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)

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

“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.

 

• Fax from any application by clicking Print and selecting the FaxTalk printer driver.
• Scan pages directly from your scanner.
• Supports Super G3 Fax speeds with compatible Class 2.1 hardware.
• Import WinFax PRO faxes and contacts/phonebooks (See Notes below) (*does not import WinFax cover pages)
• Produce professional looking faxes with full preview and annotation.
• Cover Sheet Designer with 9 included pre-designed cover sheets.
• Access Microsoft Outlook (Outlook 2010 32 bit edition) contacts directly when sending faxes.
• Forward received faxes by email. (as PDF, TIFF or proprietary .FAX format)
• Operates as a network fax client for FaxTalk Multiline Server (for FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro or FaxTalk Messenger Pro)
• Broadcast faxes to fax numbers and email addresses.
• Fax Merge (personalize multiple faxes automatically) with Microsoft Word using optional FaxTalk Fax Merge software add-on.
• Fax Merge compatibility with ACT! 2008, ACT! 2009, ACT! 2010 and ACT! 2011 using optional add-on called FaxAdmin.
• Block the reception of unwanted junk faxes.
• Developer Fax SDK to integrate FaxTalk with your custom software application. (Programming experience required)
• Voice mail and Fax back capability with a compatible voice modem using FaxTalk Messenger Pro or FaxTalk Multiline Server software.

Importing WinFax data into FaxTalk

One of the nice features of FaxTalk is the ability to import existing WinFax PRO logs and phonebooks/contacts into FaxTalk.  Logs (the Send Log, Receive Log and any other message stores/sub folders you created in WinFax PRO) can be imported into FaxTalk and the fax images are automatically converted to a format that can be used in FaxTalk.  Logs that are imported are stored in a folder in FaxTalk called the File Cabinet.  The File Cabinet works like the Attachments folder in WinFax.   FaxTalk cannot import WinFax archive (.WFA) backups, so to be able to import you need to have WinFax PRO on the same system and it must be installed before you can perform the import in FaxTalk.  This can pose a problem if your old computer has WinFax, and your new computer is Windows 7 (or another operating system) with FaxTalk installed.  Fortunately, there is a workaround for this.   You can install a trial version of FaxTalk on the older computer, and then perform the import into the trial version of FaxTalk.  Once the import is completed, you can then save a backup using the FaxTalk Backup option.  Performing a backup creates an archive file with a .FTA extension.  You can then copy this .FTA file created from the trial version to the new computer.  At the new computer, you perform a restore (using the FaxTalk Backup Tool) and point to the .FTA file.  to restore the phonebooks and logs. 

Fax Blast using FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word

If you need to send multiple faxes with personalized information on each fax, you need the FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word. This allows you to use your contact database to send personalized faxes easily. Automate your faxing from Microsoft Word™ and FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro, FaxTalk Messenger Pro or FaxTalk Multiline Server. Fax broadcast from your Windows desktop by using the power of FaxTalk Fax Messenger and the FaxTalk Merge Macro for Microsoft Word. You can send faxes directly from Microsoft Word by clicking an icon. Select your prepared mail merge document with a data source, click on Send a Fax merge, select your recipients & optional cover sheet and click Merge. Send a few faxes or thousands of faxes, directly from Microsoft Word.

The FaxTalk Fax Merge is available separately as an add-on, or can be bundled together with the FaxTalk product of your choice at a discounted price.

Bundle with the FaxTalk Fax Merge for Microsoft Word

Compatible with Microsoft Word 2010 (32 bit edition only), Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Word 2003 and Microsoft Word XP

Below you can view a video that shows the basics of sending a “fax blast” fax merge using Microsoft Word 2010 (32 bit edition) and FaxTalk Multiline Server (the operation is exactly the same with FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro or FaxTalk Messenger Pro, and Microsoft Word 2007)

You can order or download a trial version here http://www.getfaxing.com/faxtalk

Requirements for FaxTalk software:

• Compatible Microsoft Windows operating system (Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000)
• Compatible Class 1, 1.0, 2, 2.0, 2.1 fax modem. (Internal or External models)
• Compatible Voice/Fax Modem for voice features of FaxTalk Messenger Pro or FaxTalk Multiline Server 
• Compatible version of Microsoft Word for the FaxTalk Fax Merge option. (Word XP/2003/2007/Word 2010 32 bit edition)
• Microsoft Word 2010 Starter Edition is not compatible. 64 bit version of Office 2010 is not compatible.

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

Many of you held off upgrading from XP to Vista are considering the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7, 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, Windows 7, doesn’t change the compatibility issues with WinFax PRO that were introduced with Microsoft Vista.  As expected, the same compatibility issues with WinFax PRO and TalkWorks PRO also exist with Windows 7.

We ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser, this is a tool offered by Microsoft that scans your computer to determine if it can be upgraded to Windows 7. The program also scans all the existing software installed, and determines if there are any known compatibility problems with Windows 7.  The Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser, incorrectly  indicates that WinFax PRO / TalkWorks PRO has some minor issues, and to contact the publisher’s web site. . The link to Symantec’s Web site is no help as Symantec chooses to ignore the existence of WinFax or TalkWorks since they’ve discontinued the software.

Minor issues they are not. You may be able to install WinFax or TalkWorks with Windows 7, but the required WinFax printer driver will not install.  This will prevent you from accessing WinFax from any application you want to fax from, it also prevents you from adding attachmentssuch as PDFs, Word documents, Text files, images, etc. for faxing.

Windows 7  Professional and Ultimate will include the not so impressive fax utility called Windows Fax & Scan, a feature that was previously included in the Vista Ultimate and Vista Business Editions. If you’d rather update your software to a much more professional package that is compatible with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, Windows XP and 2000, then we recommend FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro 8 or FaxTalk Messenger Pro 8.  For more details, see our Web page at http://www.getfaxing.com/faxtalk

Windows 7 is not compatible  with WinFax PRO. There is no upgrade path available from Symantec for Windows 7 compatibility.  The WinFax PRO 10 software was discontinued by Symantec in June 2006, and no plans for future versions exist.   For information on moving to another software package that can import your WinFax data, please see http://www.getfaxing.com/faxtalk