fax/scan for Vista Home Premium

I'm thoroughly DISGUSTED with MicroSoft for removing this feature from the
program. I used this feature frequently. If I had known this prior to
recently purchasing this system and upgrade--I probably would not have.

Microsoft, you've gotten so big that you seem to feel it's okay to 'dog-out'
your loyal customers without any negative ramifications to you. NOT COOL!!!!

Another DS who doesn't read the features before he buys the product.

Perhaps. But try finding this clearly spelled out in plain view of the
product descriptions. It is very deftly hidden in very fine print. Most
people assume that since all previous Windows versions offered fax in all
versions, Vista would too, and there is no clear warning to the contrary.

Really Microsoft how hard can it be to include fax function in all vista
version even you can't be that tight fisted

I'm angry too, I used the fax application frequently offered with XP, so when
I bought a new computer with Vista Home Premium, I assumed most XP features
would be migrated to Vista. And, I purposely purchased a new Vista
compatible printer without the fax feature for that reason.

You know, I love my Mac more and more.

I use my windows fax program every day on Windows XP, was thinking of
changing to Vista Home Premium but not anymore. Microsoft how about you have
a download for this fax service then perhaps I will purchase Vista Home Prem

For several versions of windows, MS has indicated that they no longer
desired to fully support, or upgrade the basic fax supplied with previous
versions. Seems that it was going to be a major effort to cure all the
problems, and do it in such away as to prevent its use by fax "spammers". In
additon, it doesn't work really well on the Vista versions that do include
faxing. A good third party fax program seems to be the answer, or, perhaps
even better, a multifunction unit that can do faxing independent of the P/C.
I just replaced a Brother multifunction 420CN unit with an Epson unit
(faster printing).

I agree totally. Microsoft has NO idea what their customers want.
Ability for fax should be there, period.
I hate this firm.

For months I have been dogging my PC Manufacturer and the makers of the three
all-in-one (printer/scan/fax/copy) units I've gone through for their lack of
interest in my inability to scan to a fax, e-mail or just a plain file
document or picture. I see why so many of my friends (son & sister included)
have gone Mac. I'm not sure I can continue to stand tall and support you
much longer after taking away a function so basic to every computer user.

You're not supporting anyone here... we're all users like yourself.

You've not supplied any info for anyone to help
FWIW printer/scan/fax/copy works fine on both my winxp & Vista PC's

Microsoft took nothing away from you. The only thing Microsoft did was
remove its analog fax modem software from the less expensive versions of
Vista. That's not even what you're using. Accordingly, your post has nothing
at all to do with Vista or Microsoft. It has only to do with your third
party AIO products.
So stand tall. Read the manuals. Ask the manufacturers for support if you
don't understand them. Your issue is 100% end user error.

No Russ you have it wrong. "Windows Fax and Scan" functionality is ONLY
included in the Enterprise and Ultimate Editions. I worked for MSFt for
nearly 10 years. They are monitizing functionality. The functionality is on
the disc but unavailable unless you key in a PID that matches an Enterprise
or Ultimate SKU. I have a fax server that works just fine on my XP and Vista
Ultimate machine. On the laptop I am typing on now I have Vista Home Premium.
When I try and use the fax server I get a prompt that fax client software is
not installed and do I want to install it. If I click Yes it pops up and
tells me some DLL is missing. The option to install the functionality is not
available in this SKU. I have to install the Ultimate Edition on this machine
before that functionality becomes available. I went through this on my other
Vista machines that originally had Home Premium installed. Same error. Same
issue. When I entered an Ultimate PID the suddenly the machine would find the
missing DLL and install the functionality.

This has nothing to do with 3rd party vendor fax products or software.

Wake up. AIO support has never had anything to do with the Windows Fax
module. Everyone knows full well which Vista versions include fax support
for standalone fax modems. No need to restate the obvious.

Quite well known to everyone here and not the topic of this thread. Exactly
what was your point? What did you think you were correcting?

I am wide awake and know of what I speak.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../fax-scan.aspx is
pretty clear. I stated I had a fax server and could not use it in Vista Home
edition. It had nothing to do with fax modems analog or otherwise. Whenever I
try to access the remote fax server (fax print function) from Vista Home I am
directed to the Windows Fax and Scan function which is not available in Vista
Home. Microsoft has decided that the average home user would not need the
capability to scan or fax. Since Enterprise SKU is not available to consumers
only the Ultimate Edition is available for the home user to fax and scan. And
that requires paying much more than the average price for Vista Home.

This thread is about a complaint that Microsoft removed Windows Fax and Scan
from Vista Home Premium. My post is spot on because it covers that topic.

Your post of:
Microsoft took nothing away from you. The only thing Microsoft did was
remove its analog fax modem software from the less expensive versions of
Vista. That's not even what you're using. Accordingly, your post has nothing
at all to do with Vista or Microsoft. It has only to do with your third
party AIO products.
So stand tall. Read the manuals. Ask the manufacturers for support if you
don't understand them. Your issue is 100% end user error.

Is off topic because you claim that Microsoft took nothing away from you and
pointed to some 3rd party vendor as the problem. Microsoft DID take away
Windows fax and scan from the Vista Home sku's as compared to the XP Home
sku's which is what the original poster was complaining about. Pointing the
finger at the user for not reading the fine print or to 3rd party AOI
products is misleading and false. Even if I install a fax modem (which I
tried on my machine) Vista home SKu's will work just fine with the modem for
connecting to the Internet. However it is missing the pieces allow faxing to
work through that same modem unless you move to Ultimate or a business SKU.

Don't chastise people for complaining that Microsoft removed functionality
and make you pay a lot more bucks to get it when that is exactly what they
did.

You're off by quite a bit. The thread was about AIO devices and their party
software. It had nothing to do with WFS. The removal of fax from less
expensive versions of Vista has been covered ad nauseum here and is beyond
being a dead horse. I have no idea why you felt the need to beat it yet
again in an off topic post.

Yes you are right.
I also agree the person who said this is 100% end user error. Yes it was my
fault, but not because I did not read the manual word by word when I was
paying around 15 hundred for a notebook. It was my fault because I didn't go
with Mac!
What do you call an OS which leaves one of the ports on your notebook
useless?

Can anyone recommend some good software that will replace this? I will
gladly pay up to $500 to any company for the software. I will not pay to
upgrade my Windows when I already have Premium on both my Desktop and Laptop.

I will no longer support windows either. I can't wait until Google rolls
out their operating system.

I'll be quite frank with you. You have no idea what you are talking about.
If you have VOIP, you can fax with the Windows Fax program. I used to do it
all the time, and it worked great.

It doesn't matter if it data is carried analog or digital, it has to do with
fax interpretation of the "data packets" that are being sent.