Re: WinXP default fax software no longer works

Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] wrote:
As I understand it, the situation is even more complicated than that. The problem arises because initializing strings are written to the modem which are not removed by the uninstall procedure. When two TAPI based fax programs have both written to the modem, in the end neither may work. Earl Parrish often posts here and he knows a lot more about that than I.


This is probably not very relevant, but hardware modems typically have memory, in the form of non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), in which they store initialization "profiles" (they may also store additional info, e.g., phone numbers). Softmodems, aka Winmodems, may store similar info in datafiles on the computer's hard drive.

Typically, there may be 2 such profiles, in addition to a hard-coded factory profile. Sometimes there are multiple factory profiles, corresponding to "optimization" for different operations. Assuming that the modem uses the Hayes-compatible AT command set (and most do), one can view and modify these initialization strings using an application that directly addresses the modem, such as HyperTerminal.

Not all modems support all commands, and some commands may behave slightly differently in different brands of modem, but generally, the following are pretty standard. The commands recognized by a given modem should be findable from the modem mfr's website. Note that the Fax commands all begin +Fxxx (e.g., AT+FCLASS=? returns the fax classes supported by the modem). For more info, Google for "at command set" or "at fax command set".

ATZ0: Reset modem to profile 0
ATZ1: Reset modem to profile 1
AT&F: Load factory profile
AT&V0: Display active profile
AT&V1: Display stored profiles
AT&W0: Save active profile to profile 0
AT&W1: Save active profile to profile 1
AT&Y0: Use profile 0 on powerup (default)
AT&Y1: Use profile 1 on powerup

I'm not sure that there is a command to clear the stored profiles, but if there is some concern that a fax application has added some initialization values that might be incompatible with Windows XP Fax Services, one could load the factory profile and then save it to both "user" profiles.
--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
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