process. I just put it back up. Let me know how it goes.
DeletePart of the instructions is to locate any remaining Lexmark bits left behind (although I say to check the 'C:\WINDOWS' directory, I guess on your system you also need to go through 'C:\Program Files'). All the batch file does is remove the Lexmark service and do some basic cleanup. You may still have to go through your system and, with extreme prejudice, purge everything Lexmark related.
DeleteI also recommend the excellent NirSoft MyUninstaller and USBDeview to remove any relevant Lexmark entries left behind in the installed applications list and USB devices list respectively.
Once it is completely gone, then reinstall the drivers.
If the problem persists, then see if some other software product is interfering. For example, anti-virus software is notorious for randomly interfering with the proper operation of other software - malware can also interfere too.
Contacting Lexmark about their broken product might get you somewhere but I highly doubt it.
got the download but unfortunately the driver installation software continues to refuse installation stating an older driver version is present. thanks for upping the bat again. funny the printer works fine from my wifes laptop but windows 7 keeps crapping it out every few weeks, i thinks it something in the automatic updates. no biggy i rarely print from this cpu just a major pain when i want to.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Lexmark has added registry and/or file sniffing to their installer, making it an even bigger nightmare to remove. Bleh. See my reply to 'jab od' above.
DeleteThanks for this, Thomas. It's still very useful.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the HP 1020 is a wonderful printer.
Thomas, hoping you can help me. I have tried to remove my Lexmark drivers but can't. I have a "Lexmark Pro800-Pro900" entry in the programs list. When I click "uninstall" it comes back and says program is running, can't uninstall. I have tried deleting all Lexmark printer definitions but they are still there if I go to Devices and Printers. I ran your removelexmark.bat as administrator but got to a point where the Dependencies were: RPCSS & http. I quit at that point. I have tried rebooting multiple times but I always end up trying to print but hanging and then when wife tries to print to printer it is busy for her. I am willing to try anything to get rid of the files on my computer. Thanks for all your help.
ReplyDeleteGary
Nice. Lexmark loves their circular dependencies. Be sure to unplug the printer before removing the drivers - otherwise you'll just end up where you started again. Here's what I'd try doing: Go into Control Panel -> Administration Tools -> Services and locate any Lexmark services that are running. Open each one up and permanently disable them. Next, scour the file system looking for any references to Lexmark drivers. The fastest way to do that is to launch a Command Prompt, 'cd c:' (without quotes), 'cd \', 'dir /s lex*.*'. Then, anything obviously Lexmark-related, find and delete with prejudice. If you can't delete a specific file, don't worry too much about it. Reboot the machine. At that point, the Lexmark drivers should be hosed badly enough to simply not load any more. Next, go get a little freeware tool called MyUninstaller from a little company called NirSoft (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/myuninst.html). Use it to remove Lexmark installation entries from the registry. Finally, do a sweep of the hard drive again looking for remnants of the Lexmark drivers, launch 'regedit', search for registry entries related to Lexmark (but try to be careful here), and delete them. At this point, the Lexmark installer will be unable to detect that it has installed anything before. Reboot the machine. Then, run the installer for the Lexmark drivers. At this point you might want to ask yourself why not just get a better printer with drivers that are well-written? Finally, plug the printer back in.
DeleteYou might have to do the above twice. If it doesn't work, then I have no idea how to fix the issue other than to reinstall the OS. Removing Lexmark drivers is a manual process in not a few cases. The programmers at Lexmark aren't very good as evidenced by this blog post and the numerous comments over the years.
Loved your explanations, loved your style, thank you, Thomas !!!! Used the link... hope it has done the job .... will let you know, LOL !!!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Antwerp/Belgium
Iris
OMG, I think your link (http://www.cubiclesoft.com/Unrelated/RemoveLexmark.bat) worked - it seems, all of Lexmark is gone now !!!!!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope, I'll be able to install my new printer tomorrow - LOL !!! But in the meantime THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU -
I'm a happy person now, thank you, Thomas !!!
Iris (Antwerp)
I'm repeatedly impressed in the ways that this post continues to help people. It is the little things that bring joy and happiness.
DeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteI have a Lexmark 3400 and have a pop up that has a green screen advertisement that says BRONTOK.A(10) -Hentikan Kebobrokan Di Negeri Ini-,Say No To Drugs etc. Everytime you close it, it closes out what your working on. Also the computer won't boot up while the priter cable is pluged in. Do I need a new driver or what do I do? Hope you can help, Thank you
For the first part, that might be a virus(?) interfering with normal operations of your computer or a bug in the Lexmark printer software. This post is about removing Lexmark drivers so that the computer can be free of the garbage that is Lexmark printer driver software.
DeleteThe second issue about not being able to boot with the printer cable plugged in might be related to this other post I wrote:
http://cubicspot.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-learned-something-new.html
Or it could also be malware related. My personal policy is that if the computer is doing stuff that isn't "normal", then reinstall the OS. I prefer the nuke-it-from-orbit approach to problem solving other people's problems.
Wow this is a bit old but your post is the only one I have really found helpful. My computer is a old eMachines model so I am bringing this up. I have a new HP 6830 printer/sanner/fax on a wireless network. I ran your file and it will print now but when i try to scan it say HP 6830 not found. Any idea why?? After running your file I still have lots of Lex files. Can I simply delete those?? Thanks again for your help.
ReplyDeleteYou should try uninstalling first via the Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. That way it has a chance to remove cleanly. Then maybe run my program. Then maybe remove any stragglers left behind. At that point you should be free of the Lexmark printer drivers. You may have to reinstall your HP 6830 drivers so that the OS picks them up.
DeleteHowever! It's also possible that everything is fine but the power to the hardware is not. USB in most machines wasn't built to handle lots of devices attached. Thumbdrives are a huge USB power draw (~150mA) and I imagine scanner initialization could put power draw over the limit if multiple devices are plugged in at the same time. Try disconnecting unnecessary devices and see if that fixes the problems with scanner detection. If that works, then you have a power issue and you should buy a "powered USB hub" for the computer (I use Newegg for most of my computer equipment needs). A dedicated powered USB hub delivers 200mA of power to each individual USB port instead of sharing 200mA across all ports as found on the motherboard itself.
So my recommendation is that since the printer works but the scanner doesn't that you make sure it isn't a hardware/power draw issue first before you begin messing around with files. You can also try reinstalling the drivers and plugging the printer/scanner into a different USB port to see if that fixes the issue. I'll have USB devices occasionally flake out and plugging it into a different USB port causes them to work again. It's probably a momentary power drop issue but I can't prove it because it only happens very rarely. Electricity is a fickle thing.
Hi Thomas!
ReplyDeleteMost of my Lexmark remnant files start with "lxd". (maybe its a regional variation thing). Should I edit the batch file to reflect this? Also I have "http" as a dependency, did you ever what the story is/was about that?
My OS is Vista. I'm trying to reinstall the drivers for my X5495 for the umpteenth time. The issue is that the printer keeps stalling, usually when printing large images. See link on Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2992076/lexmark-x5495-printer-freezes-printing.html
You can certainly try that. I'd be very wary about odd dependencies. If I recall, the dependency issue was related to *circular* dependencies - the services somehow ended up depending on each other, making the Lexmark drivers VERY hard to remove and my batch file would mess up the other service in the process. It's been a long time but I recall you have to manually detach the conflicting services using command-line service management tools BEFORE running my tool.
DeleteLooking at your post on Tom's Hardware, my only recommendation with your printer is to strictly stick to the driver. The extra software is not necessary to print to a Windows printer and can get in the way.
My other recommendation is to buy a different printer. If you can do without color, then a generic black and white laser printer is generally a better option. My HP LaserJet 1020 is still "rocking it" on its first toner cartridge. Then again, I don't print a lot of stuff - a couple dozen pages a year. If you print a lot of high-res images, laser printers are better than InkJet - higher quality results the first time, no messy inks, and usually less annoying software. IMO, the mental stress reduction is worth the extra cost. The only downside with laser printers are if you need to print onto non-paper materials - only InkJets can do that.
I have tried this method but your remove Lexmark file detected as virus by my antivirus system. Is there any other way to fix this issue ?
ReplyDeleteGiven how old this software is, I don't know what to say to fix it. It's a batch file I wrote back in 2006, the source code is something you can read, and it doesn't make any changes until you allow it to do so. If your anti-malware software is picking it up, then you should ask the vendor about it.
DeleteThere's also virustotal.com, which will run software through pretty much every malware scanner out there:
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/6ac44394eaeaac10512963c62b65de04914bf521b47af63983c9ec38ffe8353e/detection
Just ran the scan and it came up empty-handed. IMO, anti-malware software doesn't work very well. It will detect things as malware that aren't (false positives) and miss things that are (false negatives). For any given anti-malware product, you'll get SOME coverage but probably miss most zero-days and declare a body of software as malware that actually isn't. They're useful for blocking well-known malware, but terrible at blocking zero-days, which happen to be the vast majority of malware today. Education and good backups are better weapons than intrusive software products.