Can't Add Fax Support in WinXP Pro SP3

I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly afterwards
discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with any certainty
that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after applying SP3.

When I run the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and select
Windows Components, I check the fax support box and run through the
installation. It appears to succeed, but the fax service is then listed as
"stopping" and "disabled", and no fax printer is installed. When I re-run
the CP applet, the fax support box is still unchecked, indicating that the
installation didn't succeed. Running through the installation again doesn't
change things.

I've run SFC to assure that my basic OS files are intact. My modem driver
is the latest version, and Device Manager indicates that the device (USR
5686E external) is working properly.

I've found one other user on MS's TechNet forums who has this same problem,
but he hasn't yet applied SP3. When I contacted MS, they directed me to
their pay-for-help line.

I've tried brutally removing any vestiges of fax support with the command:

rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
%windir%\INF\fxsocm.inf,Fax.Uninstall

then re-installing fax support, but again, no change in the end result.

I'd much appreciate any help on this.

Thanks.

- John

I am having the same problem under xp home sp3.
Fax support has been uninstalled and I cannot re-install it.

"John Miller" wrote:

> I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly afterwards
> discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with any certainty
> that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after applying SP3.
>
> When I run the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and select
> Windows Components, I check the fax support box and run through the
> installation. It appears to succeed, but the fax service is then listed as
> "stopping" and "disabled", and no fax printer is installed. When I re-run
> the CP applet, the fax support box is still unchecked, indicating that the
> installation didn't succeed. Running through the installation again doesn't
> change things.
>
> I've run SFC to assure that my basic OS files are intact. My modem driver
> is the latest version, and Device Manager indicates that the device (USR
> 5686E external) is working properly.
>
> I've found one other user on MS's TechNet forums who has this same problem,
> but he hasn't yet applied SP3. When I contacted MS, they directed me to
> their pay-for-help line.
>
> I've tried brutally removing any vestiges of fax support with the command:
>
> rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
> %windir%\INF\fxsocm.inf,Fax.Uninstall
>
> then re-installing fax support, but again, no change in the end result.
>
> I'd much appreciate any help on this.
>
> Thanks.
>
> - John
>
>
>

Provide as many steps to repro and error messages as you can. I haven't seen
any such issues so far, but since every XP Service Pack to date has broken
fax, this hardly surprises me. They've probably managed to do it again.
Also, verify that fax was installed and working normally before you applied
SP3 and clarify exactly what changed after you did.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eNyS61BvIHA.2068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly afterwards
>discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with any
>certainty that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after applying
>SP3.
>
> When I run the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and select
> Windows Components, I check the fax support box and run through the
> installation. It appears to succeed, but the fax service is then listed
> as "stopping" and "disabled", and no fax printer is installed. When I
> re-run the CP applet, the fax support box is still unchecked, indicating
> that the installation didn't succeed. Running through the installation
> again doesn't change things.
>
> I've run SFC to assure that my basic OS files are intact. My modem driver
> is the latest version, and Device Manager indicates that the device (USR
> 5686E external) is working properly.
>
> I've found one other user on MS's TechNet forums who has this same
> problem, but he hasn't yet applied SP3. When I contacted MS, they
> directed me to their pay-for-help line.
>
> I've tried brutally removing any vestiges of fax support with the command:
>
> rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
> %windir%\INF\fxsocm.inf,Fax.Uninstall
>
> then re-installing fax support, but again, no change in the end result.
>
> I'd much appreciate any help on this.
>
> Thanks.
>
> - John
>

fax was installed and working in xpsp2.
now fax foldericon under communications is called:
@%systemroot%\system32\fxsres.dll,-118.
Under add/remove windows components fax services is unselected.
When I choose to install, it looks like fax installs fine, but i have the
same scenario as above. Exiting install and reentering tells me i have not
fax services installed again.
i have no error messages under eventvwr.
Log files...not sure where to look....any ideas appreciated.
cheers
rob

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

> Provide as many steps to repro and error messages as you can. I haven't seen
> any such issues so far, but since every XP Service Pack to date has broken
> fax, this hardly surprises me. They've probably managed to do it again.
> Also, verify that fax was installed and working normally before you applied
> SP3 and clarify exactly what changed after you did.
> --
> Russ Valentine
> [MVP-Outlook]
> "John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:eNyS61BvIHA.2068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> >I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly afterwards
> >discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with any
> >certainty that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after applying
> >SP3.
> >
> > When I run the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel and select
> > Windows Components, I check the fax support box and run through the
> > installation. It appears to succeed, but the fax service is then listed
> > as "stopping" and "disabled", and no fax printer is installed. When I
> > re-run the CP applet, the fax support box is still unchecked, indicating
> > that the installation didn't succeed. Running through the installation
> > again doesn't change things.
> >
> > I've run SFC to assure that my basic OS files are intact. My modem driver
> > is the latest version, and Device Manager indicates that the device (USR
> > 5686E external) is working properly.
> >
> > I've found one other user on MS's TechNet forums who has this same
> > problem, but he hasn't yet applied SP3. When I contacted MS, they
> > directed me to their pay-for-help line.
> >
> > I've tried brutally removing any vestiges of fax support with the command:
> >
> > rundll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection
> > %windir%\INF\fxsocm.inf,Fax.Uninstall
> >
> > then re-installing fax support, but again, no change in the end result.
> >
> > I'd much appreciate any help on this.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > - John
> >
>

Rob clearly has *exactly* the same problem as I do. I submitted this to MS
Tech Support. If I get anything useful, I'll let ya know.

- John

Rob and John:

It sounds like you may have security data base corruption as documented in
this KB article. This is a farly common problem after an SP2 install and it
looks like the probleem persists with SP3:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
You cannot add a Windows component in Windows XP

You can either:

1. Get the hotfix mentioned in the KB article and install it. Microsoft
usually waives any charges for support calls to get supported hotfixes
listed in Knowledge Base articles. If you go this route, please make SURE
the person you talk to understands you've applied XP-SP3; this hotfix may
have been included. FWIW, the only report I've had back on this hotfix was
that it did NOT fix the problem on an XP-SP2 system

2. Try this procedure using the Esentutl.exe utility mentioned in the KB
article to recover from security database corruption:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...name=c00270202
HP and Compaq Notebook PCs: Unable to Install Windows XP Fax Software

I can report that the Esentutl utility has corrected the problem in a number
of cases, HOWEVER, note that Microsoft does NOT recommend that you use the
utility and would prefer you try the hotfix.

Hal
--
Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- hhh@kvoa.com
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
Live at Hot Licks - www.badnewsbluesband.com

"John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:upo16jFvIHA.5580@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Rob clearly has *exactly* the same problem as I do. I submitted this to
MS
> Tech Support. If I get anything useful, I'll let ya know.
>
> - John
>
>

My brother had Microsoft Fax working fine on his Dell XP box with all the
patches/SPs applied. He then installed SP3 from Microsoft Update and his Fax
Console now does not respond after launching it manually. It would just sit
there with the hourglass showing trying to refresh the inbox. It also does
not launch directly from Word like it used to. He had it setup to get
addresses from Outlook Express. The workaround was to uninstall SP3 from
Add/Remove programs and now Microsoft Fax is working for him again.


"John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:eNyS61BvIHA.2068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly
> afterwards discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with
> any certainty that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after
> applying SP3.

Not so sure.
I just installed SP3 and can repro none of these problems. Can you?

--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Hal Hostetler [MVP P/I]" <hhh@kvoa.com> wrote in message
news:uH4YyCGvIHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Rob and John:
>
> It sounds like you may have security data base corruption as documented in
> this KB article. This is a farly common problem after an SP2 install and
> it
> looks like the probleem persists with SP3:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/884018/EN-US/
> You cannot add a Windows component in Windows XP
>
> You can either:
>
> 1. Get the hotfix mentioned in the KB article and install it. Microsoft
> usually waives any charges for support calls to get supported hotfixes
> listed in Knowledge Base articles. If you go this route, please make SURE
> the person you talk to understands you've applied XP-SP3; this hotfix may
> have been included. FWIW, the only report I've had back on this hotfix
> was
> that it did NOT fix the problem on an XP-SP2 system
>
> 2. Try this procedure using the Esentutl.exe utility mentioned in the KB
> article to recover from security database corruption:
>
> http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/g...name=c00270202
> HP and Compaq Notebook PCs: Unable to Install Windows XP Fax Software
>
> I can report that the Esentutl utility has corrected the problem in a
> number
> of cases, HOWEVER, note that Microsoft does NOT recommend that you use the
> utility and would prefer you try the hotfix.
>
> Hal
> --
> Hal Hostetler, CPBE -- hhh@kvoa.com
> 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
> Live at Hot Licks - www.badnewsbluesband.com
>
> "John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:upo16jFvIHA.5580@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Rob clearly has *exactly* the same problem as I do. I submitted this to
> MS
>> Tech Support. If I get anything useful, I'll let ya know.
>>
>> - John
>>
>>
>
>

I have a related problem -- but different.

I purchased a new-to-me computer with XP-Pro preinstalled. When I tried to
install fax under either sp2 or sp3, it tells me to insert the XP install CD
-- which I do not have.

It sounds from the above comments that fax is simply not working in sp3 --
so this may be a moot problem. But, does anybody have any ideas or
suggestions? I certainly do not want to try to buy a copy of XP-Pro when I
already have it.

"John Speros" wrote:

> My brother had Microsoft Fax working fine on his Dell XP box with all the
> patches/SPs applied. He then installed SP3 from Microsoft Update and his Fax
> Console now does not respond after launching it manually. It would just sit
> there with the hourglass showing trying to refresh the inbox. It also does
> not launch directly from Word like it used to. He had it setup to get
> addresses from Outlook Express. The workaround was to uninstall SP3 from
> Add/Remove programs and now Microsoft Fax is working for him again.
>
>
> "John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:eNyS61BvIHA.2068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> > I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly
> > afterwards discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say with
> > any certainty that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after
> > applying SP3.
>
>

Not related at all. You need your installation files. Obviously. What is
your question?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"GeorgeBMac" <GeorgeBMac@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8A1D61CD-6292-4B74-8AF0-6CE7EADE34D5@microsoft.com...
>I have a related problem -- but different.
>
> I purchased a new-to-me computer with XP-Pro preinstalled. When I tried
> to
> install fax under either sp2 or sp3, it tells me to insert the XP install
> CD
> -- which I do not have.
>
> It sounds from the above comments that fax is simply not working in sp3 --
> so this may be a moot problem. But, does anybody have any ideas or
> suggestions? I certainly do not want to try to buy a copy of XP-Pro when
> I
> already have it.
>
> "John Speros" wrote:
>
>> My brother had Microsoft Fax working fine on his Dell XP box with all
>> the
>> patches/SPs applied. He then installed SP3 from Microsoft Update and his
>> Fax
>> Console now does not respond after launching it manually. It would just
>> sit
>> there with the hourglass showing trying to refresh the inbox. It also
>> does
>> not launch directly from Word like it used to. He had it setup to get
>> addresses from Outlook Express. The workaround was to uninstall SP3 from
>> Add/Remove programs and now Microsoft Fax is working for him again.
>>
>>
>> "John Miller" <John_L_Miller@no-spam.yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:eNyS61BvIHA.2068@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> > I recently applied SP3 to my WinXP Pro installation, and shortly
>> > afterwards discovered that I no longer had fax support. I can't say
>> > with
>> > any certainty that SP3 broke it; only that I noticed the problem after
>> > applying SP3.
>>
>>