Microsoft!!!! FIX THE FAX INSTALLTION ISSUE

[Guest]

I have scoured newsgroups and websites and found hundreds of reports of
people with the same issue. "Unable to install fax services" via Add/Remove
Windows Components. It asks for the location of files and doesn't matter
where you point it to, it refuses to copy the files. The one suggestions was
to extract the files from the CD using Win32 Cab file extractor. That doesn't
work. When is Microsoft going to fix this widespread problem?

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

I have scoured newsgroups and websites and found hundreds of
reports of
people with the same issue. "Unable to install fax services" via
Add/Remove
Windows Components. It asks for the location of files and doesn't
matter
where you point it to, it refuses to copy the files. The one
suggestions was
to extract the files from the CD using Win32 Cab file extractor.
That doesn't
work. When is Microsoft going to fix this widespread problem?

The problem is not with Microsoft but with the OEM computer
manufacturers. They do not provide an authentic Windows XP CD-ROM
so the installation script does not work. I had no problem
installing Windows XP Fax from the Add/Remove Program Applet of
Control Panel when you have a real Windows XP CD-ROM.

 

[Guest]

I would like to hazard a guess......

80-90% of PC's out there come with Windows XP pre-installed (OEM). As a
result, installing the fax service does not work for the majority.....

 

[Dick Kistler]

The problem is not with Microsoft but with the OEM computer manufacturers.
They do not provide an authentic Windows XP CD-ROM so the installation
script does not work. I had no problem installing Windows XP Fax from
the Add/Remove Program Applet of Control Panel when you have a real
Windows XP CD-ROM.

So, poor little Microsoft has no control over what these OEM's do with a
product called Microsoft Windows XP. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! If Bill Gates told
these guys to jump, they would be yelling "how high?" on the way up. The
reason
nothing is done is that Microsoft can't see how money can be made by fixing
this
problem. Keep complaining until they fix the problem! It's not the OEM's.
Only Microsoft
can fix this problem!

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP-P/I]]

1. Get the hotfix mentioned in KB article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/ and install it. Microsoft
usually waives any charges for support calls to get supported hotfixes
listed in Knowledge Base articles.

2. Here are instructions on how to use 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

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

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

So, poor little Microsoft has no control over what these OEM's do
with a
product called Microsoft Windows XP. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! If Bill Gates
told
these guys to jump, they would be yelling "how high?" on the way
up. The reason
nothing is done is that Microsoft can't see how money can be made
by fixing this
problem. Keep complaining until they fix the problem! It's not the
OEM's. Only Microsoft
can fix this problem!

If you buy a computer with Microsoft Windows pre-installed, you are
entitled to no support from Microsoft. You have to look to your
computer retailer or manufacturer for help. Just try to call up
Microsoft in that case. There is no free support. If you have a
Dell, call them or better yet, tell them what you want installed
before you buy the computer.

The OEM companies buys enough Microsoft licenses for the computers
on which they will install the operating system. It is up to them
whether they give you a CD-ROM or just have a restore partition on
the hard drive. Laptops are usually the only product which has
accessible Windows installation files on the active hard drive.
They are usually in \Windows\Options\Cabs or \Windows\i386 in the
case of Windows XP.

If you upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you have the
authentic CD-ROM and can install anything you want. The problem
with OEM installations is that the computer tries to go to the
original source for updates and it does not exist any more. The OEM
manufacturers do not update the installation script or the Registry
to point to the current location of the files. The same thing
happens if you have two CD drives and put your Windows XP CD-ROM in
a different drive from the one you used for the original
installation when you want to add something. No matter what you do,
the routine always comes back to that drive with no CD in it to look
for the next file. You have to go into the Registry to make
corrections to the original source or switch the CD-ROM to the
correct drive. Sometimes you cannot do the latter because drive
letters have changed because you added or removed a hard drive.

 

[Richard Kistler]

If you buy a computer with Microsoft Windows pre-installed, you are
entitled to no support from Microsoft. You have to look to your computer
retailer or manufacturer for help. Just try to call up Microsoft in that
case. There is no free support. If you have a Dell, call them or better
yet, tell them what you want installed before you buy the computer.

This is because Microsoft perceives that there is more money to be made
this way. It is not cast in concrete, it is just what Microsoft decided to
do
to make money. They can change this.

The OEM companies buys enough Microsoft licenses for the computers on
which they will install the operating system. It is up to them whether
they give you a CD-ROM or just have a restore partition on the hard drive.
Laptops are usually the only product which has accessible Windows
installation files on the active hard drive. They are usually in
\Windows\Options\Cabs or \Windows\i386 in the case of Windows XP.

Again, just the way MS does business now. If they thought more money
was to be made some other way, they would do it another way. Complaining
to them can convince them to change. They changed their end of life policy
because of similar complaints. If they think that they will lose money, they
will
change.

If you upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you have the authentic
CD-ROM and can install anything you want. The problem with OEM
installations is that the computer tries to go to the original source for
updates and it does not exist any more. The OEM manufacturers do not
update the installation script or the Registry to point to the current
location of the files. The same thing happens if you have two CD drives
and put your Windows XP CD-ROM in a different drive from the one you used
for the original installation when you want to add something. No matter
what you do, the routine always comes back to that drive with no CD in it
to look for the next file. You have to go into the Registry to make
corrections to the original source or switch the CD-ROM to the correct
drive. Sometimes you cannot do the latter because drive letters have
changed because you added or removed a hard drive.

This entire problem is caused by the fact that MS caters to the OEMs, and
not the final consumers. This is because they think that they can make more
money that way. They could change that if they perceived that more money
was to be made by pleasing the end user. Again, poor Microsoft is done in
by the OEMs. I don't buy it. MS can run their business any way that they
want. They are in control of their product. They could require a full retail
copy of Windows XP be provided with each sold PC, however, they think that
money
is to be made some other way.

Complain to MS. Convince them that their policy is wrong. They can fix this
problem. Convince them that the money is to be made by pleasing their end
users, and not the OEMs.

P.S. My OEM Copy of Windows XP installed MS Fax just fine.

It is more likely that this problem isn't fixed, and that MS Fax doesn't
work with
all fax modems because Fax software vendors complain to Microsoft that MS
is costing them sales, and MS understands things like lost sales.

 

[Clark]

You've heard the old saying -- "Never attribute to malice that which
can be explained by simple incompetence" -- could be the case for
Microsoft here --

 

[Richard Kistler]

You've heard the old saying -- "Never attribute to malice that which
can be explained by simple incompetence" -- could be the case for
Microsoft here --

"Never attribute to malice anything which can be explained by stupidity." I
could buy that.
But it is not malice or stupidity, it is really greed. More than any other
company I have observed, Microsoft is
driven by greed. And I used to work for an oil company. . .

 

[Earl F. Parrish]

"Never attribute to malice anything which can be explained by
stupidity." I could buy that.
But it is not malice or stupidity, it is really greed. More than
any other company I have observed, Microsoft is
driven by greed. And I used to work for an oil company. . .

Microsoft is constrained from interfering with how a OEM
manufacturer provisions a computer for the final end user by the
settlement in the antitrust suit. Microsoft would end up back in
court if it went around the OEM manufacturers to deal directly with
the end user to change how the OEM manufacturers setup the computer
for the consumer. If any OEM manufacturer wants to disable a
feature of the operating system and substitute something else,
Microsoft can do nothing about it.

Complain to Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Gateway or one of the
other OEMs to get the features you want. Alternatively, buy a
computer without an operating system installed, buy your operating
system from Microsoft or a retailer and install it yourself. Then
you can deal directly with Microsoft.

How is it greed to spread the wealth around? Do you want Microsoft
to operate like Apple, which make the computer, operating system,
software and sells it in its own stores?

 

[Richard Kistler]

Microsoft is constrained from interfering with how a OEM manufacturer
provisions a computer for the final end user by the settlement in the
antitrust suit. Microsoft would end up back in court if it went around
the OEM manufacturers to deal directly with the end user to change how the
OEM manufacturers setup the computer for the consumer. If any OEM
manufacturer wants to disable a feature of the operating system and
substitute something else, Microsoft can do nothing about it.

Yes, of course, it is those OEMs that are preventing MS from writing a
fax program that works with most modems and has an install route that
works. Give me a break. The other apps that MS supplies(Internet Explorer,
Windows Media Player, Outlook Express, etc.) work just fine. So it is
impossible for MS to write a Fax program that the OEM's can't break.
Right!

Complain to Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Gateway or one of the other
OEMs to get the features you want. Alternatively, buy a computer without
an operating system installed, buy your operating system from Microsoft or
a retailer and install it yourself. Then you can deal directly with
Microsoft.

Or use Linux. I do.

Look, I agree that if you buy a Windows Computer, you should get a
Windows install disk with it, even if the OS is preinstalled.

How is it greed to spread the wealth around? Do you want Microsoft to
operate like Apple, which make the computer, operating system, software
and sells it in its own stores?

Have you looked a MS's balance sheet or profits. Microsoft would operate
like Apple if they felt that they could make more money that way. Remember
"Trusted Computer." They would have had you come to MS even to read
Wordprocessor documents.

Also, it is NOT Microsoft that has given us the options that we have in
the computer market. It was IBM that released their bios code and made
it easy for the clone makers to reverse engineer it. The software market is
larger in quantity, but smaller in options than it was in say 1994, or even
1985.
How many Wordprocessors are available on the market today-there were
many then.

You are incorrect when you say that Microsoft "spreads the wealth around."
They do nothing of the sort. They operate a company for their own profit.
The overall usage of computers and the internet that has increased the
wealth of many companies
would be happening IF MICROSOFT DID NOT EXIST. This has happened
because of cheap hardware and software, neither of which MS had a thing to
do with.
If Microsoft vanished tomorrow, and we were forced to look for other
alternatives,
they would appear. Apple, Linux, Solaris, etc. or some other os would fill
the gap. Things might even
be better-who knows.

Sorry, I just don't believe that we live in the best of all computer worlds
with MS having
a monopoly or near monopoly on the operating system on my computer. The
world
would be better with more options. With more viable commercial os's MS would
have
corrected the problem with MS Fax or would have lost some money from those
who would
have changed to another OS. In our present world we can only complain, and
complain to
the entity that can fix the problem. Or use some other OS, all of which have
their own
problems.