The cause of many Windows service failures is the RPC service. Decoding of the abbreviation is a remote procedure call, and in the original - Remote Procedure Call. The article will discuss the version of this technology built into the Windows operating system that allows applications on different NT based OS computers (which include 2000 / XP / 2003/2008 / Vista / Seven) to exchange data streams through various protocols. At a high level for interaction, the standard of application interaction among themselves is used - DCOM (the so-called MSRPC). The transport layer is usually implemented using the TCP / IP and UDP network protocols . The message "RPC server is unavailable", due to a problem with the RPC service, may occur as a result of various actions. Most often this is installing printer drivers, trying to access a remote domain server , manipulating the video driver, and so on.
First, look at the event log (Start menu, select the second row and the Control Panel, and then Administrative Tools , and then View Events). This often helps determine the source of the problem. Sometimes this malfunction has a floating character, that is, everything turns out to work in the evening, and in the morning it is completely in order. Then be sure to check all computers on the network with an antivirus package with the latest updates. Symptoms may be manifestations of Conficker, a well-known malware exploiting the vulnerability of the RPC architecture. Try also to check the configuration of the firewall regarding the passage of packets through ports 135 through 445 (you can temporarily disable it with the sc sharedacess stop command) and update the system using patches from the Microsoft server (the "Automatic system update" service).
There is also a very simple way to eliminate the message "RPC server is unavailable" as soon as possible - replace the SYSTEM registry hive with a known one that does not have this problem. After all, it is there that the operating parameters of all services and drivers are stored. A broken service is a common cause of this problem. This can help if the virus has been introduced as a service, and not replaced an existing one, as is often the case. This is best done through the recovery console. But you can also use the System Restore service (you can go to the recovery console using the distribution kit) by specifying the date before the problem occurred, or through the Windows recovery console, copy the SYSTEM file from the REPAIR folder instead of the current one. It should be noted that the last action will reset the information about the equipment, which is fraught with a loss of time for moving all the devices of the system. Often this is the fastest and most effective way to deal with the difficulties associated with RPC, without having to delve into the problem and tinker with broken services.
If for some reason you don’t want to get rid of the message “RPC server is unavailable” in the above-mentioned way, then check with the sc query command typed in the console (to call the console, select the Start> Run menu, in the window that opens, type cmd) whether DcomLaunch services are running. RpcSS, Spooler. If they are not in the list, try starting them using sc start DcomLaunch commands; sc start RpcSS; sc start Spooler. If everything went well and the sc query command displays these services, you can now write them to the appropriate registry key using the sc config commands DcomLaunch start = auto; sc config RpcSs start = auto, sc config Spooler start = auto.
Still giving an "RPC Server Unavailable" error? Check for the presence of the Spoolss.exe and Spoolss.dll files in the C: \ Windows \ SYSTEM32 directory. Use the sfc / scannow command to check system files and replace damaged ones with original ones. After all, file system corruption could have occurred. In addition to problems with terminal connection via RDP and printing, which are more typical for previous generation operating systems - Windows 2000 / XP / 2003/2008, there are often problems expressed in the message "RPC server is unavailable" due to the lack of sound in Windows 7 The difference between this operating system is that the Windows Audio service is directly linked to the Power service. That is why the error "RPC server is unavailable" pops up. Windows 7, we note, has significant differences in system administration, more significant than the differences, say, Windows XP and Winodws 2000. In addition, it is recommended to check for the presence of the Spoolss.exe and Spoolss.dll files in the C: \ Windows \ SYSTEM32 directory.