WinFax PRO Support

Frequently Asked Questions About WinFax PRO.

What happened to WinFax PRO?

The first and original version of WinFax was developed in 1990 by the Canadian company, Delrina. The company was eventually purchased by Symantec in 1996. The last version of WinFax PRO to be developed was version 10 in 2001. Symantec continued to sell WinFax PRO 10 for the next 5 years until it was eventually discontinued in 2006.

Where can I buy WinFax PRO?

WinFax PRO is no longer sold as at the retail level or directly from Symantec. There are some dealers that may have new old stock (NOS) of WinFax PRO. Beware if you purchase any CD-ROM without a manual or original box. There are many counterfeit CD-ROMs being produced, especially for popular discontinued software such as WinFax PRO. We have an article on our site which shows the differences between a real CD-ROM and a fake.

Is there a WinFax PRO upgrade available for Microsoft Windows 8, 7 or Vista?

No upgrade exists for WinFax PRO. WinFax PRO was discontinued by Symantec in 2006, just prior to the official release of Microsoft Vista.

Does WinFax PRO work with Microsoft Windows 7 or 8?

No, any Microsoft Windows operating system developed after Windows XP is not compatible with WinFax PRO. Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, Windows 8 is not compatible with WinFax PRO due to some of the changes made to the operating system.

Can I install WinFax PRO in Windows 7, 8, Vista to have access to my phone books and fax data for later retrieval, printing and viewing?

Yes, it is possible but there are several options in WinFax that can generate errors when operating under these operating systems. We can assist you in moving your existing faxes and phone books from your old PC to your new PC and install WinFax PRO so it can be easily used in Your new operating system. Contact us for rates.

Does WinFax PRO with with Microsoft Windows 7 and 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. Using WinFax in a virtual machine is not recommended.

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

Does WinFax PRO work in a virtual machine, such as Oracle’s VM Virtual Box?

Yes, just as Windows XP Mode in Windows 7, WinFax PRO will run properly with a properly configured virtual machine. However, the same restrictions apply as in Windows XP Mode. Only applications within the virtual box are accessible by WinFax PRO. WinFax PRO also requires some processing power to send and receive faxes, so if you are using a Virtual Machine you want to ensure your PC has the available memory and processing power to accomplish this task.

What can I use to replace WinFax PRO now that I am using Windows 7 or Windows 8?

If you’ve replaced an older machine that already had an existing fax modem its likely you’ll also need to purchase and install a fax modem on the new computer. Most newer machines no longer include fax modems as an option and they must be purchased separately. Some older fax modems may not work with the newer operating system such as Windows 7. If you’re using a 64 bit operating system, you’ll need a fax modem that includes 64 bit drivers. If you have only one fax line and require an inexpensive fax modem, we provide a USB Fax Modem that is compatible with both 32 and 64 bit Operating systems for use with FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro, more details here.

Do you have phonebooks stored in WinFax that you need exported to dBASE .DBF, Comma Separated Values .CSV, Comma or Tab delimited, or Microsoft Excel 2003/2007/2010 spreadsheet format?  No longer have Symantec WinFax PRO installed to export the data? We can help.  We can also convert your WinFax phonebooks for use with FaxTalk or Outlook ready format. You send us the original phonebook files, and we convert them to the format of your choosing.  We can even repair a corrupted phonebook. Contact us for your specific needs

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)

About FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word

FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word has two purposes, it allows you to send fax merges and it simplifies faxing from within Microsoft Word.  Looking for Fax Merge for WinFax PRO click here.

Simplify Faxing from Microsoft Word

 FaxTalk Fax Merge simplifies faxing from within Microsoft Word. For example, you can fax any open document in Microsoft Word via a fax icon, retrieve a fax number from a document automatically and add it to FaxTalk Send screen via built-in Word styles, automatically switch to the FaxTalk printer driver and switch back to your original printer when you are done. You can also set specific options for sending, such as setting a default resolution when sending faxes or printing a copy of your Microsoft Word document to your local printer every time you fax. However, the primary function and most powerful feature is performing fax merges.

What is a fax merge or mail merge?

Included with Microsoft Word is a feature called mail merge. A mail merge allows you to create a form letter that contains personalized information for the recipient. An example would be sending a payment reminders to customers with outstanding accounts, each letter would contain the name and address of the recipient, the payment due amount, and payment due date and any other information you’d like to include. While the main components of the letter will remain the same for everyone, the greeting, address, due date, amount or other information is personalized for the specific recipient. Printing and mailing these letters manually is easy enough, but stuffing envelopes and mailing is time consuming and expensive. This task can be accomplished with ease by faxing instead of mailing using the FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word. You can also use the FaxTalk Fax Merge for announcing new products, sending press releases, advertising, marketing & promotions, bulletins, newsletters and more.

A mail merge in Microsoft Word consists of two components, the template (for example, a letter), and a data source (a recipient list that contains names, addresses, phone numbers and any other personalized information.)

The template is the document you want to fax. It contains the body of the message along with placeholders which are replaced with the personalized data that you want to appear in the fax. The placeholders that appear in the document are linked to a data source. The data source is any type of database that can be linked to Microsoft Word. This includes a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Outlook contacts, Hotmail Live Contacts, an Access database, dBase, SQL, and any ODBC connected database.

More info on FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word

Want to see it in action? We created a video showing an example of a fax merge using FaxTalk Fax Merge with Microsoft Word 2010/2007 here: 

Video of FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word 2010/2007

Many of you held off upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista and are considering the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 (or even the new Windows 8), but are wondering if many of your existing applications such as WinFax PRO will work.

WinFax PRO and TalkWorks PRO (the fax/voice version of Symantec’s popular fax software) still have a strong user base and many of you don’t want to give up this powerful and easy to use desktop faxing software.

Unfortunately Microsoft Windows 7, along with the upcoming Windows 8 are NOT compatible with WinFax PRO. Read the rest of this entry »