Not receiving faxes when single phone line connected to PC

[Kelly]

We recently decided to install our fax. It "appeared" to go off with a
hitch, however, we cannot receive faxes. It is set up to answer after the
second ring.. our vm typically picks up after four rings.

Is it that XP and my fax modem (although assembled together by Gateway) are
not compatible?

Is there a way around this without having to buy a stand along fax machine?
I like the idea of faxes being saved in a folder on my PC but am willing to
abandon this if I need to.

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP-P/I]]

Indeed, XP Fax and the modem in the Gateway may not be happy together. Xp
Fax generally wants a modem that's listed in the Hardware Compatibility
List. Not necessarily the problem, however, does Fax appear in the Printers
and Faxes folder? Any error messages about "No fax printers available" or
the like?

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

 

[Kelly]

The fax does appear in the printers and faxes folder and no error messages.
The only error that I get is on the fax that is trying to send to our
computer... it says busy/no signal.

This lead me to believe that perhaps XP Fax and the Gateway modem have
irreconcilable differences and that I need to opt for a stand alone fax.
Thoughts?

 

[Hal Hostetler [MVP-P/I]]

It sounds like Fax installed correctly. It also sounds like your modem
doesn't like the phone line. Any chance you might know someone who owns an
external modem you could borrow? A stand alone Fax machine would certainly
solve the problem, if that's the way you want to go. I would suggest, if
you decide to do this, you make sure it gets along with the phone line
before the laying out of cash. One other thing, if you've ever had another
Fax application installed - BVRP Phone Tools, an application bundled with
USR modems is a good example - it might have changed some of the modem setup
values (AT commends) in the registry. I've come upon a trick to reset
them, but haven't tried it yet.

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

 

[Kelly]

This is the first fax software that we have had installed. I don't know
anyone with an external fax modem. I might just opt for the stand alone
since I just heard that Vista can be even more tempermental. Thanks for the
tip on the phone line. If it doesn't work well together, is it as simple as
getting a new phone line... from the jack to the fax?