Sending a fax Windows 7

Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.

Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner

But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?

Des wrote:
Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.

Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner

But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?

In your description, I see no mention of a "dialup modem".
The fax program is probably expecting to use one of those.

Your ADSL modem doesn't count as one of those :-)

There are various "fax bridge" options, where the final hop
is a conversion from an Internet packet, into tones sent
over a phone line. You pay a third party company, for the
ability to perform that bridge. Perhaps you email the fax
content to their server, and the message is then converted
into a fax that flows over phone lines. And for that,
perhaps the Windows Fax and Scan isn't going to know about
such a scheme. You just use an email client, to reach
the third party provider.

When you use your own dialup modem, you avoid the need for
a third party bridge or fax server, and then there are no
monthly charges (except for any charge related to your
telephone usage). So doing it with the dialup modem can
be cheaper, at the risk of tying up the phone line.

If your household has gone "completely digital", then the
conventional phone line(s) are torn out, and the only
thing entering the house, is broadband packets. In that
case, when you want a phone, they give you VOIP or
Voice Over IP. Sometimes, the VOIP box has two phone
connectors, one for the telephone, and one for the
dialup modem or real Fax machine. The only problem
with this, is VOIP doesn't have the same bandwidth
as the phone line did, and Fax users find they have
to set their Windows Fax and Scan, to use a lower
transfer rate. So if the old Fax setup on conventional
phone worked at 14.4K, perhaps over VOIP, you have to
drop the rate lower than that, like all the way down to
9.6K or whatever. So that's the only gotcha about the
completely digital household with no analog phones.
If you connect a 10 year old Fax modem to a VOIP box,
expect to have to crank down the transfer rate by
at least one "notch".

Paul

On Mar 16, 3:06*pm, Paul wrote:
Des wrote:
Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.

Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner

But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?

In your description, I see no mention of a "dialup modem".
The fax program is probably expecting to use one of those.

Your ADSL modem doesn't count as one of those :-)

There are various "fax bridge" options, where the final hop
is a conversion from an Internet packet, into tones sent
over a phone line. You pay a third party company, for the
ability to perform that bridge. Perhaps you email the fax
content to their server, and the message is then converted
into a fax that flows over phone lines. And for that,
perhaps the Windows Fax and Scan isn't going to know about
such a scheme. You just use an email client, to reach
the third party provider.

When you use your own dialup modem, you avoid the need for
a third party bridge or fax server, and then there are no
monthly charges (except for any charge related to your
telephone usage). So doing it with the dialup modem can
be cheaper, at the risk of tying up the phone line.

If your household has gone "completely digital", then the
conventional phone line(s) are torn out, and the only
thing entering the house, is broadband packets. In that
case, when you want a phone, they give you VOIP or
Voice Over IP. Sometimes, the VOIP box has two phone
connectors, one for the telephone, and one for the
dialup modem or real Fax machine. The only problem
with this, is VOIP doesn't have the same bandwidth
as the phone line did, and Fax users find they have
to set their Windows Fax and Scan, to use a lower
transfer rate. So if the old Fax setup on conventional
phone worked at 14.4K, perhaps over VOIP, you have to
drop the rate lower than that, like all the way down to
9.6K or whatever. So that's the only gotcha about the
completely digital household with no analog phones.
If you connect a 10 year old Fax modem to a VOIP box,
expect to have to crank down the transfer rate by
at least one "notch".

* *Paul

Ok thanks for that. Questions are
Can I still get the internal modem I used to have. It would have to be
the AGP type and work with windows 7
This would mean a second connection to the phone line (no problem
their) with a filter inbetween? Yes/No

Thanks for your help in this.

I am a private individual sending to another with a standard fax
machine.

Still requres a good preferably free software package.

Des wrote in news:4038d7f3-b66e-4ecd-aba4-
:

Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.

Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner

But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?


You need a phone modem.....

"Des" wrote in message
...

Can I still get the internal modem I used to have. It would have to be
the AGP type and work with windows 7

Any 56kbs (telephone) modem will do, providing your
motherboard will accept it and there are Win7 drivers for it.

This would mean a second connection to the phone line (no problem
their) with a filter inbetween? Yes/No

No. A standard phone cable link between the modem and a standard landline
outlet is all you need.

Still requres a good preferably free software package.

The WinXP Pro fax module (optional extra) was a bit clunky but flawless.
You can use any fax software your PC can handle (e.g. old WinFax in
a DOS Virtual Machine.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

I use a Rosewill USB modem. One end plugs into the phone jack on the cable
modem, and the other end into a USB port on the computer.

The disadvantage is no modem sounds can be heard because the device does not
have a speaker.

However, it works fine because I rarely fax but if I faxed often, I'd
consider a pay service.

--g

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:15:47 -0700 (PDT), Des
wrote:

Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.

Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner

But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?

Why not just use email?

Des wrote:
On Mar 16, 3:06 pm, Paul wrote:
Des wrote:
Hi I live in the UK and woundered if I could send a fax using my PC.
Years ago (about 1990) I had WinFax which allowed me to do this. I
could receive them if my PC was on also. I simply typed up somthing in
MS Word and faxed it.
Now I have Windows 7, an AOL wireless/wired router. I tried
All Programs - Windows Fax and scanner
But it does not recognise this. I am in the UK so maybe I need UK help
here?
In your description, I see no mention of a "dialup modem".
The fax program is probably expecting to use one of those.

Your ADSL modem doesn't count as one of those :-)

There are various "fax bridge" options, where the final hop
is a conversion from an Internet packet, into tones sent
over a phone line. You pay a third party company, for the
ability to perform that bridge. Perhaps you email the fax
content to their server, and the message is then converted
into a fax that flows over phone lines. And for that,
perhaps the Windows Fax and Scan isn't going to know about
such a scheme. You just use an email client, to reach
the third party provider.

When you use your own dialup modem, you avoid the need for
a third party bridge or fax server, and then there are no
monthly charges (except for any charge related to your
telephone usage). So doing it with the dialup modem can
be cheaper, at the risk of tying up the phone line.

If your household has gone "completely digital", then the
conventional phone line(s) are torn out, and the only
thing entering the house, is broadband packets. In that
case, when you want a phone, they give you VOIP or
Voice Over IP. Sometimes, the VOIP box has two phone
connectors, one for the telephone, and one for the
dialup modem or real Fax machine. The only problem
with this, is VOIP doesn't have the same bandwidth
as the phone line did, and Fax users find they have
to set their Windows Fax and Scan, to use a lower
transfer rate. So if the old Fax setup on conventional
phone worked at 14.4K, perhaps over VOIP, you have to
drop the rate lower than that, like all the way down to
9.6K or whatever. So that's the only gotcha about the
completely digital household with no analog phones.
If you connect a 10 year old Fax modem to a VOIP box,
expect to have to crank down the transfer rate by
at least one "notch".

Paul

Ok thanks for that. Questions are
Can I still get the internal modem I used to have. It would have to be
the AGP type and work with windows 7
This would mean a second connection to the phone line (no problem
their) with a filter inbetween? Yes/No

Thanks for your help in this.

I am a private individual sending to another with a standard fax
machine.

Still requres a good preferably free software package.


Dialup modem solutions.

1) USB (key shaped thing) with RJ-11 on one end. That's a complete modem
in a tiny package. Suitable for things like laptops, if the laptop
doesn't have an internal dialup modem.
2) USB to RS232 adapter cable, followed by an old RS232 (serial)
dialup fax modem. That's how mine is connected.
3) Traditional PCI modem card (winmodem or modem with full datapump)
with a couple RJ-11 connectors on the faceplate. The winmodem
relies on software DSP done by your CPU, to convert between "tones" and data.
4) If the PC has an RS232 connector on the back (unlikely on a
modern computer), you can connect an old dialup external modem to
that. My backup computer, with the Asrock motherboard, has its own
RS232 connector on the motherboard plate area.
5) You can get PCI to serial cards, with a DB-9 or DB-25 connector
on the faceplate. Then the old dialup modem connects to the PCI card.
6) Computers no longer have AGP expansion slots inside (that slot held
a video card and that's all it was good for). Modern machines
have PCI slots and PCI Express slots. I don't recollect any PCI Express winmodems,
but I suppose they exist. Externally, USB is a preferred means, on
modern machines, to make low speed connections to peripherals.
(At least, that's why Intel pushed the idea of using USB.)

To make my connection, I have a USB to RS232 cable, followed by
my old US Robotics external dialup modem with full datapump.
Since I paid good money for that boat-anchor, I figured spending
another $30 for an adapter so I could re-use it, would be good value.
The main problem with that idea, is there is no Windows 7
or even WinXP driver for the modem. (There is a driver for the
USB to serial thing.) I ended up applying a "generic" modem
driver of some sort to it, since the modem is not a winmodem and
it accepts the Hayes instruction set (commands like "ATDT"). It
took a fair bit of screwing around, before I managed to make
my connection. Since I didn't renew with the dlalup ISP, I no longer
have a way to test that setup. So the dialup modem just sits there
now, and collects dust. (That dialup modem, used to be my "backup
system" for when the ADSL would fail to work.)

As far as I know, you're on ADSL and not on a cable modem. Here,
we use splitterless installs, where every ordinary phone connection
uses a 4Khz voice band filter, while the ADSL modem connects directly
to the wall. If you had a telephone, dialup fax modem, and ADSL modem,
the setup looks like this. This is similar to my setup, as currently
configured. Some dialup modems have two RJ-11 jacks, for passthru,
and the analog telephone can go on the second RJ-11 jack if you want,
which would save one of the 4KHz filters. In the picture here,
if the FAX modem goes off-hook, the phone should stop working
until the FAX modem hangs up.

RJ11 RJ11 Ethernet
ISP ------- telephone line ----+---------+-------- ADSL ---------- computer
| | |
4KHz 4KHz (serial
filter filter port)
| | |
Analog dialup |
(touchtone) FAX |
telephone modem -------- serial RS232 ---+

The alternative means of connecting the phone, looks like this...

------+------
|
4KHz
filter
|
dialup --- on this modem, there are two RJ-11 jacks, one labeled "wall"
FAX and the other labeled "phone". Only one of FAX and phone can
modem be used at a time (which is true of the other diagram too).
| Doing it this way, saves one 4KHz filter. I've only got one
analog filter, so this turns out to be a good way to do it. I used to
telephone have four filters, but they were part of the ADSl modem rental
my other ISP provided (mandatory rental, must be returned).

HTH,
Paul

On 3/16/2012 12:11 PM PT, Don Phillipson typed:

wrote in message
...

Can I still get the internal modem I used to have. It would have to be
the AGP type and work with windows 7

Any 56kbs (telephone) modem will do, providing your
motherboard will accept it and there are Win7 drivers for it.

Even older dial-up modems like my external serial USR Sportster 33.6k
modem would do! Yes, I still have it and works! It is mainly as a backup
when my cable Internet service goes down and that's very rare.


This would mean a second connection to the phone line (no problem
their) with a filter inbetween? Yes/No

No. A standard phone cable link between the modem and a standard landline
outlet is all you need.

Still requres a good preferably free software package.

The WinXP Pro fax module (optional extra) was a bit clunky but flawless.
You can use any fax software your PC can handle (e.g. old WinFax in
a DOS Virtual Machine.)

Maybe he can use his W7 Business Edition (or higher edition) with its XP
Pro. virtual machine? Or use VirtualBox (free) or VMware Workstation.
That should work too.

I can't say this works with USB dial-up modems though.

--
"Size isn't everything. The whale is endangered, while the ant continues
to do just fine." --Bill Vaughan
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.
( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed.
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.

Paul nospam needed.com wrote:

3) Traditional PCI modem card (winmodem or modem with full
datapump) with a couple RJ-11 connectors on the faceplate. The
winmodem relies on software DSP done by your CPU, to convert
between "tones" and data.

FWIW...
We laymen call it a "controller-based" modem