[jonrosensystems]

I have the TCP/IP protocol setup error when trying to configure the WinFax PRO fax sharing client, using WinFax 10.04 and XP Pro SP3. WinFax works fine with the internal dial-up modem, but the fax sharing client fails on one station. On a different station with XP SP3, the fax client configuration completes without error, so I know it could work.

I’ve tried the following changes but I still get the “TCP/IP not detected” error:
– removed & re-created network adapter, file & print sharing and TCP/IP; restarted and tested WinFax.
– renamed WinSock and WinSock2 registry keys, restarted and tested.
– used the GetFaxing utility to check & change settings.
– checked DCOM and enabled anonymous login (Symantec support step #4)
– matched user accounts between fax client and fax server.
– tested static and dynamic IP for station, no change in error.
– disabled AVG and closed all other programs, no change.
– netsh winsock reset catalog; no change.
– disabled WinFax service, changing from automatic to manual startup.
– disabled wfxsnt40.exe from startup and restarted.

I’d like to know if I’m either missing a step or if there is a procedural change that would help.

[JohnD]

Do you have TCP/IP v6 installed in Windows XP SP3?
If so, try uninstalling it.
Reboot and then try configuring WinFax Fax Sharing again.

[jonrosensystems]

Definitely no IP6; never installed and not present.

[JohnD]

Do you have more than 1 network adapter on this computer? is one disabled ?
In WinFax Tools, have you tried the “Fix Start up errors” button under Install & Setup Tools?
Click on WinFax Info, and make sure that you do not receive warning regarding version 10.04 upgrade from 10.02 (or earlier)

also,
check in the Windows Registry the follow key;

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftRpc
Value: DCOM Protocols

What values are listed here?

You should see something like this:

ncacn_ip_tcp

ncacn_spx

ncacn_nb_nb

ncacn_nb_ipx

WinFax is looking for the value “ncacn_ip_tcp” among the list of DCOM protocols listed.

Check winsock settings using MSINFO32

Click Start, click Run, type Msinfo32, and then click OK.
Expand Components, expand Network, and then click Protocol.
You will have ten sections under Protocol. The section headings will include the following names if the Winsock2 key is undamaged:
MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
MSAFD NetBIOS [DeviceNetBT_Tcpip…
If the names are anything different from those in this list, the Winsock2 key is corrupted, or you have a third-party add-on, such as proxy software, installed.
If you have a third-party add-on installed, the name of the add-on will replace the letters “MSAFD” in the list.

If there are more than ten sections in the list, you have third-party additions installed.

If there are fewer than ten sections, there is information missing.

Note These entries represent an installation with only the TCP/IP protocol installed. You can have a working Winsock and see additional entries if another protocol is installed. For example, if you install NWLink IPX/SPX, you will see 7 additional sections, for a total of 17. Below is an example heading of one of the new sections:
MSAFD nwlnkipx [IPX]
Also, each of the new sections that are created by installing NWLink IPX/SPX start with “MSAFD.” Therefore, there are still only two sections that do not start with those letters.

[jonrosensystems]

The computer has a single Ethernet interface configured only for TCP/IP (IP4); nothing else.
The registry keys for DCOM protocols has a single entry; ncacn_ip_tcp.
The winsock settings reported by MSINFO32 match and show the ten required sections correctly.

The WinFax Tools option to fix startup errors reports WFXSWTCH.exe is missing, I’ll copy it from another station.
I’m also going to restart in safe mode and delete any unused network adapters from device manager.

[jonrosensystems]

Copied WFXSWTCH.exe from another station that had the file, and re-ran the WinFax Tools startup check successfully.
Checked device manager in safe mode; only one network card and driver present.
Also tried using the WinFax Tools to start the client as a fax sharing server instead; it prompted to enable RPC; restarted and re-tested as both client and server; both modes fail to start with the “TCP/IP not found etc.” error.

[Administrator]

@jonrosensystems wrote:

Copied WFXSWTCH.exe from another station that had the file, and re-ran the WinFax Tools startup check successfully.
Checked device manager in safe mode; only one network card and driver present.
Also tried using the WinFax Tools to start the client as a fax sharing server instead; it prompted to enable RPC; restarted and re-tested as both client and server; both modes fail to start with the “TCP/IP not found etc.” error.

A missing WFXSWTCH.exe might indicate a problem with the upgrade or the installation of WinFax. WFXSWTCH is installed with all Windows XP installs with version 10.02 or 10.03. If it is missing, either you deleted it manually, or it wasn’t installed because the original installation was 10.0 or 10.01. If it wasn’t installed, you may have installed a version 10.04 update overtop a 10.0 or 10.01 install which could cause problems like you are experiencing.

Check the date in the WinFax folder for README.TXT file. What is the date,and what is listed inside the readme.txt file next to “release notes”? If its February 2000, then you have a 10.0 install. If its a 2001 date, then you have a 10.02 install. You should have a 2002 date listed.

[jonrosensystems]

Good tip; the readme.txt has November 2002 listed at the top. Next, I’ll check to see what version of WinFax our installation disc has. I expect its 10.0/10.01 that was then upgraded to 10.04.

[JohnD]

@jonrosensystems wrote:

Good tip; the readme.txt has November 2002 listed at the top. Next, I’ll check to see what version of WinFax our installation disc has. I expect its 10.0/10.01 that was then upgraded to 10.04.

A November 2002 readme indicates a WinFax PRO 10.03 installation, so you probably have a 10.03 installation but
wfxswtch should always install under XP, unless you’ve attempted an install in compatibility mode (windows 2000 or 9x mode) so, unless you purposly removed wfxswtch.exe, its likely it never installed or there have been mixed version installs (which would cause problems)

I’d would suggest you completely uninstall WinFax PRO 10.04 , then reinstall from a 10.03 install CD, then apply 10.04 update once completed.

Make sure when you install from the WinFax cd rom you are not set in compatibility mode for setup.exe. (right-click SETUP.EXE from the CD Rom, then click Properties, then click Compatibility. No compatibility option should be checked)

You can also check to see what files you’ve set to compatibility mode in Windows XP from this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionAppCompatFlagsLayers
so make sure you don’t see any WinFax related files listed here, or SETUP.EXE.

Compatibility mode during the installation can cause WinFax to install incorrect version of program files that are specific to Windows 9x in a Windows XP installation, this can cause erratic behaviour.

[jonrosensystems]

Stopped all WinFax services, un-installed Winfax and deleted c:program fileswinfax folder; restarted Windows.
Checked registry for compatibility mode; no entries listed.
Re-installed WinFax 10.03 from original CD-ROM; option to setup fax sharing client still fails with TCP/IP etc. error message.
Applied 10.04 update, restarted and tried to enable fax sharing client; fails with TCP/IP etc. error message.

[JohnD]

It appears the WinFax PRO installation is ok, so it is likely that the problem is when the Windows API (enumprotocols) call is used to detect Tcp/ip on this specific Windows XP installation. There is something missing or corrupt on this specific Windows installation that is causing Tcp/ip not to be detected.

I’m not sure if you’ve already tried the MS Fix option in this document
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259/
or the steps to manually fix Winsock2 errors?

[jonrosensystems]

I’ve worked through the following TCP/IP fixes but WinFax network client still fails…
– ran Microsoft Fix-It utility; http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259/ and restarted.
– installed Microsoft support tools and performed netdiag /fix
– tried netsh ip int reset test.log

Checking the components/network/protocol section in msinfo32, I have a total of 14 entries; 10 for MSAFD NetBIOS, along with the typical 4 entries for TCIP/IP(TCP/IP,), TCP/IP(UDP/IP,) TCP and UDP. Doing all of the above repairs didn’t remove the possibly extra 4 MSAFD entries.

Can you suggest any other fixes or checks to the Windows XP TCP that will satisfy the requirement for WinFax? It would be valuable if the Fax Diagnostic utility had a test that performed the same TCP tests as WinFax but could produce an error report to show why WinFax network client is failing.

[JohnD]

Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how exactly WinFax does its check for tcp/ip, and what triggers the missing error. Our suggestions are based on what are the common methods to do this check and what we can determine from scans of registry during the setup. Also, are you logged in to an administator account when you are configuring the WinFax fax sharing? Is this a 32 bit Windows XP OS? The only other suggestion I can think of now would be to compare the registry settings on the working machine with the non-working machine.

[Author]

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