WinFax PRO Support

Here is a possible solution where Adobe Acrobat does not close after attaching PDF files.

Use of the Acrobat Wrapper:

(Starting with version 8 ) Adobe Reader has changed its behavior when used as a command line tool to print PDF documents. It will no longer close itself after being called with the /t switch. This tool will help you close the Adobe Reader when it has finished printing.

Programs like (WinFax PRO) and a lot of custom built solutions rely on this feature from Adobe Reader.

How does it work?
Most programs that use this feature of Adobe Reader activate it by executing the PrintTo verb on the PDF document they want to print. They do that by calling the ShellExecute API function of the operating system. This tool patches the computers registry database to manipulate the PrintTo verb on PDF documents. Instead of calling the Adobe Reader the verb will activate the wrapper. The wrapper will simply start the original Adobe Reader and close it when it has finished printing.

Rest of details here:

http://www.biopdf.com/acrowrap/close_adobe_reader.php

Since the introduction of the 64 bit operating system, Microsoft released two different versions of Office 2010.  A 32 bit version (which is used my most, and is compatible with many of the existing Office add-ons) and the 64 bit version of Office 2010 for use with the newer 64 bit operating systems. 

You may have a 64 bit version of Windows (Windows 7 x64) but this does not always indicate that you have a 64 bit version of Office 2010 installed. If you are not sure which version you installed, the following article will describe how you can determine the version you are using.

 Why use the 32 bit version of Office 2010 if I have a 64 bit operating system like Windows 7 x64?

The advantage of using the 32 bit version (the default installation, and recommended installation from Microsoft) is that your existing add-ons and templates that are designed specifically for 32 bit operating systems will (or should) continue to work with Office 2010. 

The advantage of using the 64 bit version of Office 2010 is that you can utilize more memory and handle larger documents within Office 2010.  So, unless you’re normally dealing and working with large files of 2GB or more, Office 2010 64 bit isn’t going to give you any advantage over the 32 bit version.

The following Microsoft Engineering Blog has some good information on this, http://blogs.technet.com/b/office2010/archive/2010/02/23/understanding-64-bit-office.aspx

NOTE: You can’t run mixed 32 bit Office and 64 bit Office 2010 components (side by side).  If you install Office 2010 64 bit, all your Office 2010 software will be 64 bit (Outlook 2010, Excel 2010, Word 2010 …)  The same is true for the 32 bit version.  If you have the 64 bit of Outlook 2010 installed, you must uninstall Outlook 2010 64 bit and install the 32 bit version to install any other Microsoft Office 2010 32 bit applications

If you’re using any of the following software products,  you’ll require the 32 bit version of Office 2010. 

• Sending fax merges with the FaxTalk Fax Merge requires a 32 bit version of Microsoft Word 2010. 
• WinFax PRO with a compatible operating system (Windows XP, 2003) will function with 32 bit Microsoft Office 2010.
• WinFax is not compatible with Outlook 2010 contacts.
• FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro 8, FaxTalk Multiline Server 8 and FaxTalk Messenger Pro 8 require the 32 bit version of Outlook 2010 to use contacts**

** FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro, FaxTalk Multiline Server and FaxTalk Messenger Pro can fax using 64 bit or 32 bit Office 2010 products.

How to determine the version of Microsoft Office 2010 installed

If you are not sure what version you have installed, you can check by clicking FILE from the Word ribbon, and then click HELP.

A 64 bit or 32 bit version will be indicated in the dialog box as shown. (32 bit or 64 bit will appear after the version information)

This is a question we get quite often, there are many manufacturers (HP, Dell, Brother, Canon & Lexmark) that are combining a printer with a fax machine and scanner, these are called MFPs (Multi-function printers) or All-in-One Devices.  These are common in small business and home office environments.  These printers usually do come with some sort of “fax” software that is bundled when you install the drivers for the printer device. You can use these devices to send and receive faxes through your computer  or directly as a stand-alone office fax machine (some even include a telephone handset).  Unfortunately, the software that is bundled with these devices are basic and are limited in features. At the least, they usually have the ability to send and receive a fax, keep a records of faxes you’ve sent & received, and have the ability to print your faxes.  We’re often asked if you can you use WinFax PRO or other software instead of the primative bundled software?  The answer is usually and often No. The hardware & software designed for these multi-function printers are proprietary to the manufactuer, and the drivers included with the printer as specific to that model of printer. These multi-function printers are not considered “Fax Modems” and do not interface with the computer as a standard Class 1 or 2.x fax modem would. This is the reason that WinFax PRO and other fax software do not detect these devices.

You can still use these multi-function printers in conjunction with a fax modem and WinFax PRO. You can use the scanner feature to scan documents, and, of course, to print your faxes.

You’ve upgraded to Office 2010 or Office 2007 and now third party Microsoft Office Add-ins or templates fail to run, this includes the FaxTalk Fax Merge Macro for Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You may see the following error message when you attempt to activate the macro.You have confirmed that your security settings are properly configured, however the macro does not run.

“The macro cannot be found or has been disabled because of your Macro security settings….”

additionally, one the following error messages might also appear:

“Word has encountered a problem.”

or, when attempting to compile a VBA project:

“Object library invalid or contains references to object definitions that could not be found.”

If you have determined that this error is not due to any security settings you have configured in Office 2010 or 2007 Trust Center, then you may need to delete some temporary .exd  files to correct this issue.

1. Close Microsoft Word (or other Microsoft Office product)
2. Click Start, and Run.  Then type
   %APPDATA%\MICROSOFT\FORMS
   and click OK. This will open the folder where these .exd files are located.
3. Locate any files with .exd extension and delete them.  These will be recreated as needed.
4. Restart Microsoft Word.

If all is well, no more  macro error messages!

NOTE: This fix may not apply to “Click-To-Run” versions of Office 2010.  Microsoft has acknowledged that some third party add-ins and templates will not function properly with “Click-To-Run” versions of Office 2010.

One of the main components of WinFax PRO is its printer driver, the printer driver allows you to fax from other applications. Without this driver, you cannot send faxes from other applications. WinFax PRO is crippled without the installation of the included printer (WinFax) driver, without it, all you can fax are single cover pages that are built into WinFax.

Windows Server 2003

The first problem with installation of WinFax PRO under Windows 2003 is that the printer driver support in the operating system was moved from kernel to user mode. The reason is that the use of kernel mode printer drivers can possibily cause a server to hang, result in a blue screen and require a reboot. This isn’t something you want happening on a server. Because of this possibility, Microsoft decided to block the installation of all kernel mode printer drivers in Windows 2003. During the installation of WinFax PRO, a kernel mode printer driver (also called version 2 printer driver) is added to your list of installed printers. By default, Windows 2003 won’t allow you to add this printer, and during the installation it is either ignored silently or a printer driver related error message is displayed. Fortunately, in Windows 2003 you can bypass this restriction. You can set a group policy in Windows 2003 to allow the installation of kernel mode printers. Once you’ve done this, you should be able to successfully install WinFax PRO under Windows 2003.

Windows Server 2008

 Windows Server 2008 does not support Type 2/Kernel Mode printer drivers. While the installation of WinFax (may) appear to complete under Windows 2008, the installation  will not include these printer drivers.  WinFax PRO is not compatible with this operating system.

Unfortunately, like Microsoft Vista, Windows 7 is not compatible with WinFax PRO due to some of the changes made to the operating system.  With the release of Windows 7, Microsoft has acknowledged that many are still using legacy Windows XP applications, like WinFax PRO, and require a method to run these applications on a Windows 7 based PC.  A possible solution to run these legacy “XP” applications on your Windows 7 desktop is a feature that is available in some versions of Windows 7 called Windows XP Mode. 

Our initial testing confirms that you can run WinFax PRO in Windows XP mode, but you cannot “share” the WinFax PRO printer driver with Windows 7 applications.  We successfully shared the fax modem, (and it was a software based modem!) but not the fax printer. This prevents any access from Windows 7 programs to the WinFax printer. Only the applications that are installed within the Windows XP Virtual machine can be used with WinFax to send faxes, you cannot create faxes from within Windows 7 applications. 

This limits the usability of WinFax in Windows 7.  if you require to fax from a Windows 7 application, it will not work.  Although, having Windows XP within your Windows 7 operating system saves you the expensive of having another separate computer just to run legacy Windows XP applications such as WinFax.

An alternative to WinFax PRO is FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro,  more details here

 More on Windows XP Mode with Windows 7.

Windows XP Mode is a feature that is optional on Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise versions of Windows 7. Windows XP Mode is not available in the Home Premium or Starter Editions of Windows 7. Windows XP Mode option can be downloaded at no additional charge with a qualified version of Windows 7 directly from Microsoft’s Web site here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

In addition to the downloads, you’ll need a compatible processor and motherboard that supports hardware virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT , also code named Vanderpool technology) . Microsoft has released a tool which you can download to test to see if your processor can support the AMD-V or Intel VT mode.  See Microsoft’s link above for more details.

More info on some compatible CPU’s in this post: http://www.getfaxing.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=718

Error message: “Unable to locate the installation log file C:\Program Files\WinFax\WFXUNIST.ISU” during WinFax PRO uninstallation or “WFXUNINST.ISU is missing or corrupt.”

This is an error that causes an uninstall of WinFax PRO to fail.  This file is an uninstallation log file that is generated by a third party installation tool called Install Shield. Its automatically generated when you first installed WinFax PRO, so you won’t find this file on the WinFax PRO installation CD ROM. This log file contains all the information and settings that the uninstall program requires to remove WinFax, such as the program folder locations and features that you added or removed during the install process. Read the rest of this entry »

This error message can occur with version 10.0 and higher of WinFax PRO when the computer is configured as a Fax Sharing Host. It is also related to Error Loading CopyUNIDRV, and WinFax PRO detects that DCOM is not available, please install and activate DCOM support message.

This error message can be corrected with WinFax Tools.  Click “Install & Setup Tools”, then click “Fix Start Up Errors” option in WinFax Tools.

WinFax PRO will support up to 2 modems on a single PC. If you need to have dual modems, I’d recommend ensuring both modems are different, otherwise, you may run into difficulties. Two external controller based modems are best, or one external controller-based and one internal controller-less. You can try two controller-less modems, but make sure they are different models/manufacturers. Never use two softmodem based modems on a single machine, you’re just asking for trouble.

This error message can occur with version 10.02 and higher of WinFax PRO that is operating in the Windows XP environment.  It does not appear under Windows 2000 or windows 9x environments, or versions 10.0 or 10.01. To determine the version of WinFax PRO you are using, click “WinFax Info” button in WinFax Tools.

Usually, starting the WinFax Controller may correct this problem, in some scenarios you may need to reboot of the computer.  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.

An important update to all WinFax PRO fax users 

UPDATED NEWS : Microsoft releases “ActiveX Killbits” Security Patch for XP February 9th, 2010 (See below)

A security flaw (called a Remote Buffer overflow) with a specific ActiveX Control that is used by WinFax PRO was reported. This type of security flaw is fairly common with ActiveX controls, and effects many programs out there. Recently the same security risks were identified in Facebook & Yahoo Music ActiveX controls. The flaw allows a script (on a Web page that you visit) to execute a program on your computer. When these risks are identified, Microsoft releases a security update to the operating system that fixes these holes. Read the rest of this entry »

 Does Outlook 2003 or 2007 Crash when you exit Outlook? Did this problem start after you installed WinFax PRO 10? If so, check to see if you have “WinFax Logs” linked in Outlook 2003 or 2007. 

Note that Outlook 2007 is not compatible with WinFax PRO – you cannot use Outlook 2007 contacts with WinFax, and the fixes noted below do not resolve phonebook/contact compatibility issues with Outlook 2007 and WinFax PRO

There are three solutions to this problem Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve recently upgraded or installed updates for your Windows XP computer that included one or more of the following; Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 7, Service Pack 2, or Service Pack 3, or any Security Updates and you use WinFax (WinFax PRO versions 10, 9, 8 or TalkWorks PRO 2,3), you may have encountered a problem entering fax numbers in a WinFax phonebook. You may have also encountered various problems (dialog boxes disappearing, closing, General Protection Faults) during the installation or setup of WinFax - such as, entering a fax number, an IP address, dialing settings, area codes, passwords, or CSID (Caller Station Identifer). Read the rest of this entry »