Microsoft FAX

[William B. Lurie]

In trying to install the FAX that came with XP but was
not installed, the OEM instructed me to use Add/Remove
Programs and Add/Change Windows Programs and select FAX,
and it stops partway through, needing certain files which
are in Windows/i386. The problem is that they are there
with .dl_ extension, and of course they have to be .dll
to function. The OEM's solution is just to do a Restore
from the CD they furnished, which will wipe out my data,
and still not solve the problem because FAX was never
installed. They furnished the machine with two CDs,
neither of which is a genuine XP Installation CD. One is
a "Restore CD", which reformats the hard drive, and
reinstalls the XP (without FAX); the other CD has a set
of drivers. Apparently the i386 folder they supplied has
the software, but Add/Remove Programs is not capable of
installing it.

Is there a utility which will convert a .dl_ file to .dll,
from which it could be copied into a directory and picked
up by the Add/Remove installer when it looks for them?

Or maybe Microsoft has the FAX program as a standalone
Update/download that will install via the Windows Update
facility?

William B. Lurie

 

[Norm]

William, the .dl_ file is a compressed file that needs to be expanded with
the use of the expand command. You can do this from a command prompt or
more easily do it my running msconfig. Expand File is on the General tab of
msconfig.

 

[Redmond]

I just install the Microsoft Fax Services a few weeks ago, and I don't
recall having to use any CD.My XP is OEM

 

[William B. Lurie]

Gee, if that works, then all I have to do is find each file
when the FAX installer tells me it needs it, find its .dl_
file, expand it (one at a time), re-save it someplace, then run the
FAX installer again, and when it asks about the files, one at
a time, direct it to them. It's a roundabout way, and I'm sure
it wasn't supposed to be done that way. But if nobody comes up
with a better way............thank you, Norm.
W B L

 

[William B. Lurie]

That could be, R., but my OEM may not be your OEM.
E-machines had only that recommendation...if Add/Remove
doesn't work, do a Restore (and forget about all your
built-up data).
W B L

 

[William B. Lurie]

Norm, I can't get it to 'expand' using that tab. So I found
the files I need, expanded already, on another hard drive's XP,
in C:\windows\system32 .... all expanded already! So I went back
to where it said it needed the first program, and I entred
exactly where the file is. And it still won't accept it. It
keeps saying it wants me to get it from The XP Pro CD.
I'm hoping that one of the Microsoft MVPs will tell me how
to get it to accept exactly the file it is asking for, now
that I've passed the .dl_>>.dll hurdle. //WBL//

 

[Norm]

Sorry for the confusion, I'm just surprised you can't force the install to
look in the windows\system32 folder or if you have one, the I386 folder.
I'm running with XP home and I'll have to admit I don't remember having to
put the cd in when I installed the fax software. Too back you can't find
someone nearby with an XP Pro cd. Good luck.

 

[William B. Lurie]

Yeah, Notm, the whole system is a series of runarounds. First
they tell me to find the .dll file, and I find the .dl_ file.
Then I find the .dll file and I'm waiting for somebody to tell me why,
when it asks for a specific file, and I put that location into
the window, it refuses to accept it. I hate these runarounds.
Bill

 

[Rob Schneider]

Bill,

With all due respect, you have a computer system running something that
now no longer resembles a standard XP operating system. This is yet
more examples.

Hope this is useful to you. Let us know.

rms