Microsoft Fax

[Georgeben]

Does anyone know anything about MS fax?
A bit old hat now I guess but I had cause to use it recently and can't get it to work.
In Word/file/send to/fax recipient I get the fax wizard OK but when I get to the 'which fax program do you want to use to send the fax' Microsoft Fax is greyed out. I tried pulling down 'Fax' in the box (along with the printers) but it still wont work.
I've configured the dial-up modem OK and proved it works (on my back-up dial-up ISP) but the Outbox in Fax Console always shows timed out attempts with 'fatal error' (protocol problem I think)
I used to have a third party fax before (Mighty Fax) which worked fine but I deleted it and put in MS version. To be honest it's so long since I used the fax facility but I remember it was a doddle with Mighty Fax.
I've looked at the help file until I went practically dizzie but could'nt spot what I might have done wrong.

[alc6379]

What OS are you running? When you pull down the drop-down box, what other options are there?

Could it be possible that Microsoft Fax is the default option?

[Georgeben]

XP Pro.
Other options are the rest of my printers plus "fax".
When I click Fax, the Wizard tells me it's finished "sending" the document and on OK the Send Fax Wizard appears. I fill in all the numbers and finish.
Then in the fax console I get the "timed out" and error message.

[alc6379]

Does it even act like it's trying to dial, or anything? I'm just trying to determine whether there's a problem with the software or not-- it could be the reason why it's greyed out is because that's the only fax program you had installed, thus making it the default.

[Georgeben]

No it doesn't sound as if it's dialling (usual dial up modem tones!) and it is the only fax programme installed.
The last time I tried the fax just sat in the outbox saying 'pending' and there does't seem to be anything in the menus or buttons to re send.

[alc6379]

Hrm... stumped me. I haven't used Fax in a good while. Maybe I can install it, and see what I can figure out. If I haven't replied back to this in a couple of days, then you've really stumped me...

Well, what happens if you look in your Printers and Faxes control panel, under the fax device that you just used? What do you see there?

[Georgeben]

I thought I'd got it there for a moment.
In printers and faxes the Fax is listed and with a "ready" status. I opened fax properties on the Devices Tap and my dial up modem was disabled (dont send) which I fixed. However, expecting that all was Ok I tried to send a fax and the problem is still there. "Fatal Error" in the status col.
Thanks for your help anyway. I'll sleep on it for a day or two and when (or if) I fix it I'll drop you a note.
(Fatal Error means an IP/TCP fault, accoring to the help files)

[alc6379]

I thought I'd got it there for a moment. In printers and faxes the Fax is listed and with a "ready" status. I opened fax properties on the Devices Tap and my dial up modem was disabled (dont send) which I fixed. However, expecting that all was Ok I tried to send a fax and the problem is still there. "Fatal Error" in the status col. Thanks for your help anyway. I'll sleep on it for a day or two and when (or if) I fix it I'll drop you a note. (Fatal Error means an IP/TCP fault, accoring to the help files)

Like I said, I'm kind of sketchy past this point. But, I can at least tell you this: TCP/IP has nothing to do with the issue. You only use TCP/IP when on the Internet, or some other kind of network-- it's never used for faxing.

[aaacorn]

This may be a little late but I think you will find it helpful. Check out this site http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/crawford_02october21.mspx

Scroll down to Sending Faxes from Your Computer and I think this will fix your problem.

I can't get MS Fax to work in word....greyed out. But using this method of changing over from printer to Fax works for me.

Good Luck and hope this helps.