WinXP default fax software no longer works

[Guest]

In the past, I have had some difficulties with the default fax software
including with WinXP. However, most of the time, after several tries, I
could successfully send and receive faxes using this software. Also, the
"fax monitor" used to always accurately reflect what was going on, even if
just to report that the transmission failed, whereas now, it no longer shows
information such as number dialed, page currently being received, etc., and
the overall status of "receiving fax" continues even after the fax has has
already failed and the call has been disconnected.

I downloaded a trial version of third-party fax software, and it appears to
be working fine [so far I have only tested receiving a fax, but it went
fine], so I think that my modem is fine. If anyone knows of a solution with
the default WinXP fax software, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You've tied a knot no one could possibly unravel in a newsgroup setting. The
configuration changes you made that disabled Windows XP Fax in the first
place must be known. After it "stopped working", exactly what XP Fax did and
did not do including error messages must be known.
The introduction of another fax program probably complicates the issue
beyond remedy. XP Fax is unlikely to work after another fax program using
TAPI initializes the modem.

 

[Guest]

Dear Russ,

Thanks for your input on this.

You've tied a knot no one could possibly unravel in a newsgroup setting.

Aw shucks. Now I'm embarrassed.


The

configuration changes you made that disabled Windows XP Fax in the first
place must be known. After it "stopped working", exactly what XP Fax did and
did not do including error messages must be known.

As I described in my post, there are at this point no error messages at my
end. XP fax just thinks that it is sending or receiving, but the fax monitor
no longer displays messages about the progress, such as "dailing
1-XXX-XXX-XXXX", or "sending page no. X". It is true that the person at the
other end gets an error message, and I can find out what those error messages
are.

The introduction of another fax program probably complicates the issue
beyond remedy. XP Fax is unlikely to work after another fax program using
TAPI initializes the modem.

Sounds like an engineering flaw to me [not that you designed XP Fax]. It
seems ridiculous that one cannot uninstall a new fax program and go back to
using XP Fax - after all, that's the point of being able to completely
uninstill something, don't you think?

Based on what you say, I guess I'm stuck with either purchasing the trial
software after the trial period ends or buying a fax machine. If I find some
other solution, I'll let you know, in case you're interested.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

In the past, I have had some difficulties with the default fax software
including with WinXP. However, most of the time, after several tries, I
could successfully send and receive faxes using this software. Also, the
"fax monitor" used to always accurately reflect what was going on, even if
just to report that the transmission failed, whereas now, it no longer
shows
information such as number dialed, page currently being received, etc.,
and
the overall status of "receiving fax" continues even after the fax has has
already failed and the call has been disconnected.

I downloaded a trial version of third-party fax software, and it appears
to
be working fine [so far I have only tested receiving a fax, but it went
fine], so I think that my modem is fine. If anyone knows of a solution
with
the default WinXP fax software, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Wilfried Hennings]

The introduction of another fax program probably complicates the issue
beyond remedy. XP Fax is unlikely to work after another fax program using
TAPI initializes the modem.

Sounds like an engineering flaw to me [not that you designed XP Fax]. It
seems ridiculous that one cannot uninstall a new fax program and go back to
using XP Fax - after all, that's the point of being able to completely
uninstill something, don't you think?

In principle, you would be right. But in practice, there is the
situation that the new program replaces some system dlls and the
uninstall can only remove the new ones but not restore the old ones.

After uninstalling the trial software, try the following:
Open control panel, software, windows components.
Uncheck windows fax, OK, and let windows uninstall it.
Then check windows fax and let windows install it.
Hopefully this restores the required components.


--
email me: change "nospam" to "w.hennings"
Wilfried Hennings c./o.
Forschungszentrum (Research Center) Juelich GmbH, MUT
<http://www.fz-juelich.de/mut/mut_home>
All opinions mentioned are strictly my own, not my employer's.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

As I understand it, the situation is even more complicated than that. The
problem arises because initializing strings are written to the modem which
are not removed by the uninstall procedure. When two TAPI based fax programs
have both written to the modem, in the end neither may work. Earl Parrish
often posts here and he knows a lot more about that than I.

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

The introduction of another fax program probably complicates the issue
beyond remedy. XP Fax is unlikely to work after another fax program
using
TAPI initializes the modem.

Sounds like an engineering flaw to me [not that you designed XP Fax]. It
seems ridiculous that one cannot uninstall a new fax program and go back
to
using XP Fax - after all, that's the point of being able to completely
uninstill something, don't you think?

In principle, you would be right. But in practice, there is the
situation that the new program replaces some system dlls and the
uninstall can only remove the new ones but not restore the old ones.

After uninstalling the trial software, try the following:
Open control panel, software, windows components.
Uncheck windows fax, OK, and let windows uninstall it.
Then check windows fax and let windows install it.
Hopefully this restores the required components.


--
email me: change "nospam" to "w.hennings"
Wilfried Hennings c./o.
Forschungszentrum (Research Center) Juelich GmbH, MUT
<http://www.fz-juelich.de/mut/mut_home>
All opinions mentioned are strictly my own, not my employer's.

 

[Lem]

As I understand it, the situation is even more complicated than that.
The problem arises because initializing strings are written to the modem
which are not removed by the uninstall procedure. When two TAPI based
fax programs have both written to the modem, in the end neither may
work. Earl Parrish often posts here and he knows a lot more about that
than I.

This is probably not very relevant, but hardware modems typically have
memory, in the form of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), in which they store
initialization "profiles" (they may also store additional info, e.g.,
phone numbers). Softmodems, aka Winmodems, may store similar info in
datafiles on the computer's hard drive.

Typically, there may be 2 such profiles, in addition to a hard-coded
factory profile. Sometimes there are multiple factory profiles,
corresponding to "optimization" for different operations. Assuming that
the modem uses the Hayes-compatible AT command set (and most do), one
can view and modify these initialization strings using an application
that directly addresses the modem, such as HyperTerminal.

Not all modems support all commands, and some commands may behave
slightly differently in different brands of modem, but generally, the
following are pretty standard. The commands recognized by a given modem
should be findable from the modem mfr's website. Note that the Fax
commands all begin +Fxxx (e.g., AT+FCLASS=? returns the fax classes
supported by the modem). For more info, Google for "at command set" or
"at fax command set".

ATZ0: Reset modem to profile 0
ATZ1: Reset modem to profile 1
AT&F: Load factory profile
AT&V0: Display active profile
AT&V1: Display stored profiles
AT&W0: Save active profile to profile 0
AT&W1: Save active profile to profile 1
AT&Y0: Use profile 0 on powerup (default)
AT&Y1: Use profile 1 on powerup

I'm not sure that there is a command to clear the stored profiles, but
if there is some concern that a fax application has added some
initialization values that might be incompatible with Windows XP Fax
Services, one could load the factory profile and then save it to both
"user" profiles.