Cannot Reinstall Fax Services In Windows Xp

Hi.

I have been using Fax Services faithfully for years on this very same laptop. My laptop has Windows XP SP2, SP2 was added via Microsoft Update (download), not via CD, a few months after I bought my laptop in 2003.

Anyway, today, I had trouble for the first time, sending a fax off Microsoft Word. I always use Word to fax. My laptop would just lockup when the Fax Wizard box came on screen. So, I thought I would go to CONTROL PANEL, ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS, and select ADD/REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS, then UNCHECK the Fax Services box to uninstall Fax Services, first. I did so, and rebooted my laptop. The uninstall appeared to work normally.

I thought I could just then go back and RECHECK the box beside Fax Services, after reboot, to do a fresh install of Fax Services, and be back in no time to sending faxes off MS Word. I was wrong. My first trouble started here, on the reinstall.

When I checked the box beside Fax Services, and gave it the go, it would ask me to locate various DLL files on my installation CD. Even when I manually expand these files, using the EXPAND command the reinstall of Fax Services did not work.

I then manually deleted all Fax Service related files in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory and tried a fresh reinstall after slipstreaming XP Pro and Service Pack 2.

I did a full slipstream of my Windows XP Professional and Windows XP SP2 by copying the I386 directory off my XP Pro installation CD, and slipstreaming that with the SP2 full installation file, downloaded off the Microsoft website. I was able to successfully merge the 2 editions.

However, when I went to attempt to reinstall Fax Services again, pointing the installation to the newly slipstreamed I386 folder, it still gave me trouble copying files, saying the various files could not be copied, even though it found them in the newly created, slipstreamed I386 folder.

Now, I stand at the point where the reinstall of fax services acts like it goes through without error, but the check is not placed in the box beside Fax Services, and Fax Services are indeed not properly reinstalled.

I am at my whits end on this problem.

Fax Services will simply not do a successful reinstall no matter what I try on XP PRO SP2.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Todd

 

Start, Run, CMD

CD \i386 <<< ------- assuming this is the directory path for \i386

Expand fxsapi.dl_ fxsapi.dll
Expand fxsapi.dl_ %windir%\system32\fxsapi.dll
Expand fxscfgwz.dl_ fxscfgwz.dll
Expand fxscfgwz.dl_ %windir%\system32\fxscfgwz.dll

(Note: there is a space after dl_ in the lines above)

 

I will try this and get back in a couple of days. I leave on a business trip now.

Thanks,
Todd

 

Hi Bill,

I tried your advice, unfortunately it didn't work. When I expanded the first DLL it said, "Can't open output file." So, I went to my %windir% directory for system32 files, which is: C:\windows\system32 on my PC.

I looked under this directory and both fxsapi.dll and fxscfgwz.dll are there. In fact, it appears all other fax service files are there, those that begin with fxs...

It seems like XP does a bad job of actually deinstalling a windows component and then reinstalling it.

Is there some way of manually deleting all Fax Service files to force XP to reinstall afresh when I check the tick box under Windows Components under ADD/REMOVE?

So far, no matter what i have tried, when I check the box to add Fax Service, it goes through without gripe or error, and says the job is finished. But, Fax Services are not properly installed, and, when I go back to the Windows Components under ADD/REMOVE, the box beside Fax Services is unchecked again.

Sigh!

 

Found Solution! My security database was corrupt. I followed this link:

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-2199604.php

and, in particular, followed the instructions from DAVID MURPHY on this page:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...lnk=st&q=Win32+Cabinet+Self-Extractor&rnum=20

to reset my security database.

Now, fax services are properly reinstalled on Windows XP Service Pack 2.