Can't Re-Install Fax Services

O

OhioJoe

I used Fax services for quite a while with no problem, but had problems
recently. I kept getting the error message: "Fax server information cannot be
retrieved". After many attempts to try get it to work, I decided to uninstall
and re-install Fax services. I tried installing from the Control Panel and
also from the orginal installation CD. I have been running Windows XP
Professional (SP2) for several years. I have made no major changes in my
system (except for regular/weekly updates).

Since I had no idea what to do, I did some research on the Microsoft website
and found Article 884018. I obtained the hotfix it recommends and installed
it, but I still can't install Fax services.

I would appreciate any help that can be provided to figure out how to
install Fax services so I can use it again.

OhioJoe
 
H

Hal Hostetler [MVP-P/I]

You may have security data base corruption as documented here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
You cannot add a Windows component in Windows XP

You can either:

1. Get the hotfix mentioned in the KB article and install it, which it
sounds like you've tried.

2. Try this procedure using the Esentutl.exe utility mentioned in the KB
article to recover from security database corruption:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00270202
HP and Compaq Notebook PCs: Unable to Install Windows XP Fax Software

I can report that the Esentutl utility has corrected the problem in a number
of cases,

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- (e-mail address removed)
Senior Engineer/MIS -- MS MVP-Print/Imaging -- WA7BGX
http://www.kvoa.com -- "When News breaks, we fix it!"
KVOA Television, Tucson, AZ. NBC Channel 4
Still Cadillacin' - www.badnewsbluesband.com
 
J

JERRY

Hal (or anyone else who can shed light here)

I repeatedly struggled with rejections in trying to set up the fax services
on a new XP home installation. After repeated tries it would act as if it
were copying the files, but not so. Since I had several backups of my new XP
installations, I would reinstall one the older installations but each time I
tried to install the fax services, I continued to get the same "can't find
file" message, and yet, the files were right there staring me in the face.
Tried everyting including the "hotfix". No go .... I tried the original
install disk and also went to where these files were supposedly located on
my hard drive. Each attempt to install the fax services was rejected.

I eventually tried the Esentutl.exe utility ... (referred to in this post)
in spite of warnings I had read elsewhere about using this approach. Well,
the Esentutl.exe utility worked and I finally succeded in installing the fax
console.

Can you or anyone else tell me why the warning against using the
Esentutl.exe utility? And what possible damage did I do to my system by
running it?

Thank you for your help here
Jerry
 
I

irmag

JERRY said:
Hal (or anyone else who can shed light here)

I repeatedly struggled with rejections in trying to set up the fax services
on a new XP home installation. After repeated tries it would act as if it
were copying the files, but not so. Since I had several backups of my new XP
installations, I would reinstall one the older installations but each time I
tried to install the fax services, I continued to get the same "can't find
file" message, and yet, the files were right there staring me in the face.
Tried everyting including the "hotfix". No go .... I tried the original
install disk and also went to where these files were supposedly located on
my hard drive. Each attempt to install the fax services was rejected.

I eventually tried the Esentutl.exe utility ... (referred to in this post)
in spite of warnings I had read elsewhere about using this approach. Well,
the Esentutl.exe utility worked and I finally succeded in installing the fax
console.

Can you or anyone else tell me why the warning against using the
Esentutl.exe utility? And what possible damage did I do to my system by
running it?

Thank you for your help here
Jerry
 
I

irmag

JERRY said:
Hal (or anyone else who can shed light here)

I repeatedly struggled with rejections in trying to set up the fax services
on a new XP home installation. After repeated tries it would act as if it
were copying the files, but not so. Since I had several backups of my new XP
installations, I would reinstall one the older installations but each time I
tried to install the fax services, I continued to get the same "can't find
file" message, and yet, the files were right there staring me in the face.
Tried everyting including the "hotfix". No go .... I tried the original
install disk and also went to where these files were supposedly located on
my hard drive. Each attempt to install the fax services was rejected.

I eventually tried the Esentutl.exe utility ... (referred to in this post)
in spite of warnings I had read elsewhere about using this approach. Well,
the Esentutl.exe utility worked and I finally succeded in installing the fax
console.

Can you or anyone else tell me why the warning against using the
Esentutl.exe utility? And what possible damage did I do to my system by
running it?

Thank you for your help here
Jerry



I, too am experiencing the problems. I have done all of the above, yet cannot get FAX to work. Mine will install, but when I look at SERVICES, the FAX service is disabled; when I attempt to enable it, I get the message, "the service has been marked for deletion." This, despite using all tools in Dial-a-Fix, as well as the above solutions.
 

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