setting up the fax

[Carrie]

I've tried this before, but never seriously looked into it. I don't use
faxing alot, and when I send them I use my Lexmark all in one
(printer/scanner) which brings up it's own Wizard.
Occasionally someone (my kids) will ask me if I can GET a fax.
Which is when I try and set up the one that came with Win XP
It says Rockwell fax/data V90
Wants to install, then a box comes up saying to put in the Win XP instal
CD. Which I don't have (didn't get from Dell)
I've tried to send it to what I think are the installaion files/drivers
the i386 file. It says it can't find what it needs there, it's invalid path.
What comes up automatically, from previous tries says drivercache\i386
Doesn't seem to work. It ends up saying it didnt find what it needs and to
put in the WinXP instal CD. Though a box to send/receive faxes does come up
(I've never tried it this way to see if it works anyway)

My daughter just called and asked if I could get a fax for her and I
brought up the one with WIN XP and tried the find the driver file(s) it
needs again,but wasn't sure it would work (where it ended up saying it
couldn't find the file)

Faxing is something I'm not experienced with anyway. I always end up
feeling if the fax sends (via the Lexmark setup) it's just a lucky fluke
(LOL) I really don't know what I'm doing (like if I should use 1 in front of
a number, etc. I can fax out of state okay, but can't seem to figure out the
dialing for in state toll calls. If it needs 1 and the area code, etc. it
doesn't work. if I add a 1 and area code to the number it comes up twice
when it dials and doesn't work)

Maybe I could GET a fax through the Lexmark program, I don't know. I would
be using my home phone number for a fax and seems like Ishould have the
program getting it up on the screen, waiting.

(I should say, when I had Win 98 this came with "Ring Central Fax" and I
had that set up so I knew how to send AND receive faxes. But, now I have
WinXP and it's different)

Thanks,
Carrie

 

[Big_Al]

I've tried this before, but never seriously looked into it. I don't use
faxing alot, and when I send them I use my Lexmark all in one
(printer/scanner) which brings up it's own Wizard.
Occasionally someone (my kids) will ask me if I can GET a fax.
Which is when I try and set up the one that came with Win XP
It says Rockwell fax/data V90
Wants to install, then a box comes up saying to put in the Win XP instal
CD. Which I don't have (didn't get from Dell)
I've tried to send it to what I think are the installaion files/drivers
the i386 file. It says it can't find what it needs there, it's invalid path.
What comes up automatically, from previous tries says drivercache\i386
Doesn't seem to work. It ends up saying it didnt find what it needs and to
put in the WinXP instal CD. Though a box to send/receive faxes does come up
(I've never tried it this way to see if it works anyway)

My daughter just called and asked if I could get a fax for her and I
brought up the one with WIN XP and tried the find the driver file(s) it
needs again,but wasn't sure it would work (where it ended up saying it
couldn't find the file)

Faxing is something I'm not experienced with anyway. I always end up
feeling if the fax sends (via the Lexmark setup) it's just a lucky fluke
(LOL) I really don't know what I'm doing (like if I should use 1 in front of
a number, etc. I can fax out of state okay, but can't seem to figure out the
dialing for in state toll calls. If it needs 1 and the area code, etc. it
doesn't work. if I add a 1 and area code to the number it comes up twice
when it dials and doesn't work)

Maybe I could GET a fax through the Lexmark program, I don't know. I would
be using my home phone number for a fax and seems like Ishould have the
program getting it up on the screen, waiting.

(I should say, when I had Win 98 this came with "Ring Central Fax" and I
had that set up so I knew how to send AND receive faxes. But, now I have
WinXP and it's different)

Thanks,
Carrie

Sounds like the easy way out is to open the Lexmark manual and read.
If you can send a fax, you probably can receive one.
If you don't have the XP CD it sounds more trouble to fix XP's fax than
use Lexmark.

 

[VanguardLH]

I've tried this before, but never seriously looked into it. I don't use
faxing alot, and when I send them I use my Lexmark all in one
(printer/scanner) which brings up it's own Wizard.
Occasionally someone (my kids) will ask me if I can GET a fax.
Which is when I try and set up the one that came with Win XP
It says Rockwell fax/data V90
Wants to install, then a box comes up saying to put in the Win XP instal
CD. Which I don't have (didn't get from Dell)
I've tried to send it to what I think are the installaion files/drivers
the i386 file. It says it can't find what it needs there, it's invalid path.
What comes up automatically, from previous tries says drivercache\i386
Doesn't seem to work. It ends up saying it didnt find what it needs and to
put in the WinXP instal CD. Though a box to send/receive faxes does come up
(I've never tried it this way to see if it works anyway)

My daughter just called and asked if I could get a fax for her and I
brought up the one with WIN XP and tried the find the driver file(s) it
needs again,but wasn't sure it would work (where it ended up saying it
couldn't find the file)

Faxing is something I'm not experienced with anyway. I always end up
feeling if the fax sends (via the Lexmark setup) it's just a lucky fluke
(LOL) I really don't know what I'm doing (like if I should use 1 in front of
a number, etc. I can fax out of state okay, but can't seem to figure out the
dialing for in state toll calls. If it needs 1 and the area code, etc. it
doesn't work. if I add a 1 and area code to the number it comes up twice
when it dials and doesn't work)

Maybe I could GET a fax through the Lexmark program, I don't know. I would
be using my home phone number for a fax and seems like Ishould have the
program getting it up on the screen, waiting.

(I should say, when I had Win 98 this came with "Ring Central Fax" and I
had that set up so I knew how to send AND receive faxes. But, now I have
WinXP and it's different)

Thanks,
Carrie

Faxing died with the dinosaurs. Faxing today is calling e-mailing.
Anything they can send via fax can be sent via e-mail. If the sender
has a scanner to fax, they have a scanner to save to a file and send
that to you.

Rather than tie up your phone call waiting for a fax to arrive and which
will piss off anyone else trying to call you when they hear fax tones,
get a free eFax account. Sending faxes through eFax costs money but
receiving them is free. You can use e-mail or your data/fax modem to
send faxes to someone else but use eFax to receive faxes without tying
up your phone line. The sender sends their fax to eFax who then sends
it to you as an attachment to an e-mail. You do need to install their
software to read their proprietary file format for the attached file
(their paid service lets you select to send in the less compacted .tif
format so you can use the Windows-included Fax viewer to see those
files). In fact, you don't even need to use your data/fax modem to send
faxes. Another free receive-only fax service is K7.com but they'll
expire your account if you don't receive at least one fax per month
through that account. K7 uses the .tif format so you don't need extra
software to read those faxes which arrive as e-mails to you. You can
use Faxzero.com to send them (up to 3 pages in length) using a web
interface. So you can send using Faxzero and receive using eFax or K7.
I still sometimes use my data/fax modem to send faxes but occasionally I
use Faxzero, like to send a keep-alive fax to my K7 account so it
doesn't expire. I also used Faxzero to send faxes when the fax number
is a long-distance call to eliminate those charges to send the fax. The
free eFax account doesn't let you assign a local phone number (the paid
account does) and the same for the K7 service, and why I use Faxzero to
send a keep alive fax to K7 to eliminate the long-distance charge.

Although eFax is free for receiving only mode, you don't get a local
phone number for where to receive faxes. Same for K7. However, I
consider that a penalty against anyone that is so stuck in ancient
technology that they think they need to send me a fax instead of e-mail.
If they don't want to make a long-distance phone call to send me a fax,
they should instead send me an e-mail. So the penalty might prod them
to rethink just how they are going to send me that document.

If the Lexmark really is an all-in-one device that includes faxing, it
should receive. If not, it really isn't an all-in-one device. Faxing
goes both ways, so sending without be able to receive means an
incomplete faxing device. You didn't mention WHICH model of Lexmark
all-in-one device that you have. Since you didn't identify the model, I
picked one: the X2500. It's user guide is at
http://www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/2007/2500/v3709407_en.pdf.
Page 46 describes how to send faxes. Page 47 describes how to receive
them.

For now, just use the Lexmark to receive faxes. When you have it
enabled to receive faxes, your phone line will be tied up as the Lexmark
will answer incoming calls. You might be able to set the Lexmark
software to wait for, say, 4 rings so you can pickup the call to see if
a person called or if you hear fax tones (and if you hear fax tones then
follow their instructions on how to transfer the call to the Lexmark).
Otherwise, take the easy route and create a free eFax or K7 account and
make the sender send their fax to those phone numbers and you'll get it
via e-mail.

 

[Alias]

Faxing died with the dinosaurs. Faxing today is calling e-mailing.

Oh BULLSHIT! Try to scan 30 pages versus faxing them. XP's fax is cool
because it receives the fax in a .TIF file that can be emailed. Also,
signatures in a fax are legal. And a Burofax is not only legal but
registered with the authorities. Do you even know what a Burofax is?

Alias

 

[Carrie]

Sounds like the easy way out is to open the Lexmark manual and read.
If you can send a fax, you probably can receive one.
If you don't have the XP CD it sounds more trouble to fix XP's fax than
use Lexmark.

I have looked it up, and couldn't find clear info. I now have a
different model Lexmark, maybe I can find more/figure it out.
But, I will try again. I've also put it in google, I can try that
again.
I don't send/receive many faxes (myself) it's not like I even have a
way of testing it. Unless I knew someone with a fax who would send me one
just to see if it worked.
Since this isn't the first time I've come across being asked for WIN XP
installation disc and not having it, it might be good to know how to get
around this, for other things, too.

 

[Carrie]

Faxing died with the dinosaurs. Faxing today is calling e-mailing.
Anything they can send via fax can be sent via e-mail. If the sender
has a scanner to fax, they have a scanner to save to a file and send
that to you.

Rather than tie up your phone call waiting for a fax to arrive and which
will piss off anyone else trying to call you when they hear fax tones,
get a free eFax account. Sending faxes through eFax costs money but
receiving them is free. You can use e-mail or your data/fax modem to
send faxes to someone else but use eFax to receive faxes without tying
up your phone line. The sender sends their fax to eFax who then sends
it to you as an attachment to an e-mail. You do need to install their
software to read their proprietary file format for the attached file
(their paid service lets you select to send in the less compacted .tif
format so you can use the Windows-included Fax viewer to see those
files). In fact, you don't even need to use your data/fax modem to send
faxes. Another free receive-only fax service is K7.com but they'll
expire your account if you don't receive at least one fax per month
through that account. K7 uses the .tif format so you don't need extra
software to read those faxes which arrive as e-mails to you. You can
use Faxzero.com to send them (up to 3 pages in length) using a web
interface. So you can send using Faxzero and receive using eFax or K7.
I still sometimes use my data/fax modem to send faxes but occasionally I
use Faxzero, like to send a keep-alive fax to my K7 account so it
doesn't expire. I also used Faxzero to send faxes when the fax number
is a long-distance call to eliminate those charges to send the fax. The
free eFax account doesn't let you assign a local phone number (the paid
account does) and the same for the K7 service, and why I use Faxzero to
send a keep alive fax to K7 to eliminate the long-distance charge.

Although eFax is free for receiving only mode, you don't get a local
phone number for where to receive faxes. Same for K7. However, I
consider that a penalty against anyone that is so stuck in ancient
technology that they think they need to send me a fax instead of e-mail.
If they don't want to make a long-distance phone call to send me a fax,
they should instead send me an e-mail. So the penalty might prod them
to rethink just how they are going to send me that document.

If the Lexmark really is an all-in-one device that includes faxing, it
should receive. If not, it really isn't an all-in-one device. Faxing
goes both ways, so sending without be able to receive means an
incomplete faxing device. You didn't mention WHICH model of Lexmark
all-in-one device that you have. Since you didn't identify the model, I
picked one: the X2500. It's user guide is at
http://www.lexmark.com/publications/pdfs/2007/2500/v3709407_en.pdf.
Page 46 describes how to send faxes. Page 47 describes how to receive
them.

For now, just use the Lexmark to receive faxes. When you have it
enabled to receive faxes, your phone line will be tied up as the Lexmark
will answer incoming calls. You might be able to set the Lexmark
software to wait for, say, 4 rings so you can pickup the call to see if
a person called or if you hear fax tones (and if you hear fax tones then
follow their instructions on how to transfer the call to the Lexmark).
Otherwise, take the easy route and create a free eFax or K7 account and
make the sender send their fax to those phone numbers and you'll get it
via e-mail.

Thanks for all the info.
The Lexmark is X1185
I mainly bought it for a scanner, I use my Canon pixma ip6000D to print.
This is the first time in maybe 3 years someone asked me if I could get a
fax (the last time, I had WIN98 and Ring Central Fax set up with it, and my
previous Lexmark all in one, which was a different model. I never used the
Lexmark fax programs, I'd bring up "Ring Central Fax" with apparently came
with Win 98)
My daughter just asked me if Icould get a fax to get proof of insurance she
needed for her car from AAA. I don't think I have ever sent or gotten a fax
for myself.
So, I wasn't aware of how simple it is and programs available for it.
Sorry, sometimes I feel like such an old dog learning new tricks.
And, I thought, where I have had boxes come up other times asking for aWIN
XP instal CD, but supposedly this is built in, finding where to point it
might be good to know.
Maybe google knows...

 

[Carrie]

I looked (once again) in the Lexmark instruction and all it has is "sending
a fax"

1 Open the Lexmark X1100 Series All-In-One Center (learn how to do this).

2 From the Creative Tasks menu of the All-In-One Main Page or View Saved
Images, click Fax Using your computer's modem.
3 If you are scanning a new item, place the item face down on the scanner,
and then click Preview Now to preview the image. If you are not scanning a
new item, open a saved image.
4 From the list under "Step 2. What is being scanned?", select a media
type.

Note: If you are faxing a saved image, this step is not available.

5 Under "Step 3. Is there more than one page?", check No, only one page if
you are faxing a single-page document. Check Yes, prompt me for each page if
you are faxing a multi-page document.

Note: If you are faxing a saved image, this step not available.

6 Click Next to begin scanning your document and to choose a destination.

As to receiving one...nothing. Would I turn it on? Open the all in one
center first? Would the fax just come in and then what, show up on the
screen or print (I long ago gave up keeping working ink cartridges in the
All in One they would run out, or need cleaning or not work right. I use my
Canon printer for printing)
If I could get the one that comes with WIN XP set up (maybe I could
download driver files instead of pointing the set up to the WIN XP cd I
don't have?) I could open it when expecting a fax and see it come in, save
it, etc.
I didn't realize asking how to point a program looking for the WIN XP
install CD (I don't have) to the files it wants on my computer was such a
complicated (or dumb?) question.
I'm sure if I spend enough time searching online I can find the answers
myself.

 

[Big_Al]

I looked (once again) in the Lexmark instruction and all it has is "sending
a fax"

1 Open the Lexmark X1100 Series All-In-One Center (learn how to do this).

2 From the Creative Tasks menu of the All-In-One Main Page or View Saved
Images, click Fax Using your computer's modem.
3 If you are scanning a new item, place the item face down on the scanner,
and then click Preview Now to preview the image. If you are not scanning a
new item, open a saved image.
4 From the list under "Step 2. What is being scanned?", select a media
type.

Note: If you are faxing a saved image, this step is not available.

5 Under "Step 3. Is there more than one page?", check No, only one page if
you are faxing a single-page document. Check Yes, prompt me for each page if
you are faxing a multi-page document.

Note: If you are faxing a saved image, this step not available.

6 Click Next to begin scanning your document and to choose a destination.

As to receiving one...nothing. Would I turn it on? Open the all in one
center first? Would the fax just come in and then what, show up on the
screen or print (I long ago gave up keeping working ink cartridges in the
All in One they would run out, or need cleaning or not work right. I use my
Canon printer for printing)
If I could get the one that comes with WIN XP set up (maybe I could
download driver files instead of pointing the set up to the WIN XP cd I
don't have?) I could open it when expecting a fax and see it come in, save
it, etc.
I didn't realize asking how to point a program looking for the WIN XP
install CD (I don't have) to the files it wants on my computer was such a
complicated (or dumb?) question.
I'm sure if I spend enough time searching online I can find the answers
myself.

Not sure what you are sending, but if its a word doc or excel sheet etc,
there is normally a "printer" installed to print to. You print from
anything program that prints, and instead of picking the lexmark
"printer" you pick the lexmark "fax". Or some wording to that extent.
Not sure what they called it. But it basically does all the work
for you of conversion etc and all it should do is prompt you for a phone #.

 

[Gerry]

Carrie

Does your scanner have the option to save to file? If yes you can
attachment the file to an email to your daughter. I fax a lot of
documents using WinFax Pro but in your situation that it was I would do.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I've tried this before, but never seriously looked into it. I don't use
faxing alot, and when I send them I use my Lexmark all in one
(printer/scanner) which brings up it's own Wizard.
Occasionally someone (my kids) will ask me if I can GET a fax.
Which is when I try and set up the one that came with Win XP
It says Rockwell fax/data V90
Wants to install, then a box comes up saying to put in the Win XP instal
CD. Which I don't have (didn't get from Dell)
I've tried to send it to what I think are the installaion files/drivers
the i386 file. It says it can't find what it needs there, it's invalid
path. What comes up automatically, from previous tries says
drivercache\i386
Doesn't seem to work. It ends up saying it didnt find what it needs and
to put in the WinXP instal CD. Though a box to send/receive faxes does
come up (I've never tried it this way to see if it works anyway)

My daughter just called and asked if I could get a fax for her and I
brought up the one with WIN XP and tried the find the driver file(s) it
needs again,but wasn't sure it would work (where it ended up saying it
couldn't find the file)

Faxing is something I'm not experienced with anyway. I always end up
feeling if the fax sends (via the Lexmark setup) it's just a lucky fluke
(LOL) I really don't know what I'm doing (like if I should use 1 in front
of a number, etc. I can fax out of state okay, but can't seem to figure
out the dialing for in state toll calls. If it needs 1 and the area code,
etc. it doesn't work. if I add a 1 and area code to the number it comes up
twice when it dials and doesn't work)

Maybe I could GET a fax through the Lexmark program, I don't know. I
would be using my home phone number for a fax and seems like Ishould have
the program getting it up on the screen, waiting.

(I should say, when I had Win 98 this came with "Ring Central Fax" and I
had that set up so I knew how to send AND receive faxes. But, now I have
WinXP and it's different)

Thanks,
Carrie

You will probably find that if you can borrow another actual XP CD, and
point the fax install wizard to it, you'll be able to do the install of the
applet. This won't require your XP install key.

But it's true that if your Lexmark can *send* a fax, it's well beyond likely
that it can receive one. If the manual isn't clear, check out Lexmark
support.

HTH
-pk

 

[VanguardLH]

I looked (once again) in the Lexmark instruction and all it has is "sending
a fax"

1 Open the Lexmark X1100 Series All-In-One Center (learn how to do this).
...
6 Click Next to begin scanning your document and to choose a destination.

From the online manual:

6 Follow the instructions on the computer screen.

Oh yeah, like that's informative. The online setup sheet never mentions
hooking a phone line to this device. Only when you get into the
troubleshooting section of the online user guide does it mention that a
phone line must be connected to do faxing.

Unless the "instructions" say otherwise, it doesn't appear the X1100
lets you received faxes. In that case, and easier than trying to get
the modem driver found and installed, setup the Fax Console in Windows
XP, and then configure it to receive faxes (after which you need to
disable its receive function so you can begin using your phone line
again), I'd go with creating an account at eFax or K7 to receive faxes
by e-mail. Once you create the account, give that phone number to the
fax sender. They send a fax, you get it by e-mail. You probably
already have your e-mail program setup to receive e-mails.

Even if, as you claim, the pre-built computer didn't come with Windows
XP installation CDs, the computer maker must provide you with a copy of
the OS to have a legitimate copy of it. It may be in a hidden
partition. Read the manual for that computer. It probably has
instructions on how to burn the restoration image in a hidden partition
on the hard disk onto recordable CDs. You then have the restore CDs in
case your hard disk fails; otherwise, you'll be spending $20, or more,
to have the computer maker ship you out replacement CDs while you wait
for them before you can restore your computer back to its factory setup
state.

"didn't get it from Dell". Sure sounds like you have a Dell but which
one you never mentioned. If the means by which you acquired this piece
of, um, hardware meant no manual was included, read the one that is
online at their site. I can't go look because, so far, you are the only
one that knows which model you have. Once you get the model number off
the sticker, go to their web site to find the online manual. Read it to
find the instructions on how to burn the restore CDs. If the "not Dell"
method of how you got this computer meant that the hard disk had been
repartitioned to wipe out the hidden partition, you don't have a copy of
the OS at all. That means when it crashes due to OS corruption,
malware, or hard disk failure that you will have nothing to reinstall
Windows XP. If you do manage to follow their instructions on creating
restore CDs, look on them for driver files. The restore CDs may only
contain an image of what gets put onto the hard disk for that particular
model so individual files may not be available from that image. It
depends on how Dell provided the OS on the restore CDs. Might be a
sector image that you cannot read. Might be some bastardized file
format that only their restore program knows how to read. It is very
likely not equivalent to a generic OEM version from Microsoft. Dell
loves to customize.

If you do manage to burn the restore CDs following Dell's instructions,
you may end up using it to restore your computer back to its factory
setup state. However, that means losing everything on that hard disk,
including your data files, so back them up somewhere else. If the
voice/data/fax modem was part of the hardware config when you bought
that model, the restore image should include drivers to support it. Do
the restore is like doing major surgery. If the voice/data/fax modem
was added afterward (i.e., not a pre-set Dell configuration) then you
need to find out what brand and model of modem got added by the "didn't
get it from Dell" person that transferred the computer to you, and then
go to that maker's web site to get their driver.

With all that to do, I think using eFax or K7 to create an account and
give that phone number to your waiting daughter or whomever she needs to
give that fax number is the fastest and easiest route to go. With eFax,
you'll need to install their software so you can read the fax that is
attached to the e-mail. Their file format is smaller by a third than
recieiving faxes contained with .tif files. eFax is also pretty
reliable. K7 doesn't require any software installs because they assume
your have software, like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer included in
Windows, that will read standard (but larger) .tif files. I haven't
used K7 long enough to know how reliable they are.

Faxzero: Send a fax using a web browser. Free. No hardware setup, not
tied to a particular computer. Doesn't tie up your phone line. No
login required and do not need to setup an account unless you want to
send big faxes or more than 2 per day.

eFax or K7: Receive a fax using e-mail. Free (for receiving faxes). No
hardware setup, not tied to a particular computer. eFax requires
software install (but I don't leave it running because I only need it to
read fax files, not for sending faxes). Doesn't tie up your phone line.
Wherever you can get e-mail, you can receive a fax.

You don't even have to go through all this. It is your daughter that
wants to get the fax. So go have her create the eFax or K7 account and
have her give that fax number to whomever it is that she wants to
receive the fax. She'll get the fax via e-mail. You don't have to do
anything for HER to get the fax. Let her handle her own e-mails where
the faxes will arrive.

 

[Carrie]

From the online manual:

6 Follow the instructions on the computer screen.

Oh yeah, like that's informative. The online setup sheet never mentions
hooking a phone line to this device. Only when you get into the
troubleshooting section of the online user guide does it mention that a
phone line must be connected to do faxing.

Silly, I know, but when I first tried faxing I didn't know it couldn't be
ONLINE (phone line used for dialup) to fax.
I've never worked in an office and nobody ever told or showed me how. This
isn't even a real fax machine, it's a computer hooked to a scanner.

Unless the "instructions" say otherwise, it doesn't appear the X1100
lets you received faxes. In that case, and easier than trying to get
the modem driver found and installed, setup the Fax Console in Windows
XP, and then configure it to receive faxes (after which you need to
disable its receive function so you can begin using your phone line
again), I'd go with creating an account at eFax or K7 to receive faxes
by e-mail. Once you create the account, give that phone number to the
fax sender. They send a fax, you get it by e-mail. You probably
already have your e-mail program setup to receive e-mails.

Even if, as you claim, the pre-built computer didn't come with Windows
XP installation CDs, the computer maker must provide you with a copy of
the OS to have a legitimate copy of it. It may be in a hidden
partition. Read the manual for that computer. It probably has
instructions on how to burn the restoration image in a hidden partition
on the hard disk onto recordable CDs. You then have the restore CDs in
case your hard disk fails; otherwise, you'll be spending $20, or more,
to have the computer maker ship you out replacement CDs while you wait
for them before you can restore your computer back to its factory setup
state.

"didn't get it from Dell". Sure sounds like you have a Dell but which
one you never mentioned. If the means by which you acquired this piece
of, um, hardware meant no manual was included, read the one that is
online at their site. I can't go look because, so far, you are the only
one that knows which model you have. Once you get the model number off
the sticker, go to their web site to find the online manual. Read it to
find the instructions on how to burn the restore CDs. If the "not Dell"
method of how you got this computer meant that the hard disk had been
repartitioned to wipe out the hidden partition, you don't have a copy of
the OS at all. That means when it crashes due to OS corruption,
malware, or hard disk failure that you will have nothing to reinstall
Windows XP. If you do manage to follow their instructions on creating
restore CDs, look on them for driver files. The restore CDs may only
contain an image of what gets put onto the hard disk for that particular
model so individual files may not be available from that image. It
depends on how Dell provided the OS on the restore CDs. Might be a
sector image that you cannot read. Might be some bastardized file
format that only their restore program knows how to read. It is very
likely not equivalent to a generic OEM version from Microsoft. Dell
loves to customize.

I don't understand what you mean about the "not Dell" etc. I got it from
Dell I set it up on their website and paid for it.
It's a an XPS 400 with WIN XP Media edition. It came with a round piece of
paper that looks like a CD and says no CD is needed because the restoration
files are built in.
This was 2 years ago last Feb.
My caughter recently bought an emachine from Tiger Direct that has Vista
and didn't get a restore CD either.
Are you insinuating I got my "not Dell" computer elsewhere like the
computer black market or or something?

If you do manage to burn the restore CDs following Dell's instructions,
you may end up using it to restore your computer back to its factory
setup state. However, that means losing everything on that hard disk,
including your data files, so back them up somewhere else. If the
voice/data/fax modem was part of the hardware config when you bought
that model, the restore image should include drivers to support it. Do
the restore is like doing major surgery. If the voice/data/fax modem
was added afterward (i.e., not a pre-set Dell configuration) then you
need to find out what brand and model of modem got added by the "didn't
get it from Dell" person that transferred the computer to you, and then
go to that maker's web site to get their driver.

All I wanted to do was find out how to set up the fax that apparently
came with the Win XP system. With the old one (Win 98) it had Ring Central
Fax.
Apparently the driver or whatever the fax needs to set up is part of the
WIN XP system files- somewhere. It didn't seem that complicated to tell me
where I might point the box asking for them, to look for the file it wants?

With all that to do, I think using eFax or K7 to create an account and
give that phone number to your waiting daughter or whomever she needs to
give that fax number is the fastest and easiest route to go. With eFax,
you'll need to install their software so you can read the fax that is
attached to the e-mail. Their file format is smaller by a third than
recieiving faxes contained with .tif files. eFax is also pretty
reliable. K7 doesn't require any software installs because they assume
your have software, like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer included in
Windows, that will read standard (but larger) .tif files. I haven't
used K7 long enough to know how reliable they are.

Faxzero: Send a fax using a web browser. Free. No hardware setup, not
tied to a particular computer. Doesn't tie up your phone line. No
login required and do not need to setup an account unless you want to
send big faxes or more than 2 per day.

eFax or K7: Receive a fax using e-mail. Free (for receiving faxes). No
hardware setup, not tied to a particular computer. eFax requires
software install (but I don't leave it running because I only need it to
read fax files, not for sending faxes). Doesn't tie up your phone line.
Wherever you can get e-mail, you can receive a fax.

You don't even have to go through all this. It is your daughter that
wants to get the fax. So go have her create the eFax or K7 account and
have her give that fax number to whomever it is that she wants to
receive the fax. She'll get the fax via e-mail. You don't have to do
anything for HER to get the fax. Let her handle her own e-mails where
the faxes will arrive.

One problem with this is she doesn't have a printer.
I didn't realize a simple question about setting up the Win XP fax
program on my Win XP OS would be so complicated, and I'd find out how dumb I
must be.
It didn't seem like that big a deal when I started. I know, my daughter
can deal with her own faxes and problems, but I just thought it would be
nice to get it set up and (once and for all) know.

 

[Carrie]

You will probably find that if you can borrow another actual XP CD, and
point the fax install wizard to it, you'll be able to do the install of
the applet. This won't require your XP install key.

But it's true that if your Lexmark can *send* a fax, it's well beyond
likely that it can receive one. If the manual isn't clear, check out
Lexmark support.

Thanks
Acually, for some reason, I thought it wasn't legal to borrow or use
someone else's Windows CD.
But, now if I can find someone who has one, I could do that.
I thought if I knew what file it wanted, I might find it online as a
download.
In my searching for answers online I found others who said they had the
same problem with the fax asking for the Win XP cd, and they didn't have it.
If I keep looking I'll probably come to a simple answer that's not too
complicated to do.

 

[Plato]

I've tried this before, but never seriously looked into it. I don't use
faxing alot, and when I send them I use my Lexmark all in one
(printer/scanner) which brings up it's own Wizard.
Occasionally someone (my kids) will ask me if I can GET a fax.
Which is when I try and set up the one that came with Win XP

First step is to make sure you have a fax/modem. Dell's do NOT come with
one.

 

[VanguardLH]

Silly, I know, but when I first tried faxing I didn't know it
couldn't be ONLINE (phone line used for dialup) to fax. I've never
worked in an office and nobody ever told or showed me how. This isn't
even a real fax machine, it's a computer hooked to a scanner.

Faxing can be done over a phone line using a data/fax analog modem. My
guess is the one you have is built into the motherboard so the chipset
drivers for that motherboard must get installed. Is the RJ-11 port
into which you plug the phone line to the computer in the backpanel set
of connectors (all grouped together) or is it a port on a card edge in
a slot?

Faxing can also be done over the Internet. I've pretty much beaten
that to death in my prior posts. I might end up spending hours trying
to install, troubleshoot, and configure a hardware voice/data/fax modem
(onboard or daughtercard) along with its software. My 85-year old
step-mom can create an eFax account and install their software in 5
minutes to receive faxes for free, and there's no setup to send faxes
using FaxZero. She finds using a web browser to send and e-mail to
receive a lot easier than trying to figure out the hardware and then
learning how to use the fax software. She isn't a business that has to
deal with dozens of faxes per day so she doesn't need all that
management for faxes.

If the modem is a separate component (i.e., not built-in but instead a
daughtercard in a slot), you can get the drivers from whomever
manufacturers that data/fax analog modem. If the maker isn't
identified on the card edge (the blank with port cutouts) then you'll
have to open the computer to look inside. Utilities that scan for
hardware will tell you the chip type on the modem, not who made the
modem card. There can be differences in how different modem makers
deploy a chip on their card so a driver for one card make not work
properly for another card using the same chip or some functions may be
lost. "Rockwell v90" is probably only identifying the modem chip, not
the modem card. If the modem chip is on the motherboard then you need
the chipset drivers for that motherboard.

I don't see that you've yet identified your computer. It's a Dell.
Okay. But which model? Once you get that off the sticker on the case,
go to Dell's web site and check for drivers, especially any that are
for the motherboard or chipset. Most Dells that I've seen have the
analog modem chip on the motherboard but a few simply met their specs
(Dell sells by specs, not by a specific hardware complement) by using a
modem daughtercard.

If you go to http://support.dell.com/support/index.aspx, click on the
button for drivers & downloads. You can enter your model and walk
through the wizard. I suspect entering the service tag number more
accurately identifies your host and might reduce the number of further
prompts.

I don't understand what you mean about the "not Dell" etc. I got it
from Dell I set it up on their website and paid for it.

"then a box comes up saying to put in the Win XP instal CD. Which I
don't have (didn't get from Dell)". That was YOUR statement in your
original post.

It's a an XPS 400 with WIN XP Media edition. It came with a round
piece of paper that looks like a CD and says no CD is needed because
the restoration files are built in.

That means the restore image is in a hidden partition on your hard
disk. There should be instructions in their manual that tells you how
to create recovery CDs. My step-mom never bothered to follow those
instructions. When her Windows got corrupted so it wouldn't boot at
all using any method, we had to order the restore CDs from Dell ($30)
and then wait for them to show up (4 days). It took 6 hours running
through their overly slow reinstall from those but it did her host back
to its factory-default state, the same as when she bought the host.
Luckily her data had been saved on a different disk so it still there
after the restore stepped atop the OS partition to return to its
initial image.

Ah, so it's a Dell XPS 400. Now we can get further on getting the
hardware support. When I went to the support link that I
gave above and entered that desktop model, I got to:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...IMENSION 400/9150&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=
(short URL = http://tinyurl.com/39go53)

Pick Windows XP for the OS, your language, and then look at the
Category drop-down list. It looks like Communications fits your need.
When I selected it, a bunch of Conexant modems (or modem chips) were
listed, one of which is a driver. You could try that.

The caveat with doing all this driver installing is that there is
always the risk that you end up harming your OS rather than fixing the
problem. I just had a user that decided to use a different keyboard so
they uninstalled their keyboard, selected one from the list, but then
the keyboard no longer functioned in Windows, even in safe mode or
trying to use a PS/2 port instead of USB. Luckily that host is
scheduled for daily incremental image backups so in about 20 minutes it
was back to the state is was in at 5AM that morning. If you don't have
a back-out plan in case of screwing over your host after changing
hardware, you could end up having to do a fresh install or image
restore from recovery CDs which means you lose any applications that
you installed after you got the host and possibly (likely) any data
that was in the same partition as where you need to reinstall the OS.

All I wanted to do was find out how to set up the fax that apparently
came with the Win XP system. With the old one (Win 98) it had Ring
Central Fax. Apparently the driver or whatever the fax needs to set
up is part of the WIN XP system files- somewhere. It didn't seem that
complicated to tell me where I might point the box asking for them,
to look for the file it wants?

Yes, the generic drivers included in a Windows distribution *might*
work. They might not. "Rockwell" was identifying a generic codeset
used by the modem chip. How a manufacture implements a modem chip can
differ how others implement it and it may not function with the generic
modem mini-port driver included in Windows or some of its functions may
be missing (modem manufacturers often add more than just the basic
feature set).

Above was mentioned how you create the restore CDs. Follow the
instructions in the manual. However, what you might get is a restore
CD that simply restore an image into the OS partition on the hard
drive. You might find it difficult or impossible to find specific
files containing the drivers that you need for your hardware. I would
still suggest that you later go through the procedure to create the
recovery CDs so you can restore you system when the hard disk fails or
something corrupts your Windows install to make it unusable and
unrecoverable. For now, use the link above at the Dell support site to
install the specific driver for the modem in your Dell model.

You may have wanted to only setup the Fax Console in Windows XP but
apparently you had to get the hardware working first hence the extent
of this very long discussion. Using FaxZero and eFax wouldn't had the
solution available in 5 minutes.

One problem with this is she doesn't have a printer.

She could save the attached file in the e-mail containing the fax to a
floppy, CD, or e-mail it to you or Kinkos and then open the .tif file
there to print it. That's why I mentioned K7 as an alternative to eFax
because with eFax you have to install software to view their
proprietary TIF-customized file whereas K7 using .tif that anyone can
open and then print.

How does she now print other documents? She has to take them
SOMEWHERE. She'd do the same with the saved attachment from her
e-mail.

It didn't seem like that big a deal when I started. I know, my
daughter can deal with her own faxes and problems, but I just thought
it would be nice to get it set up and (once and for all) know.

I have my voice/data/fax modem already supported and all the fax
software configured to use it and it all works. However, I still find
using FaxZero and eFax (or K7) to be a lot easier and without me having
to remember much on how to do faxing. I use the fax modem and fax
software when I need a bit more management (i.e., organizing and
archiving) of my faxes, or if I send a fax to somewhere that I must NOT
have the ad-laden cover page when using FaxZero. That cover page can
be tossed since it is not part of the document that I sent. There is
also the limits of 3 pages per fax and up to 2 faxes per day, so if I
need more than that then I use my fax modem and fax software. For
receiving, it's always easier to use eFax. I don't tie up my phone
line waiting to receive faxes on it and my organization of received
faxes is how I file them in structured folders.

I bet when all is done and you spend all the time to install device
drivers, configure the Fax Console, maybe go through a few iterations
with the sender before finally successfully receiving their fax, and
printing it for your daughter or even the shorter time spent setting up
eFax or K7 to receive faxes via e-mail and then print the attached fax
that you'll then find the sender could've sent you an e-mail all along.
Argh! Every insurance company that I've dealt with has an Internet
presence. You create your account, include your policies, and you can
then print those policies and even the carry-card from their web site.