To use a computer to send and receive faxes, of course you need a computer and a Modem. No matter whether the Modem is built-in, external, or PC Card type, as long as it has With the Fax function, it can be used as a fax machine. In addition, we must have a telephone line, and the other party we communicate with must also have an ordinary fax machine or computer to send and receive faxes. If we want to fax printed matter, we also need a scanner to scan the printed matter into an image file before sending it.

Nowadays, everyone basically uses Windows operating system, especially Windows 9x. There are many fax software on these operating systems. This article uses Windows 98 as an example to introduce Microsoft Fax, the fax software. This software first appeared in Windows 3.x for Workgroup, under the name At Work Fax. In Windows 95, the software was renamed Microsoft Fax and placed as a standard component in the Windows 95 installer, so Windows 95 users can install Microsoft Fax directly from "Add/Remove Programs". But for some reason, Microsoft removed the fax component in Windows 98 and only provided a separate installation program awfax.exe in the "Toolsoldwin95message" directory of the installation CD for users who need it.

To be honest, Microsoft Fax is not very good, but its functions are quite complete, so I use it as an example to introduce how to use a computer to send and receive faxes. After we learn to use Microsoft Fax, we can download an excellent third-party fax software. There is not much difference in the principles of these softwares.

In order to install Microsoft Fax on Windows 98, we first need to install the Modem driver and at least one printer driver, and then install at least Windows Messaging, Microsoft Exchange client or Microsoft Outlook in the system One of three software. These three software are all MAPI (Messaging API, an application interface) client software. When Microsoft Fax receives a fax, it will store the fax as an email in the inbox of the MAPI client software. The user needs to Go to these software to view faxes. For ordinary users, the author recommends installing Outlook of Office 97 or Office 2000 (Outlook Express included with IE4 or IE5 is not acceptable). For office work groups, you can consider installing Microsoft Exchange and setting up an Internet fax server to allow multiple people to use a Modem to send and receive faxes.

After all the prerequisites are met, run awfax.exe and Microsoft Fax will be installed quickly. After restarting the machine as required, there is a fax subdirectory in the attachment of the start menu, with three shortcuts: cover editor, request fax and compose new fax. The "Cover Editor" is used to design the cover page of the fax so that you can add a cover page when sending the fax. If multiple users use the fax modem through the network fax server, all received faxes are first saved on the server, and can be retrieved back to each user's own machine using the "Request Fax" tool. As for the "Write a New Fax Wizard" it is easier to understand, it can help us organize a fax and send it out.

2. Set up Microsoft Fax

Before using Microsoft Fax, we must first configure various parameters. Double-click the "E-mail" component in the Windows 98 Control Panel to bring up the Microsoft Outlook properties. There is an item Microsoft Fax in the list box. Double-click this item to bring up the Microsoft Fax properties. One of them has four property pages. .

In the "Message" property page, you can set the default values ??when sending faxes, including sending time, message format and cover page. Currently, preferential measures are implemented for domestic long-distance calls during certain periods. If the recipient is out of town, we can consider choosing a period with low phone charges to send the fax. The editable message format is only applicable when the other party also uses Microsoft Fax software to receive faxes through a computer. At this time, the recipient can edit the received fax. If the other party uses an ordinary fax machine or other fax software, you cannot use an editable message format. Instead, you should choose an uneditable bitmap format. We generally choose to let Microsoft Fax automatically determine it.

Microsoft Fax provides several default covers. If we are not satisfied, we can use the cover editor to create a new cover.

In the "Dial" property page, you can set the dialing location, the number of retries and the time interval. These options are very simple.

The currently active fax Modem can be set in the "Modem" property page, and the local Modem can also be set as a network share.

"Computer fax machine" is the same as an ordinary fax machine. Before communicating, both parties must send a handshake signal according to the fax machine's communication protocol and negotiate the communication rate. After the connection is established, the actual transmission of data begins. Data, so the fax Modem has some parameters similar to those of an ordinary fax machine.

Select a Modem in the list box of the "Modem" property page and call up its properties. Among these options, the answering mode is suitable for receiving faxes. In the automatic answering mode (assuming 5 rings), if no one answers the phone after 5 consecutive rings, the Modem will start sending handshake signals to try to establish contact with the other party. , if the phone line you are using is mainly used for sending and receiving faxes, you can select automatic mode. In the manual answering mode, the Modem will not start working automatically and requires the user to issue instructions to control it. If the telephone line is mainly used for calls, the manual mode should be selected. The call preferences are applicable to sending faxes. There is a post-dial waiting time, which means that after the other party answers the phone, it continuously sends handshake signals and waits for the other party to receive a fax answer signal. If this time is exceeded, the call will be cancelled. The advanced options are some settings about transmission and error correction methods. Generally, there is no need to change it unless the fax function cannot be used normally.

In the "User" property page, you can set the information of the local user, including name, country, fax number (i.e. phone number) used by this machine, email address, company, etc. This information may be Used in some fax cover pages.

3. Sending a fax

When sending or receiving a fax, a small fax machine icon will appear in the notification area of ??the system taskbar. Click it to bring up Microsoft Fax Status window, which displays the working status of the Modem. From this information, the user can understand which step the transfer has progressed, and can click the "Hang Up" button to abort the current transfer. If you find in the Microsoft Fax status window that the 33.6K (or 56K) Modem only works at 14.4K or 9600, don't be surprised, because the fastest fax rate currently is 14.4K. Similar to printing documents, when sending a fax, all faxes will be listed in a pending fax queue, and we can select a fax from the queue and cancel it.

Microsoft Fax supports multiple ways to send faxes. Let’s take a look at the three most commonly used methods.

1. Directly call the Compose New Fax Wizard

The first step in the Compose New Fax Wizard is to select the dialing location. Generally, the default value can be used. The second step is to enter the recipient's name and fax number. Sometimes the same fax is sent to multiple recipients, so we can create a list of recipients. If the recipient's fax number is saved in In the Outlook address book, you can also select recipients directly from the address book. The third step is used to determine various fax options. The default values ??of these options are determined by the "Message" property page of the fax properties. We can modify them according to the characteristics and requirements of the fax to be sent. The fourth step is used to enter the subject and notes of the fax. The notes are generally displayed directly on the fax cover. The fifth step is to select the file to be sent. Since ordinary fax machines can only receive faxes in bitmap format, the selected file must be associated with a program that can print this type of document, so that the program can be used to print the file into a bitmap. Format. After selecting all five steps, click the "Finish" button to start sending the fax.

2. Print to Microsoft Fax

After Microsoft Fax is installed, it will add a Microsoft Fax to the printer list, which means that we can use it the same way we use the printer. Fax function. Taking Word 97 as an example, after we edit a document, select the Print command from the File menu, then select the printer as Microsoft Fax, click the "OK" button, Word 97 first prepares the printing data, and then the Write New Fax Wizard will It pops up automatically, asking us to enter various information. Except for the fifth step in the writing new fax wizard, other steps are the same as those introduced before. Finally, press the "Finish" button to fax a Word document to other people.

Some programs (such as Notepad) cannot select a printer, so we should set Microsoft Fax as the default printer in advance.

3. Send to fax recipient

Microsoft Fax added a shortcut to the fax recipient to the Send To folder during installation, so we After selecting a file, you can send it directly to the fax recipient. At this time, the compose new fax wizard will automatically pop up, and the fifth step is also missing.

Programs such as Word 97 also provide a special "Send to Fax Recipient" function. After we edit a Word document, select Send to Fax Recipient from the File menu. Word will launch its own fax wizard, which can help users design fax cover sheets and send faxes. It is also more convenient to use.

4. Receiving faxes

Compared with sending faxes, receiving faxes is much simpler. If we set Microsoft Fax to manual answering mode, then when the other party calls, the Microsoft Fax status window will pop up automatically. We answer the phone first, and after deciding to receive the fax, click the "Start Answering" button, and the Modem will start Establish contact with the other party's fax machine and receive faxes. If we set Microsoft Fax to the automatic answering mode, then when the other party calls, the Modem will automatically start to establish contact with the other party's fax machine and receive the fax after ringing a specified number of rings.

The received faxes are stored in the inbox of Outlook (or two other MAPI client software), so when we want to view the fax content, we must start Outlook and double-click a fax in the inbox. When faxing, Outlook will call the Windows 98 imaging program to display the content of the fax. We can use the imaging program to save the fax file in TIF or BMP format, or print it out directly.