Re: Cannot Correctly Preview Fax in Fax Console

Indeed you are unique. I no way do I doubt what you are saying, but until now, all known problems with previewing faxes have had one of two causes: incorrect file associations for TIF files or end user error using Windows Picture and Fax viewer. It is entirely possible that you have stumbled upon a new problem that no one else has encountered so far, but without precise steps to repro and confirmation from other users, it will be difficult to solve in an end user newsgroup.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"BoulderMan" <BoulderMan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:9E3C1F3B-5860-4C10-B72F-D6F6CCD0BCD5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Perhaps most of the time the problem is "end user error" but not this time.

There are two related problems -
1. The preview of a fax is not correct - only the first page or two are
correct; the other pages are missing or show up as unrelated images.
2. After I send the fax, the copy in the sent folder is also not correct -
only the first page or two are correct - just as with preview.

Just today I was also able to contact the company I faxed when I ran into
this problem. I expected that they would have received a corrupt fax but
they did not. The fax they received (a coverpage and 3 document pages) was
fine, even though I could not correctly view the fax in my sent folder.

At this point, I am confident that this is not "user error". I am also
confident that it is not a problem with faxing from Acrobat Reader since the
fax was sent and received correctly. (As I have done with earlier versions
of Acrobat Reader.)

The issue appears to be with the fax console/printer. Perhaps one of the
fx*.dll files is corrupted. The issue is not affected by the application
that calls the fax printer - 3 separate apps all have the same preview
problem (with both .doc and .pdf files).

You apparently haven't run across any problem like this and are trying to
treat it as a run of the mill problem. Frankly, I am amazed that you can say
"I'm not sure I'm seeing anything here that isn't expected behavior" when it
is clearly bizarre behavior.

Since it doesn't fit into anything you've seen, maybe the problem is a
corrupted file on my system. I was trying to pin it down and provided a
great deal of specifics in my previous posts and my post to Hal (above).
I'll probably compare my fx*.dll files with those of a friend's machine that
is also running Xp and see if the problem is there. Those seem to be the fax
console/printer .dll files.

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Acrobat _Reader's_ rendering capabilities have varied with each version and
have not always been robust enough to permit printing to the fax printer
unless a separate printto verb is defined. Word's rendering capabilities
have always been sufficient and still are.
It's been rather hard to wade through your post, but as I understand it your
problem is not with rendering or sending the fax, right? Your only problem
is in previewing the fax, right? Most of the time that is a problem with end
user error, i.e., not using the correct arrows in Picture viewer to advance
to the next page correctly. I'm not sure I'm seeing anything here that isn't
expected behavior.
No version of Outlook has fax capability, and that hasn't changed in Outlook
2007.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"BoulderMan" <BoulderMan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:95304357-94C2-421C-AC3F-927ACF123B59@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I don't know how you can say that since I've routinely faxed from >Acrobat
> Reader as I recall, although I did update it within the last year. > Also
> you
> can see Reader generating 3 pages before calling up the fax console.
>
> As I stated I also could not print to the fax from Word 2007 which I > would
> assume should work since I routinely used Word 97 for faxing using the > fax
> accessory.
>
> One reason I am suspicious of the Office 2007 installation is that I've
> found Office to change file associations and default system settings
> without
> warning - for example Office 2007 installation prevented me from using
> Access
> 97 that was installed in another directory (Office 97), although my > Word
> 97
> and Excel 97 were still available. (Access seemed to be removed, not
> merely
> no longer linked to the shortcut). Office 2007 also changed my default
> email
> program without asking. Finally, even the Student Teacher trial > edition
> of
> Office 2003 on my machine when I bought it would often override the > file
> associations of my Office 97 Professional Word and Excel without asking
> when
> Word 2003 would open .doc even though Word 97 was set as the associated
> app.
>
> Are you going to maintain that Word 2007 also doesn't have rendering
> abilities?
>
> Does Outlook 2007 (which I've never used but which became the default
> email
> client) have faxing abilities? If so maybe it could be used as a work
> around.
>
> "Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
>
>> I knew there was more to this story. Printing to the fax printer >> requires
>> that the originating application have the necessary rendering
>> capabilities.
>> Adobe Reader does not.
>> If you now send a fax using a supported method, what is your problem?
>> -- >> Russ Valentine
>> [MVP-Outlook]
>> "BoulderMan" <BoulderMan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:2BE66277-6757-474E-A07A-678AA2BFBFFD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >I have used the fax printer Windows accessory many times. In this
>> >instance,
>> > I first tried printing from Adobe Reader while viewing a 3-page .pdf
>> > file.
>> > I
>> > go to print and select fax as the printer. The Fax console comes >> > up.
>> > I
>> > selected an addressee from the address book, I then selected a cover
>> > page
>> > and
>> > filled it in. I choose to send the fax now, normal delivery. On >> > the
>> > page
>> > where I can actually send the fax, I chose the "Preview Fax" button >> > to
>> > look
>> > at the fax before sending.
>> >
>> > To my surprise, a message popped up saying cannot view the fax. >> > This
>> > never
>> > happened before, over the many years I've used the fax printer.
>> >
>> > I chose to send the fax anyway since I figured it was ok. It seemed >> > to
>> > be
>> > sent fine - 4 pages were sent which would be correct: a cover *** >> > and
>> > 3
>> > document pages. I then tried to view the fax in the sent folder and
>> > got
>> > the
>> > message indicating no application for opening .tif files. At this
>> > point I
>> > went into Windows Explorer, set up the association of .tif files >> > with
>> > Windows
>> > Picture and Fax viewer. I then was able to view the fax. The first
>> > page
>> > was
>> > just fine, i don't recall if the second was fine or not, but the
>> > remaining
>> > pages came up as bit map files unassociated with the document. I >> > then
>> > located those bit maps in the same TEMP directory I mentioned >> > earlier.
>> > That
>> > temp directory also included the correct first page of the fax as a >> > tif
>> > file.
>> > The other sent files were .bmp files.
>> >
>> > Deleting the displayed .bmp files only resulted in other .bmp files
>> > from
>> > that same directory being displayed. It is as if the fax console
>> > preview
>> > is
>> > generating only one (or two) .tif file page(s) and then using other
>> > files.
>> >
>> > To try to fix the problem, I contacted HP support. And tried >> > several
>> > things -
>> > 1. Removing the fax accessory using Windows Add/Remove components >> > and
>> > then
>> > adding it back in.
>> > 2. Running System File Checker(SFC) utility to verify and correct
>> > defective
>> > protected system files.
>> > 3. Running msconfig to configure the system to not run any startup
>> > programs
>> > and to only run those services that are from Microsoft. This
>> > configuration
>> > allowed the fax printer to be accessed without using non-Microsoft
>> > services
>> > or any startup apps. (I did not try to get a minimal set of >> > Microsoft
>> > services however.)
>> >
>> > When none of this things seemed to significantly affect the problem, >> > I
>> > ran
>> > chkdsk which did seem to find and remove some minor index issues - I
>> > think
>> > one or a few files. This did not affect the problem.
>> >
>> > I confirmed this same problem using Word 2007 trying to print a
>> > multipage
>> > document to the fax.
>> >
>> > I have not tried to print from any other apps other than Acrobat >> > Reader
>> > and
>> > Word 2007.
>> >
>> > Other than this fax printer problem, the system seems stable. I've >> > had
>> > it
>> > several years and have run antivirus and antispy programs. Only the
>> > anti-virus program is resident but I disabled it during some of >> > these
>> > checks.
>> >
>> > The first indication that something was different was when I could >> > not
>> > Preview the fax before sending it.
>> >
>> > The reason I am somewhat suspicious about updates is that a year or >> > so
>> > ago,
>> > a Microsoft patch conflicted with an HP program on my HP machine and
>> > caused
>> > Windows Explorer to not work properly at all. A subsequent patch >> > from
>> > Microsoft corrected the problem, likely because it affected so many
>> > users.
>> > Since the fax printer is probably less frequently used, it might not
>> > show
>> > up
>> > as a major problem. I only use it occasionally but never had a >> > problem
>> > before.
>> >
>> > I am an EE and I've done years of software, firmware and some >> > hardware
>> > development. So I don't think this is user error. I do not however
>> > claim
>> > to
>> > be an expert on Windows XP internals but I consider myself a >> > competent
>> > user.
>> >
>> > I do not know how the fax accessory files are generated. It looks >> > like
>> > there are about a dozen fx*.dll files that I suspect comprise the >> > fax
>> > accessory. I do not know if they are rebuilt when the fax accessory >> > is
>> > removed and added. And I don't know exactly how the SFC utility >> > works.
>> > I
>> > would hope it would check all the current windows files against the
>> > installation files. But perhaps it only checks protected or hidden
>> > files
>> > and
>> > not the viewable files. And so the fx*.dll might have some >> > corruption.
>> > Note
>> > however, that nothing locks up or otherwise acts suspiciously.
>> >
>> > "Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> This sounds more like end user error. Your suspicions have not been
>> >> confirmed by the rest of us. Provide more information, including >> >> your
>> >> file
>> >> association for TIF and the steps to repro your problem.
>> >> -- >> >> Russ Valentine
>> >> [MVP-Outlook]
>> >> "BoulderMan" <BoulderMan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in >> >> message
>> >> news:3875583D-3634-4DB3-8A10-E16B5AC860D0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >> > The Fax Console appears to work fine and comes up when I print to
>> >> > the
>> >> > Fax
>> >> > Printer from an application such as Adobe Reader or Word 2007.
>> >> > However
>> >> > when
>> >> > I go to preview the fax in the Fax Console, only the cover page, >> >> > the
>> >> > first
>> >> > document page or cover page and first document page are correct.
>> >> > The
>> >> > remaining pages are bitmap images from the hidden directory
>> >> > C:\Documents
>> >> > and
>> >> > Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temp. Somehow, the fax console is
>> >> > only
>> >> > converting one document page and then mistakenly somehow >> >> > selecting
>> >> > bitmap
>> >> > images from that directory.C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local
>> >> > Settings\Temp as other document pages.
>> >> >
>> >> > The fax printer used to work fine. I suspect some Microsoft or
>> >> > other
>> >> > updates or installation of Office 2007 might be related to this
>> >> > problem.
>> >> > Disabling non-Microsoft services and all startup programs using
>> >> > msconfig
>> >> > did
>> >> > not affect the problem. Running SFC did not help.
>> >> >
>> >> > Any suggestions?
>> >> >
>> >>
>>


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