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This problem can be resolved with WinFax Tools by pressing the Fix Start up errors button.

This error message, along with the “WinFax is not active for this User Account. Please start the controller and try again.” error message are both related. They can only occur with version 10.02 and higher of WinFax PRO that is operating in the Windows XP environment. This error does not appear under Windows 2000 or Windows 9x environments, or versions 10.0 or 10.01 of WinFax PRO. To determine the version of WinFax PRO you are using, click “WinFax Info” button in WinFax Tools.

This error message can occur when you are using the Windows XP Fast User Switching feature. The reason these messages only appear under Windows XP and versions 10.02 and higher is because these versions included support for Windows XP and specifically checked for the use of the fast user switching feature under Windows XP. This feature allows you to switch between users that are logged into Windows XP, while keeping that users applications running in the background.

The problem is that if another user already has the WinFax Controller running in the background, you can’t start another WinFax instance from another users account. (If you could, it would mess up the database and probably cause data failure). In this specific case, this message is normal. You can’t start another copy of WinFax if someone else is running it in the background.

While this is the most common situation where this message can appear, its also possible something else is wrong and you don’t use Windows XP Fast User Switching, or don’t even have other users logged into Windows.

Usually, when you run into this message you may need to reboot of the computer. Its possible that specific WinFax PRO startup programs and service were closed down prematurely, or didn’t execute or startup properly under the current user. A reboot of the computer should successfully restart these programs that WinFax requires to use. If this does not solve the problem, then your installation of WinFax is likely corrupt and needs repair.

If you continue to encounter this error we recommend using the “Fix Start Up Errors” option in WinFax Tools.