Fax machine answering incoming phone calls

[Guest]

WINXP Home Ed. Recently installed new HP Photosmart printer and AOL dial-up
internet connection with just one telephone line modem.

Since then I am having a problem with incoming phone calls schreeching
interference that sounds like a fax machine even though I am not on the
internet.

QWest repair came today and told me that a fax machine is answering my
incoming calls so it is not a phone problem but instead a fax software
problem. I do not have a fax machine so never set up fax software. He also
advised that I would have to unplug my computer wall connection to receive
incoming calls. I've never had to do this in all these many years.

This has been so frustrating since there was a death in the family and I was
not able to get the incoming calls so was notified by e-mail.

Pls help this 80-yr-old in great grandmother language!

 

[DatabaseBen]

click on start
then click on run
the type in the following word:

services.msc

then click ok

a listing will appear
and go down to find
the service called fax

right click on the word
fax and from the drop
down menu select disable
and click apply
also, click on stop too.
then exit and reboot

 

[Guest]

No "fax" shown in services listing. I do not have or ever had a fax machine
or fax software. Pls think of something else!

 

[Elmo]

No "fax" shown in services listing. I do not have or ever had a fax machine
or fax software. Pls think of something else!

Open Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, click the Add/Remove Windows
Components button in the left pane, deselect "Fax Services". That
should remove any "Fax Printer" from your list of printers. It may not
solve the problem if a grandchild tried to print and selected the Fax
Printer by mistake. That "printer" might still be trying to deliver a
queued document.

 

[Guest]

"Fax services" in Add/Remove, Win Components, is unchecked! No, grandchildren
will not even allow their children get into greatgramma's computer! I'm
determined to get this problem corrected so will keep watching and waiting
here!

 

[GHalleck]

WINXP Home Ed. Recently installed new HP Photosmart printer and AOL dial-up
internet connection with just one telephone line modem.

Since then I am having a problem with incoming phone calls schreeching
interference that sounds like a fax machine even though I am not on the
internet.

QWest repair came today and told me that a fax machine is answering my
incoming calls so it is not a phone problem but instead a fax software
problem. I do not have a fax machine so never set up fax software. He also
advised that I would have to unplug my computer wall connection to receive
incoming calls. I've never had to do this in all these many years.

This has been so frustrating since there was a death in the family and I was
not able to get the incoming calls so was notified by e-mail.

Pls help this 80-yr-old in great grandmother language!

What is the name of the HP Photosmart printer? Is it an all-in
one model that includes a built-in FAX machine? Moreover, how
were the printer drivers, accessory programs, utilities, etc.,
installed? Automatically from the HP cdrom? Most of the time, an
automatic installation sets up all of the functions for an all-
in-one machine, including FAX.

 

[Charlie Tame]

WINXP Home Ed. Recently installed new HP Photosmart printer and AOL
dial-up
internet connection with just one telephone line modem.

Since then I am having a problem with incoming phone calls schreeching
interference that sounds like a fax machine even though I am not on the
internet.

QWest repair came today and told me that a fax machine is answering my
incoming calls so it is not a phone problem but instead a fax software
problem. I do not have a fax machine so never set up fax software. He also
advised that I would have to unplug my computer wall connection to receive
incoming calls. I've never had to do this in all these many years.

This has been so frustrating since there was a death in the family and I
was
not able to get the incoming calls so was notified by e-mail.

Pls help this 80-yr-old in great grandmother language!

Well, it seems like there are a couple of likely things.

You said HP Photosmart but not the model number, it is not some sort of "All
in one" printer that is also a fax machine is it? If it is an "All in one"
then it should not be connected to anything except the computer, certainly
not the phone line. I don't think this is the case but have to ask because
with "All in one" machines it's not uncommon for people to plug everything
to everything just because wires are included. This is what I mean by all in
one http://audiovisual.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ps_14996073/100052213.html

If there is any type of phone connector on the printer at all it should NOT
be connected.

There are two ways to achieve fax with a printer, the all in ones often have
their own built in modem and if that is plugged in it will try to answer the
phone all the time, or they use the computer's modem which is where we
consider the following:-

If it is only the PC connected to the phone line then some "Software"
somewhere has set it up either to receive faxes (Which may be something HP
installed and won't necessarily show up where you have been told to look so
far) or else the modem has been set in auto answer mode. In Auto answer mode
it will probably sound like it's screeching, in fax mode it will "Chirp"
periodically to try and find a fax at the other end. I think if you can
specify the printer model we may be able to find something in the software
that came with it.

Charlie

 

[Guest]

It is HP Photosmart D7100; however, I contacted HP and was advised that there
is no fax software in this model. Have uninstalled/reinstalled AOL program
and had msgs frm them re access numbers, etc. but still have to unplug the
dual phone/computer wall connection in order to receive incoming calls
without the interference! Don't know what else to check about my modem
settings and it sounds like a modem problem, what do you think?

 

[Elmo]

It is HP Photosmart D7100; however, I contacted HP and was advised that there
is no fax software in this model. Have uninstalled/reinstalled AOL program
and had msgs frm them re access numbers, etc. but still have to unplug the
dual phone/computer wall connection in order to receive incoming calls
without the interference! Don't know what else to check about my modem
settings and it sounds like a modem problem, what do you think?

Have you tried the modem diagnostics under Control Panel, Phone and
Modem Options, Modems, Properties? Maybe a reset of factory settings,
or sending it a initialization command would turn off the "answer"
mode.. For that matter, the problem might not be a fax machine, but
rather the modem is set to answer any ring. That can be set up through
Telnet or any Host program on the system.

Maybe if you run HyperTerminal, set up a bogus account, cancel the
Dialing module, you could click Call, Wait for Call, then turn that off.
It might reset the modem to not wait for calls. just a thought..

 

[Lem]

Reply is at the bottom

It is HP Photosmart D7100; however, I contacted HP and was advised that there
is no fax software in this model. Have uninstalled/reinstalled AOL program
and had msgs frm them re access numbers, etc. but still have to unplug the
dual phone/computer wall connection in order to receive incoming calls
without the interference! Don't know what else to check about my modem
settings and it sounds like a modem problem, what do you think?

:

I have no idea how it could have happened, but why don't you check to
see if the Windows XP Fax Service has been installed (and if so,
uninstall it).

1. Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

2. In the left column of the Add or Remove Program window, click the
button to "Add/Remove Windows Components"

3. You should see a windows with the title "Windows Components Wizard"
that has a list of "Components." On mine, "Fax Services" is the second
entry. If there is a check mark in the box next to Fax Services, click
to remove the check mark, then click "Next" and follow the directions.

4. If there was no check mark next to Fax Services, "cancel" the
Windows Components Wizard and scroll through the list of "Currently
installed programs" in the main Add or Remove Programs window. If you
find something that sounds like it's a fax program, uninstall it. If
you're not sure what a particular program does, use Google to search for
its name on the web before you uninstall it.

Once you uninstall any fax program, you should be able to receive phone
calls without unplugging your computer, although if you are online, the
caller may (a) get a busy signal or (b) knock you off-line.

If you can't find anything that looks like fax software, there is, as
Charlie said, the possibility that somehow the modem was set to
"autoanswer" in data mode. This can be undone, but it's not
straightforward, and you might be better off seeing if you can find a
local computer professional; it's not a big job if you know what to do,
so it should be very expensive. If you want to try looking at your
modem settings, post back.

 

[Lem]

In that last comment, I meant "not very expensive"

 

[Charlie Tame]

I am not sure it's a "Modem Problem" in the sense that there's something
wrong with the modem but it does sound like something has the modem set up
wrong.

Have you ever installed anything like Norton PCAnywhere that might allow
someone to dial into your machine in order to help you? The reason I ask is
because the problem sounds like your modem has been given an auto answer
command but we don't yet know if this a one-off issue or whether something
installed on your machine is doing it (Say) every time you reboot.

What you can try is to find your control panel (Start>settings>control
panel) and then click on phone and modem settings.

On the middle tab - modems - you should see your modem appear. Click on
properties and then when that page shows up click on advanced.

In the text box there you can type ATS0=0 and then you can use OK to close
those pages again. AT is a Hayes modem command (Attention) and S0 (Setting
Zero) is the register or setting that determines how many rings it takes for
the modem to answer. =0 means that it's set for Zero rings, in other words
it won't ever answer.

Next time you dial up the internet it should apply that command, although
there's no way to know for sure this will work because as above we don't
know yet if this is just a stuck setting or whether something keeps doing
it. If you use Windows Messenger maybe someone could help you online.

You can also communicate directly with your modem and ask it what's going on
using the utility HyperTerminal which is included in your
programs>accessories>communications folder, but I don't have a modem here so
can't be exact about what you will see, have a look at this page and see if
that is something you want to try.
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/x2-hyperterm.asp

It won't look exactly like the website, you will have different ports and
devices, but once you get the OK response thing going then you can easily
set ATS0=0 from there. If it goes away and stays away problem solved, if it
happens again then something is changing it and needs investigating further.

Charlie

 

[Guest]

I appreciate all you guys trying, but so far my incoming calls are still
distorted with the sound. I've searched everyone. I found I have two modems:
1) Smart Link 56K Voice modem on Com 3; 2) Standard 56000 bps modem on Com 1.
"Query Modem" on each shows: "The port that the modem is using is currently
open by another application. Exit any application that may currently be using
the port." I do not understand any of that. This seemed to have started when
I downloaded AOL program, but AOL has been of no help at all; i.e., it is not
an access number problem. A Microsoft KB article addressed a modem issue in
AOL 7.0 but I have the Security Edition 9.0 Dial-up--no DSL or Broadband.
Hope this helps with more ideas; I'll be looking forward to some! Gramma

 

[Elmo]

I appreciate all you guys trying, but so far my incoming calls are still
distorted with the sound. I've searched everyone. I found I have two modems:
1) Smart Link 56K Voice modem on Com 3; 2) Standard 56000 bps modem on Com 1.
"Query Modem" on each shows: "The port that the modem is using is currently
open by another application. Exit any application that may currently be using
the port." I do not understand any of that. This seemed to have started when
I downloaded AOL program, but AOL has been of no help at all; i.e., it is not
an access number problem. A Microsoft KB article addressed a modem issue in
AOL 7.0 but I have the Security Edition 9.0 Dial-up--no DSL or Broadband.
Hope this helps with more ideas; I'll be looking forward to some! Gramma

Maybe no one suggested suggested this yet: Click Start, Run, type
MSCONFIG, click OK. Click the Startup tab and see what programs are
running. If any are unknowns, try deselecting them, restart the
computer and test that out. There are many variations on that theme..
only deselect half, then again till the offending file is found, etc.

 

[Marianne B.]

Unless you actually have 2 physical modems installed, which you probably don't,
select Modem #2 (Std 56000 on Com 1) in Device Manager and click "remove".
Reboot.