I have been all over hell and high water trying to find some way to fix this error, but alas, my efforts have been fruitless; so here I am.

The Situation:

After moving about a week ago, I just got around to re-attaching my printer (aLexmark X1185). I then discovered that my computer (Windows XP sp2) apparently deleted my printer drivers all by itself, so now I cannot use the printer.

I downloaded the driver and tried to install it, but as soon as the WinZip extractor starts the installation program, it spits out this error message:
Setup has determined that the spooler service is stopped. In order to continue installation, it must be started. Do you want the spooler service started now? Choose 'Yes' to start the service and continue the installation or choose 'No' to exit the installation.

Well phoey. This throws a wrench in my plans. I choose 'Yes' and wait. And wait... And wait...
Nothing happens.

I try to install the driver again, and get the same error.

I try to start the spooler by going to Run and entering spoolsv.exe, but this also does nothing.

So I go to my Administrator Services in the Control Panel, open up Services, and try to start the Print Spooler, but I get this error:
Could not start the Print Spooler service on Local Computer.
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

I soon find myself cursing Windows Help for being utterly useless for answering any question more intelligent than "how do I pick my nose?"

Then I do some research online through wonderous Google, and discover that the spooler service is attached to the Remote Procedure Call, which I had disabled.

So I go back to my Administrator Services in the Control Panel, open up Services, and turn on the stupid RPC.

I then try to activate the Print Spooler again through the same menu, which should fix it, and lo and behold, I get the same error:
Could not start the Print Spooler service on Local Computer.
Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

And I was told this solution was supposed toFIX the problem!
(I start to get frustrated. Ineedmy printer working ASAP!)

I do more research, but everybody says this solution works. Obviously, itDOESN'T!

I find a hint to try enteringsc confing spooler depend= RPCSSin the Run command, which should disconnect the spooler from the troublesome group it wants to be part of. This results in a DOS window, displaying some techno-babble, and gives me a choice of seeing some help or not. I choose 'n' for no, and the DOS box dies. I try again, choosing "y" this time, and the DOS box still dies.

Obviously, this hint was bogus.

So here I am. Quite frustrated, if I do say so.
Anybody have another solution?