Fax Blocked

[John Vinson]

I'm having trouble sending (and, I suspect without good evidence,
receiving) faxes from my WindowsXP Pro machine. Sending a fax adds
*two* entries to the "Pending" jobs in the Fax printer queue in
Printers, but the Fax Console does not detect them; they don't show up
in either the Outbox or the Sent Items folder (and they don't get
sent).

I've removed Fax from the Windows Components and reinstalled it from
the CD to no avail. I'm unable to find anything in either the printer
configuration or the Fax Console that would indicate the source of the
problem; Help is uninformative, as the troubleshooter doesn't seem to
include this particular symptom. The Modem is functional for dialup to
TCP/IP and its configuration also looks normal.

Where can I look for more info, and what might anyone suggest to
remove the blockage and get faxes moving?


John W. Vinson jvinson *at* WysardOfInfo *dot* com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

It won't be easy. Windows XP Fax is notoriously unreliable and provides no
ability to troubleshoot its failures.
For starters, has it ever worked on your system and are you using an analog
fax modem from the Windows XP HCL list with which XP Fax can work? Are there
any error messages or anything in Event Viewer?

 

[John Vinson]

It won't be easy. Windows XP Fax is notoriously unreliable and provides no
ability to troubleshoot its failures.

:-{( Any recommended third-party fax software that might be better? I don't
want to break the bank but I wouldn't mind paying for something more
reliable!

For starters, has it ever worked on your system and are you using an analog
fax modem from the Windows XP HCL list with which XP Fax can work? Are there
any error messages or anything in Event Viewer?

It has worked in the past, and yes, it's a valid modem (US Robotics
56K Fax PCI). The only Warnings in the Application logs that I can see
are:

Printer Driver Microsoft Shared Fax Driver for Windows NT x86
Version-3 was added or updated. Files:- FXSDRV.DLL, FXSUI.DLL,
FXSUI.DLL, FXSWZRD.DLL, FXSTIFF.DLL, FXSRES.DLL, FXSAPI.DLL.

which I take it is just recording the fact that I reinstalled it.

Thanks for responding!


John W. Vinson jvinson *at* WysardOfInfo *dot* com

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Are you sure that modem is on the Windows XP HCL list? Doesn't sound like
one to me.

 

[John Vinson]

Are you sure that modem is on the Windows XP HCL list? Doesn't sound like
one to me.
--

<checking...>

(3CP2977-OEM, 3CP2977-OEM-50) U.S. Robotics 56K Fax PCI
by U.S. Robotics CorporationCompatible with the following versions of
Microsoft Windows

Windows XP Professional Edition Supported

Seems to be. Any suggestions on alternative software - or should I
just get out the dartboard and the blindfold and put up a page of fax
software ads from PC World <g>?

John W. Vinson[MVP]

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

That claim by a manufacturer means nothing. Use the link here to check:
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/FAQFAX.htm#_Toc88835131

Sorry. I don't keep track of third party fax software. If your modem is on
the list, we could enable diagnostic and PSS logging to try to track down
the problem, but it will take extensive registry hacks to do so.

 

[David]

I'm having trouble sending (and, I suspect without good evidence,
receiving) faxes from my WindowsXP Pro machine. Sending a fax adds
*two* entries to the "Pending" jobs in the Fax printer queue in
Printers, but the Fax Console does not detect them; they don't show up
in either the Outbox or the Sent Items folder (and they don't get
sent).
...
John W. Vinson jvinson *at* WysardOfInfo *dot* com

John, I had exactly the same problem and it was related to the TEMP folder
missing. You didn't happen to delete it from 'Documents and
settings/username/local settings/temp' by some chance?
I had a more involved problem since the default system temp environment
variable was somehow changed. BTW, reinstalling SP2 will restore any missing
Temp folder.

David

 

[John Vinson]

That claim by a manufacturer means nothing. Use the link here to check:
http://members.shaw.ca/bsanders/FAQFAX.htm#_Toc88835131

That has a link to the Windows Catalog which is what I had searched.
The text I posted is from Microsoft's HCL website, not from a hardware
vendor.

Sorry. I don't keep track of third party fax software. If your modem is on
the list, we could enable diagnostic and PSS logging to try to track down
the problem, but it will take extensive registry hacks to do so.

Googling for other ideas suggested that I might have a problem with
the Temp folder or the Temp environment variable; I'll check that out,
and then shop for commercial software. Thanks for the suggestions!

John W. Vinson[MVP]

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Post back. Only one person so far has reported the Temp folder problem. So
far, it is not a reproducible solution.

 

[Jeffrey W. Bowen]

Hello,

According to Microsoft at this link,
http://testedproducts.windowsmarketplace.com/results.aspx?&bCatID=824&cpID=0&ocID=0&OR=1,
Your modem is on the list, but it was not made specifically with XP in mind.

Also, I had a problem recently with my modem not faxing. So I moved the
modem to another pci slot, and it worked find. However, it would be wise
first to follow the guidelines suggested above to visit that website. It
should be much more helpful than I beyond what I personally know.

I hopt this helps.

Peace,

Jeff Bowen