Fax Service failed to initialize any assigned fax devices

[shanep@sydneygang.com]

I've read a number of posts in trying to solve this problem.

I have a 2 standard windows 2003 servers (Server01 & DEV-Server).
Server01 is configured with a modem and the microsoft shared fax
printer service is installed. Faxes can be sent from Server01

I have added the shared fax printer to the second windows 2003 Server,
Dev-Server and have successfully sent a fax from Dev-Server1 to
Server01.

BUT!

The WIndows XP Professional SP2 machine refused to send the fax and
when trying to start the fax Wizards reports the followinf error in a
popup dialog:

"Fax server information cannot be retrieved.
The Fax wizard will clsoe now".
The Event view lists the following two errors:

*******************************************************************************************
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Microsoft Fax
Event Category: Initialization/Termination
Event ID: 32026
Date: 16/04/2006
Time: 9:44:47 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DTWINXP01
Description:
Fax Service failed to initialize any assigned fax devices (virtual or
TAPI). No faxes can be sent or received until a fax device is
installed.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

*******************************************************************************************
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Microsoft Fax
Event Category: Initialization/Termination
Event ID: 32068
Date: 16/04/2006
Time: 9:44:47 PM
User: N/A
Computer: DTWINXP01
Description:
The outgoing routing rule is not valid because it cannot find a valid
device. The outgoing faxes that use this rule will not be routed.
Verify that the targeted device or devices (if routed to a group of
devices) is connected and installed correctly, and turned on. If routed
to a group, verify that the group is configured correctly.
Country/region code: '*' Area code: '*'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

*******************************************************************************************
I have tried uninstalling the fax services and reinstalling (numerous
times)

Reapplied Service Pack 2

Tried fixing the secedit.sdb - as suggested in a microsoft solution to
no avail.

Other then rebuilding the machine which is not an option at this point
for various reasons, does anybody have more knowledge then I currently
do on what could be causing this problem and what could be done to fix
it. Oh I have worked through all the suggestions I've found on these
groups, but none have resolved the problem.

Any assistance offered is greatly appreciated especially as I'm now
officially "pulling my hair out"

Shane

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

State which client software you are using.
State how you added a remote fax printer to the client.

[Shanep]

Russ,

The client software on the Windows XP machine is the fax services
available from the Add/Remove Windows Components installed via the
Control Panel ->Add/Remove Programs.

I'm not aware of any other "Fax client" software in Windows XP so if
I've missed something there let me know.

The Fax printer was added using the Printers->Add Printer and then
selecting Network printer and browsing to Server01 and selecting the
FAX shared printer from the list of shared printers displayed.

This successfully adds the fax to the list of printers on the WIndows
XP machine with no errors. It is only when you try to use it to fax
that it reports that the "fax Server information cannoter be
retrieved".

I think this is the information you you requested, let me know if I've
gone off on a tangent.

Shane

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Some shared fax services (like SBS) have a separate client that you install.
Windows XP Fax is the client for Windows Server fax.
I don't have it running at the moment, but I do remember that the Help Files
contain explicit instructions on how to set up a remote fax printer. Are
those the instructions you followed? Has the fax service ever worked as it
should in these installations?

[Shanep]

I've never tried to use the fax service on the Win XP machine before.
I'm going to try another Windows XP machine and see what happens.
According to all the intructions I can find the installation of a
shared fax printer have been followed correctly

Shane

[Dave Terry]

Shane,

Although this thread is now a little stale, I had a similar problem and
resolved it, though things don't seem as secure as I wanted, and will post
for anyone reading back through.

I have a Windows 2003 server with fax services installed and successfully
faxed from the server. I had a workstation with Windows XP SP2 installed. I
added Windows Fax Server and the install required me to point to my I386
directory for the install of one DLL. After install, I was able to fax from
the modem on my workstation (via the fax printer it installed).

I added the shared fax from my WIN2003 server and it installed fine. When I
went to use it, I got the message, "Fax server information cannot be
retrieved....." If I looked on the desktop machine's Fax Console in Tools\Fax
Printers Status I could see that the fax on the server had a red X and was
unavailable, but my local fax was available.

Because I had installed the fax services on the server quite a while before
installing the service on the workstation, I couldn't remember the details
but thought I had deleted the "Everyone" in the sharing permissions and
replace it with "Domain Users." So, I uninstalled the services on the server,
did a required reboot, and then reinstalled. It put back in Everyone. I
added back the printer to my desktop machine. It works fine.

I would think it more secure if it was available to Domain Users instead of
Everyone, but not sure why it did not work for me when I had made that
change. If anyone has more information about that, I would be interested in
hearing.

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You don't really mean you added Windows Fax Server to the workstation, do
you?

[djwgates]

Here’s the fix for Windows XP SP2

Click Start – Go to Run – and type in Regedit.
Search and locate this key – CountryListVersion
HKLM\software\Microsoft\windows\Currentversion\Telephony\Country List\CountryListVersion
Right click CountryListVersion and reset the current value to 0.
A bad Country Code value will cause the fax printer to hang.
It looks to me like a bug in Windows because the setting appears to be defaulting to an invalid setting.
In my case there was some file corruption that I was able to repair with CHKDSK /p while booting from the CD.

Restart the computer.
Go to the Control Panel and open Phone and Modem Options.
Click edit and rename Location Name to something other than My Location.

Open the fax console and the status should say ready and you are good to go.