Canons100 won't uninstall or print!
 

Ok here's the intial info

Mobo MATSONIC MS8147c(r)
Win XP
AMD Athalon XP 1248 mgz
Only thing attached to the computer is the printer.

My beautiful son got me a scanner for Xmas. This is the only clue I can find that now my Canon S100 is now on strike. It won't print. Or it will print half a page and then give me the "Service error 5200" Telling me

It won't recognize the cartridge.

No problem so I bought a brand new cartridge and still no luck.

So I tried to uninstall it. It won't go away. I have gone to the c drive to erase it, control panel. I've done everything except call a priest to get the blasted thing off my computer!

I did uninstall the scanner just in case it has some bizarre connection to the problem since that was the only other thing I could see that had changed since the last time it changed.

Plus I'm guilty of refilling the ink cartridges with the over the counter refills. So I bought a brand new one and clean the heck out of the heads. Still no luck.

I hope I've provided enough information. Of course I'm desperate because I have so many things I now need to print!

Thank you so much for any assistance.

Ignoramus

The "cartridge not recognized" problem is not about the ink tanks, it's about the entire head/ink assembly. Take it out (large grey lever), clean the contacts with alcohol, try again. Homebrew refill ink that is chemically off (too much/too little alcohol) might kill the print head, resulting in the same problem - but usually, Canons are pretty sturdy in that aspect. So cleaning the contacts and seating the head assembly properly usually cures the problem.

Some changes you make to the system will not be completed until you Shutdown and power off the computer. If that still doesn't remove the printer then you'll need to hunt down the printer files and delete them and remove all of the printer entries from the registry. If there's some way you can still print a test page then do so. Take a look at the files it lists. You're looking for ones that seem to clearly be related to your make/model of printer or ones that have a date newer than August 23, 2001, when XP was finalized. Do a search for them and delete all with the newer date. If Windows doesn't let you delete one then it's probably because it's a service that's running. I can't guarantee that you won't delete a needed file but normally they just apply to the one printer. Next, set your folder settings to show all system files and uncheck hide extensions and system files(two different entries). Now open the INF folder under the Windows folder and right click and choose open with Wordpad on every file named OEM(X).inf until you locate the one for your printer. Delete it. Now open the Windows Run comand and type regedit. Under File, choose export, give it a name and save it to your Desktop or wherever you choose in case the next step goes wrong. If you make a mistake with registry, reboot to Safe Mode and Run regedit. Under File, choose import, select the file you previously exported and it should restore the registry to it's previous state. Under Edit, choose Find and type the name of your printer. Right click and delete all found entries. Hit F3 to continue the search until you get to the end. Then Shutdown the computer completely and then boot it back up. Try to install the printer again.

This is kind of down and dirty and if it's not your experience or comfort level, let us know. From experience Windows doesn't always uninstall things when you tell it to and sometimes this is the only way I know to clean things up.

Ok I already tried the alcohol trick but did it again just for good luck, still no go.
As for the next suggestion, well recall my name IGNORAMUS. It's not a misnomer. You've gone completely over my head. I did though reboot several times in my attempt to uninstall so I had tried that as well.

It will not let me print a test page. I would be willing to try your suggestion if you could baby it up for me.

You said



Take a look at the files it lists. You're looking for ones that seem to clearly be related to your make/model of printer or ones that have a date newer than August 23, 2001, when XP was finalized.

That's when you started going over my head. Sorry but can you back up a couple of steps to where I find the files?

Oh and by the way I had my son put the printer on his computer and it won't work on his computer either. It would not print for him either.

Thanks so much.

Ignoramus

I try never to judge a book by its cover. So, I just threw the whole thing out there. The files that the printer uses will be listed on the test page. It's just a lot easier if there's a place to start. In this case it's a moot point because it sounds like your printer bit the dust. With excellent printers costing around $50, it's probably not worth the headache of spending any more time troubleshooting or trying to repair it. Sorry we couldn't help.

Well, the S100 uses a replaceable print head unit BC-21e, which is hardly any more expensive than the inks it comes with. It's worth a shot. And if that fails too, you can still sell the new printhead to someone near you with a compatible printer. The entire BJC-4000 and -2000 series use the same head.

Well thanks guys. But let's not give up the ghost yet. I happened to keep a piece of paper that said Windows Xp printer test page. (Kept it from the time I install XP a few months ago) You're right TM12 there are additional files it says this:

C:\windows\SYSTEM32\SPOOL\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\CNMD23A .DLL

and so forth and so on. There is about 18 of these. How do I delete them?

Also I'm a big confused about what you call the print head. You mean that thingy (official technical term) that you lift out and put the new ink cartridges in when you change them? Cause I could try to buy that. Seems to me he's the real culprit. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Ignoramus:D

p.s i FOUND THE WAY TO DELETE THOSE FILES AND IT GAVE ME THE MIGHT SCREW UP YOUR COMPUTER WARNING. i'LL PASS. tHE PRINTER i MAY REPAIR THE COMPUTER THANKFULLY IS WORKING WELL AND I DON'T WANT TO SCREW THIS UP.

The black thing that carries the ink tanks and quite prominently says "BC-21e" on it is the print head. If you'd ever read the printer's manual ;) you would have found out that you do NOT take that out to change an ink cartridge. But now it's apparently broken, you do.

I understand your reluctance with deleting the files. Sounds like Peter's solution would be an easy and relatively inexpensive fix for the problem. Let us know how it comes out.