fax server information cannot be retrieved

[Abraham Andres Luna]

hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i click next
i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax wizard
will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

It's been posted here many times. You provided no details on how you
installed the Fax Service and whether it ever worked.

Many users who have updated an older version of Windows XP to SP2 before
they try to install the fax service appear to be encountering a problem
installing the fax service. In these cases there is no error message during
the installation (distinguishing this from the very common problem where the
installation routine states it cannot find the necessary files). The
installation appears to proceed without error, but when it is over there is
no fax printer apparent and any attempt to send a fax results in the error
message "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax Wizard will now
close." This problem appears to occur because the security data base is
corrupted as documented here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
Note that this article describes a hotfix that users can obtain that might
fix the problem and that Microsoft does NOT recommend simply running the
Esentutl.exe utility to recover from security database corruption. In
addition, the fax developers have worked on some modifications to the
fxsocm.inf file that might permit installation of the fax service. This is
an unsupported workaround that I can provide offline for use at your own
risk if you provide a valid email address and can accept zip files as
attachments.

 

[Guest]

Russ this may apply to me too. See several previous messages here but I can
fix my problem straight away (workaround) by adding the PC user's credentials
to the server's user list. When I then delete it, I get the message back. I
was associating it with not being able to provide anonymous logon ability to
the fax server.
[details: WinServer2003 fully updated, Clients XP SP2]
In my case the fax printer is there as expected on the clients, I get no
"Auto Fax on.." as I do in some setups - never known why it only sometimes
appears and I'm also mystified why, after adding a network fax to the client
(i.e. which then makes 2 copies) I get double entries in the fax console. If
I don't add my manual copy, I can't use the Auto fax version, so I have to
add the manual copy and delete the auto version to prevent double entries.
May I get a copy of this inf file please?
my email address is alan at meta dot com dot au
Thanks

It's been posted here many times. You provided no details on how you
installed the Fax Service and whether it ever worked.

Many users who have updated an older version of Windows XP to SP2 before
they try to install the fax service appear to be encountering a problem
installing the fax service. In these cases there is no error message during
the installation (distinguishing this from the very common problem where the
installation routine states it cannot find the necessary files). The
installation appears to proceed without error, but when it is over there is
no fax printer apparent and any attempt to send a fax results in the error
message "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax Wizard will now
close." This problem appears to occur because the security data base is
corrupted as documented here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
Note that this article describes a hotfix that users can obtain that might
fix the problem and that Microsoft does NOT recommend simply running the
Esentutl.exe utility to recover from security database corruption. In
addition, the fax developers have worked on some modifications to the
fxsocm.inf file that might permit installation of the fax service. This is
an unsupported workaround that I can provide offline for use at your own
risk if you provide a valid email address and can accept zip files as
attachments.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i click
next i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax
wizard will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

It applies only to standalone installations of XP Fax.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ this may apply to me too. See several previous messages here but I
can
fix my problem straight away (workaround) by adding the PC user's
credentials
to the server's user list. When I then delete it, I get the message back.
I
was associating it with not being able to provide anonymous logon ability
to
the fax server.
[details: WinServer2003 fully updated, Clients XP SP2]
In my case the fax printer is there as expected on the clients, I get no
"Auto Fax on.." as I do in some setups - never known why it only sometimes
appears and I'm also mystified why, after adding a network fax to the
client
(i.e. which then makes 2 copies) I get double entries in the fax console.
If
I don't add my manual copy, I can't use the Auto fax version, so I have to
add the manual copy and delete the auto version to prevent double entries.
May I get a copy of this inf file please?
my email address is alan at meta dot com dot au
Thanks

It's been posted here many times. You provided no details on how you
installed the Fax Service and whether it ever worked.

Many users who have updated an older version of Windows XP to SP2 before
they try to install the fax service appear to be encountering a problem
installing the fax service. In these cases there is no error message
during
the installation (distinguishing this from the very common problem where
the
installation routine states it cannot find the necessary files). The
installation appears to proceed without error, but when it is over there
is
no fax printer apparent and any attempt to send a fax results in the
error
message "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax Wizard will
now
close." This problem appears to occur because the security data base is
corrupted as documented here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
Note that this article describes a hotfix that users can obtain that
might
fix the problem and that Microsoft does NOT recommend simply running the
Esentutl.exe utility to recover from security database corruption. In
addition, the fax developers have worked on some modifications to the
fxsocm.inf file that might permit installation of the fax service. This
is
an unsupported workaround that I can provide offline for use at your own
risk if you provide a valid email address and can accept zip files as
attachments.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i click
next i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The
Fax
wizard will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

 

[Guest]

so - what does this error message mean in relation to client/server (remote
server) setups?

It applies only to standalone installations of XP Fax.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ this may apply to me too. See several previous messages here but I
can
fix my problem straight away (workaround) by adding the PC user's
credentials
to the server's user list. When I then delete it, I get the message back.
I
was associating it with not being able to provide anonymous logon ability
to
the fax server.
[details: WinServer2003 fully updated, Clients XP SP2]
In my case the fax printer is there as expected on the clients, I get no
"Auto Fax on.." as I do in some setups - never known why it only sometimes
appears and I'm also mystified why, after adding a network fax to the
client
(i.e. which then makes 2 copies) I get double entries in the fax console.
If
I don't add my manual copy, I can't use the Auto fax version, so I have to
add the manual copy and delete the auto version to prevent double entries.
May I get a copy of this inf file please?
my email address is alan at meta dot com dot au
Thanks

It's been posted here many times. You provided no details on how you
installed the Fax Service and whether it ever worked.

Many users who have updated an older version of Windows XP to SP2 before
they try to install the fax service appear to be encountering a problem
installing the fax service. In these cases there is no error message
during
the installation (distinguishing this from the very common problem where
the
installation routine states it cannot find the necessary files). The
installation appears to proceed without error, but when it is over there
is
no fax printer apparent and any attempt to send a fax results in the
error
message "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax Wizard will
now
close." This problem appears to occur because the security data base is
corrupted as documented here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
Note that this article describes a hotfix that users can obtain that
might
fix the problem and that Microsoft does NOT recommend simply running the
Esentutl.exe utility to recover from security database corruption. In
addition, the fax developers have worked on some modifications to the
fxsocm.inf file that might permit installation of the fax service. This
is
an unsupported workaround that I can provide offline for use at your own
risk if you provide a valid email address and can accept zip files as
attachments.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i click
next i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The
Fax
wizard will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

I wish I knew. I've never seen or used Windows 2003 Fax or SBS Fax. There
are others here who can probably help.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

so - what does this error message mean in relation to client/server
(remote
server) setups?

It applies only to standalone installations of XP Fax.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Russ this may apply to me too. See several previous messages here but I
can
fix my problem straight away (workaround) by adding the PC user's
credentials
to the server's user list. When I then delete it, I get the message
back.
I
was associating it with not being able to provide anonymous logon
ability
to
the fax server.
[details: WinServer2003 fully updated, Clients XP SP2]
In my case the fax printer is there as expected on the clients, I get
no
"Auto Fax on.." as I do in some setups - never known why it only
sometimes
appears and I'm also mystified why, after adding a network fax to the
client
(i.e. which then makes 2 copies) I get double entries in the fax
console.
If
I don't add my manual copy, I can't use the Auto fax version, so I have
to
add the manual copy and delete the auto version to prevent double
entries.
May I get a copy of this inf file please?
my email address is alan at meta dot com dot au
Thanks

:

It's been posted here many times. You provided no details on how you
installed the Fax Service and whether it ever worked.

Many users who have updated an older version of Windows XP to SP2
before
they try to install the fax service appear to be encountering a
problem
installing the fax service. In these cases there is no error message
during
the installation (distinguishing this from the very common problem
where
the
installation routine states it cannot find the necessary files). The
installation appears to proceed without error, but when it is over
there
is
no fax printer apparent and any attempt to send a fax results in the
error
message "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax Wizard
will
now
close." This problem appears to occur because the security data base
is
corrupted as documented here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
Note that this article describes a hotfix that users can obtain that
might
fix the problem and that Microsoft does NOT recommend simply running
the
Esentutl.exe utility to recover from security database corruption. In
addition, the fax developers have worked on some modifications to the
fxsocm.inf file that might permit installation of the fax service.
This
is
an unsupported workaround that I can provide offline for use at your
own
risk if you provide a valid email address and can accept zip files as
attachments.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i
click
next i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved.
The
Fax
wizard will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

 

[r0nbo]

hello everyone,

the Send Fax Wizard will not get pass the welcome screen, when i click
next i get the error "Fax server information cannot be retrieved. The Fax
wizard will close now."

i have searched all microsoft.com, google, newsgroups
and it seems no one has a solution for this problem

ty for your help

Im getting the same thing for some reason. It says fax printer not connected
and install fax printer then brings up a box to install and when you do it
just says FAX in the printers box and still doesnt work. fax console takes
forever to load and then send fax and the like is ghosted and down at the
bottom says Refreshing.... but of course never does. Fax used to work fine
on this machine. Its a desktop at home and is not connected to anything
else. When it asks to install fax printer it brings up a box and I select my
printer from the options and install it. Still doesnt work. Just says FAX in
the printers and scanners box and server connection not found etc. When fax
refuses to work on an xp machine its easier to go buy a fax machine tha try
to fix it. I have been all morning trying to no avail yet.I uninstalled and
reinstalled fax. reinstalled printer. no go.argghhh heh HELP

ron

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

ty for your response

ok, the computer has xp pro 2002
then sp2 was installed later (i read somewhere that sp2 will mess up the fax
software)

the fax services was installed using the windows components wizard

the modem is an agere systems ac'97 modem

i downloaded a trial version of mightyfax from
http://www.rkssoftware.com/mightyfax/overview.html
and it will fax just fine, so i know its the windows fax services software
that isn't working

thank you for your help

 

[mihelichj]

Russ, My Dell Dim 4700 got virused 2/3. Local shop cleaned, copied
info, formatted and restored data and loaded XP home from their instore
copy using my code. I installed Fax console from an XP upgrade CD from
my old computer. Fax shows up as printer option. I get the "Fax server
info..." message when I try to send. I printed out article 278316 and
tried to follow instructions. Did the secedit.old, clicked console,
tried to add Security and config snap in but it doesn't show up in
list.
Backed out from there.
Tried email to MS, but there checker says I need to go back to Dell.
Dell is Dell.
Any thoughts?

Joe Mihelich

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Do you mean you followed this?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/en-us