[kaboondy]

I can now report some findings to the forum. Just for the other users, I will attach screen shots. When WinFax Freezes, it will no longer receive faxes and the following is seen when I right click on the controller and select “Display Status”.

[attachment=2:2nqsrfgx]Symantec Message Manager Line Status.jpg[/attachment:2nqsrfgx]

When we try to close the program to restart, it will not respond. When we try to shut down the computer, there is an error as below:

[attachment=1:2nqsrfgx]End Program.JPG[/attachment:2nqsrfgx]

When WinFax crashes, Task Manager shows the following information when WinFax is in the crashed state:

[attachment=0:2nqsrfgx]Task Manager.JPG[/attachment:2nqsrfgx]

Under these conditions, when one tries to open WinFax Pro Program setup in order to look up the Properties of the modem – the computer hangs. Also when opening Device Manager and trying to look at the modem properties – the computer also hangs and does not respond.

Once the computer is rebooted, WinFax works (until it crashes a few hours later).

Steps taken Computer 1 (based on advice received from the Moderator)
1. Turned off the screen saver – monitor was set at Turn off (Never) – not sure if this matters. The screen saver was always on BUT the screen was never turned off. This did not completely work – but WinFax did not crash for almost the entire day – vs a hung state after a few hours.
2. Change the Modem to Com3 (from whatever it was on already) – the modem was already installed on Com3
3. Change from TAPI – to COM3 – This change was made 3 days ago. Since then the WinFax program has not crashed!! 😆 😀

This is a really big deal for us as WinFax was crashing regularly every few hours requiring the computer to be rebooted with loss of efficiency and productivity (not to mention the frustrations). We will continue to monitor this change and report if this was a longer term solution to our problem. We can certainly handle WinFax Crashing every few days (better than every few hours) but would prefer that it not crash at all.

I have one additional question. In reviewing every single setting of the modem in the control panel, I came across this set of options: Can you please explain what these settings are for and would they be of any help if my issue ultimately is not completely solved. Finally, is it worhwhile to change the settings (for any other reason) or is it best to leave at the default settings. Please see the screen shot below:

I was not able to attach another screen shot (as 3 is the max). Under the advanced properties, there is an option to “Disconnect a call if idle for more than xx mins. and Cancel a call if not connected within xx secs. The disconnect box is unchecked (hence not selected) but the second option of cancel a call is filled in at 60 seconds – perhaps the call gets cancelled but we should also disconnect – maybe this causes the hangup as well?? Also, I have encountered receipients that have a much longer connect time of almost 1.5 minutes – and had to change the modem initialization string to end in 100. Perhaps I should increase the number of seconds from 60 to 120?? Just a thought and I would appreciate your opinon. 💡 😉 ❓

Again, thank you for all your help – this has been a major advance for us and the functioning of the office (and WinFax). I would appreciate your answer to the last question.

[kaboondy]

Thank you – I will report to you.

[kaboondy]

This is very helpful as I did not really know any of this information prior to your explanation. Can you please clarify if there is any benefit to using TAPI instead of directly “speaking” with the modem on COM 1, 2, or 3?

Does this allows a middleman (ie the Windows OS) to transfer the data – TAPI vs COM? Perhaps this is the reason for my problem – as I spoke with USR technical support just a few minutes ago and they confirmed that the Modems are hardware modems. He also confirmed that all windows OS have the correct drivers for the Modems and will automatically install by OS and that I should set the modem board pins to be Plug and Play (which would allow this to happen).

There is a lot to try here and I would appreciate clarification on the above and I will report to you tomorrow.

Thank you.

[kaboondy]

This is very very helpful direction. I will get the information as your suggest for the modem drivers as well as the suggestions in the previous post.

On both computers, there is nothing externally hooked up other than a monitor and network connection (no printers as we have a network printer). Internally, one of them has a sound card that was added. I will ensure there are no conflicts with Com 3 – I assume I can just change the port in Device Manager – Correct? – please confirm.

What about TAPI – i just noted that I can actually change the Com port within WinFax – would that be the right place to make the change or should it be on the card itself (it has the pins in the board of the card that allow the user to select the Com and the IRQ) or in Device Manager?

Thank you.

[kaboondy]

One of the machines is a Host while the other is a stand alone. Both have Win2K as the OS and both have WinFax Pro 10.03 installed.

I did try to access the modem – from both inside WinFax (WinFax Pro Program Setup) as well as through Control Panel. In both situations the computer simply “hung” and did not respond – when WinFax was in the hung state. On the other hand, there is no problem accessing the modem through either Control Panel or WinFax Pro Program Setup when WinFax is not in a “hung” state.

I believe these are NOT software modems but are hardware modems and I think the drivers are up to date – but I can try to verify that by calling 3COM for support. I wonder if they have any support for such old hardware at this time. If you have any suggestions on how to achieve this, I would most appreciative.

I can also try to change to Com3 as I don’t believe there is anything on any of the Com ports. Because the modem has a pin setting on the actual modem board that allows it to be Plug and Play (vs the user defined pins selection on the modem board for COM abd IRQ selection) – I just let the modem and computer decide which Com port and IRQ would be chosed. I have read somewhere that Com3 is recomended.

I definately have screen saver active (trying to save energy as the computer is on 24 hours a day). The rest of the power settings are set to “never” – for hard drive for example. I will definately turn the screen saver off!!

I will report to you on the outcomes of the above suggestions. Again, thank you.

[kaboondy]

Thank you for your quick response. Unfortunately I do not have internet access for the Win2K computers in the office – also I believe that it would not be safe to connect those computers to the internet for security reasons (as required by WinFax Tools to confirm activation). Hence I can not use WinFax Tools in my office.

On the other hand, I reviewed all the steps that you refer to in your post – on my home machine that also has the WinFax installed on it (but has WinXP as the OS).

1. We normally have the WinFax service turned off (or set to manual) – otherwise I have found this to be nuisance (and unneeded to be active) – I do not believe the Windows Fax is active or even installed.

2. The send/receive limits – we regularly delete faxes or move them to another location (archived on another machine). In other words, the number of faxes in the receive log is usually no more than 30 at any one time. Hence it is highly unlikely that we would exceed the limit available.

3. If you can advise how to turn off the call logging options directly within WinFax, that would be helpful.

4. I believe Rebuid Logs and Phonebooks is also a feature in the Maintainance Utility within WinFax. I can try this directly if this will do the same job as WinFax Tools.

To answer your original questions:
A. The Task Manager shows the there are NO applications that show as “Not Responding” in the Applications Tab.
B. The wfxctl32.exe, faxmng32.exe (if WinFax Fax Manager is active), wfxmod32.exe, and wfxsnt.exe show in the “Processes” Tab of Task Manager BUT there is no information that says “Not responding” wfxsvc.exe is not present as we are NOT using the WinFax Service
C. Computer A has USR 56K Fax INT PnP modem on Com4 (Driver from 3Com 9/15/1998 version 5.0.2167.1 Microsoft Win2000 Publisher) and Computer B has USR 56K Voice PCI (I did not check the Driver information on the control panel for Computer B)
D. Each Modem is set to TAPI mode.
E. One modem if Voice and the other is not – but they BOTH behave the same way and crash (or Freeze) within hours of starting.
F. The setup for the modems in each (separate) computer is identical and as follows:
Initialization String AT&F&D2&C1&H1&R2&I0S7=100
ATS36=0

Flow Control
AT&H1&R2&I0 (use Harware Flow control box is checked)

ECM for sending and receiving is Unchecked
High Speed Conpression 2D is checked

Com Port TAPI
Modem Type Class 1 (although Class 2 is an option but is NOT Selected)

G. Please note that when WinFax is in the “hung” state, the WinFax Pro Program setup will not open or will also freeze when one selects the “Modem and communications Device” in the properties section. This implies that the Modem is somehow frozen in relation to WinFax.

The way to get WinFax working is to reboot the computer – not really convenient as it is the server and will diconnect all the terminals who will have to relog on and may corrupt outgoing faxes in their queues. The other way would be end all the process in the Task Manager but this is also not convenient if it has to be done every few hours.

I would appreciate any further suggestions that you might have to solve this issue. Currently, the only solution we have is to reboot the computer and this is what we are doing – often we do not realise that the WinFax has frozen (for hours) and probably miss many faxes.

Again, thank you.

[kaboondy]

I am sorry I did not get a notification that somehas answered my question.

1. Yes, the WinFax is in the middle of trying to answer a call – it always freezes in this state/condition.
2. I believe it is a USR Fax modem – i can get the model information from the Control Panel and write back to you tomorrow.
3. I do not believe it supports voice features.
4. I will review the Task Manager tomorrow as I am sure it will hang again tomorrow and report on the processes.

🙂 Thank you.

[kaboondy]

Thank you for this information. I should clarify that my question pertained to the Wastebasket in the local MyPhonebook and another Shared PhoneBook.

However, you have also answered another question I also had relating to issues with the logs. They seem to be corrupted where I am unable to often move a fax. From your suggestions, you seem to indicate that I should rebuild all the folders using SysDiag – is that right and failing that I should move all the faxes to another location and then run a rebuild.

Unfortunately we are running on WIN2K OS and are not connected to the internet which is apparently required to use WinFax Tools – is there a way to use WinFax Tools without connecting to the internet? We have refrained from using WIN XP as an OS since it does not offer any advantage over WIN2K for WinFax and all our other software works very well with WIN2K. Our network is very stable and is never connected to the internet. In 2014 WIN XP (one year from now) will also not be supported for security updates and computers connected to the internet with XP will be vulnerable. WinFax does not require an internet connection and I hope that WinFax Tools will be modified so that it will work without internet access. I think the internet access is required to ensure there is a valid license(???)

Can you please advise how many faxes are OK to be left in the default folders (Sent items, received items etc). We have networked storage where we move many received faxes. However, the sent folder can get large as well as the Wastebasket.

Thank you for your help.

[kaboondy]

Thank you. This is very helpful.

[kaboondy]

I do not have access to the internet in the office where the WinFax is installed (I found this is required when trying to use WinFax Toos). Can you please advise if the WInFax Program SysDiag window does the same thing as the WinFax Tools or will I be missing out on something. I can bring the computers to a location that has internet access but they have WIN2K installed which would be velnerable (immediately) once connected to the internet.

Also do you recommed this should be done as a preventative maintainance? Once a week or once a month? Our database is important to us and we have had corruptions in the past but it has been about one year since the last corruption. The SysDiag window did work but we had to reorder all the folders as our folder tree (custom) was lost in the process.

Thank you for your help.

[kaboondy]

I also noted another parameter. If there is a notification window on the client computer (from the server) indicating there is fax available for download and this window is not closed, then there is the hang up. If there is no window, there (now) does not seem to be a hangup. Again, thank you!!

[kaboondy]

Thank you

[kaboondy]

This is absolutely excellent information. I will make the change and report to you!

[kaboondy]

@Moderator wrote:

Unfortunately, those workarounds you’ve found are probably the only solutions available.

Thank you for your help.

[kaboondy]

@Moderator wrote:

yes, also check the properties on the client PC. I expect it to be the same as what is displayed when you check the properties on the shared receive log folder.

OK – Sorry it took so very long to respond. I have tried a couple of things which might help to find an answer.

First the “Right Click” properties information is the SAME no matter if the Fax located on the Shared Fax Folder is checked by any Client or by the server (keeping in mind the Shared Fax Folder is located on a third computer which is accesible by all computers and is the backup for other services (unrelated to faxing). This central storage makes it easier to perform backup when needed.

Second – As stated earlier I found that the fax could be copied to the original folder on the Server Fax computer and THEN one can forward the fax. To recap, one cannot simply “Forward” the fax from the Shared Fax Folder; this is cumbersome and it can hard to remember – sometimes when the job needs to be done quickly – hence we still “right click” on the Fax in the Shared Fax folder to try to Forward and this fails – the computer gets momemtarily “frozen” with the Task Manager reaching 100% for a moment at which time, the fax program does not respond. Then there is the error message as mentioned earlier in a previous post.

Third – I found that one can simply open the fax to be forwarded (while it is located on the Shared Fax Folder) and then print to fax which effectively forwards the fax by opening a new Send dialogue. This just adds another step in the forwarding process and the solution remains cumbersome.

In conclusion there seems to be two solutions to the Forward mystery (neither is a good solution)
A – Copy the fax back to the original Receive Fax Folder and then forward
B – Open the fax and then print to Winfax – this will open up a new send dialogue which effectively allows forwarding

If there is any way to figure out how to simply forward a fax – that would circumvent the two round about solutions. Thank you

Thank you.

[Author]

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