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Fax Software

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4wd:
A couple of slight corrections:

The above suggestions look pretty handy to me, but they are not cheap ...-IainB (May 08, 2015, 04:26 AM)
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Impact Color Fax Lite is free, you just need to fill out your name and email to download it here.

Yet @40hz says "Personally, I just use Windows Fax & Scan ... never had a problem with any write protection stuff on Windows XP, 7, and 8."
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Close but not quite there  ;D

And for what it's worth, I'm using something similar to one of these modems.

MilesAhead:
I think I sent maybe 1/2 dozen faxes total.  Therefore I don't have any software to suggest.  But I do suggest using searches that allow you to filter out the paid listings.  For example once you search in Softpedia Desktop Windows section, at the bottom of the page change the license type to Free and hit Go.

Also you may find some good ones on ZDNet or PCMag download sections.  ZDNet you may have to take a few minutes to sign up.

techsupport alert site has "best free Windows" type lists.  But they seem to be falling a couple of years behind now.  It may be a crap shoot if you have a Windows newer than Vista.

Vurbal:
MSo, maybe we are looking at it all wrong, and simply need to eliminate the cause of the error "write protection message".
-IainB (May 08, 2015, 04:26 AM)
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Personally I would love to see a screen shot of that error message to try and ascertain its origin. As I too have always had very good luck with the native Windows Fax & Scan utility. This could very well be just a configuration issue.
-Stoic Joker (May 08, 2015, 06:43 AM)
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If this is Windows 7, it could be related to the issue I've run into with virtual (PDF) printers in the past. Most of the time they just disappear from the printer list completely, but on at least 1 or 2 occasions, I've gotten the same bizarre write protection error. It may not actually be specific to Windows 7, but that's the only version where I've seen or heard about it.

MilesAhead:
If this is Windows 7, it could be related to the issue I've run into with virtual (PDF) printers in the past. Most of the time they just disappear from the printer list completely, but on at least 1 or 2 occasions, I've gotten the same bizarre write protection error. It may not actually be specific to Windows 7, but that's the only version where I've seen or heard about it.
-Vurbal (May 08, 2015, 01:48 PM)
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Many programs assume they can write files in the folder where the exe is.  I usually create an .ini file for my AHK programs in the same folder as the AHK utility.  From Vista on the system has gotten progressively more persnickety about writing to Program Files folders.  To avoid running everything As Administrator on W8 I took ownership of all the files in the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders.  It's a pita.  If the error occurs in XP then it is likely some other issue.

It is not recommended o take ownership of either all of C: or the Windows folder.  Just in case anyone was considering that as a quick solution.  :)

Vurbal:
^ That's why I install almost all software to a custom folder instead, although that obviously doesn't solve every permissions issue.

However, it's unlikely this is related to that. If it were, the error should appear every time, but it doesn't. In my case, I've "printed" numerous PDF files and then, days (or months - not like I use it often) later, either the printer just mysteriously vanishes from the printer list or throws the write protection error. In either case, the only solution I've found is to uninstall and reinstall the virtual printer software from scratch.

This discussion suggests to me that Windows Fax and Scan has similar issues. The responses there suggest the error is usually resolved by blowing away the existing "Fax Account" and creating a new one. Presumably each entry there is a separate virtual printer. Other people reported fixing it by stopping and restarting the service.

My semi-educated guess is there's an issue with the printing subsystem. However, I don't recall every hearing about it happen with actual printers. That suggests it may be specific to some interface unique to virtual printers. My first thought, considering write protection is involved, would be that it's spooling related. However, taking everything (including that MS link) into account, I'm inclined to think it's more likely to be an error sending data from the spooler to the virtual device.

That might also explain why my PDF printers would seem to just disappear from the system entirely, even though the software appears to be working fine. If Windows can't talk to the device any more, it should disappear from the printer list. From Windows' perspective, it has effectively been unplugged. Actually, the more I think about it, the more likely that scenario seems.

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