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Fax question

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by gloria

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My PC wants to instal fax everytime I reboot or restarts. How can I get this to stop?
Any help is appreciated :)
Gloria

19 replies

by mjd420nova

How do you hook up to the internet?? Do you have a FAX/MODEM card in the unit?? If you use a LAN ethernet card for the internet, remove the modem card and it should stop the error on boot up.

by gloria

Thanks, but my PC doesn't have english language and I am therefore uncertain what you exactly mean by device manager.
Best
Gloria

by why me worry?

Irregardless of the language your Windows system is using (I'm assuming you are running Windows XP), here is what you need to do.

1. Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel
2. Double-Click the System Icon
3. On the top, click on the Hardware tab, then click the Device Manager button
4. You will have a section called "Modem" in the list
5. Expand this list (click on the +)to find your modem there and right click on the device and select "Disable" from the menu

That's it! Your modem will be disabled and prevented from being used in Windows.

To re-enable the modem, repeat step 5, but choose "Enable Device" instead

it's very simple and not rocket science as you see

:-)

by why me worry?

I give this nice lady credit for calling herself a "YASU", even though I think she meant it in a funny and sincere way. There are multiple levels of YASUs' out there and here they are:

1st Degree is the ID-ten-T user, aka ID10T, who will do such things as water a plant on top of the monitor

2nd Degree is the user who thinks that rebooting his/her PC is as simple as turning off the monitor as if it were a TV set

3rd Degree is the PEBCAC (problem exists between chair and computer) user and is usually the most rude and irate, screaming bloody murder when calling the helpdesk and using every piece of profanity known to man

by gloria

But there is no Fax modem there. That's what makes it so strange.. Found no modem in the Device Manager.Why will it install a fax if it is not there?! I have never had a fax and I have no plans getting one.
When I reboot or starts the PC it starts to instal the fax and asks for the CD..I use ctr+alt+del to get the windows task manager (i believe it is called) and disable the installation that way.
Thanks guys. You are great :)
Gloria
Norway
(might explain the YASY)

by why me worry?

Device manager will only display devices that it detects from what is known as the system BIOS. The BIOS is what makes the computer a computer and not a toaster or an alarm clock. If your PC's plug and play is finding a modem and asking for a driver, then I'm pretty sure you have a modem in the PC which Windows is trying to install and enable. The only real way to stop this annoying detection of the modem by Windows is to disable the modem from your PC's BIOS. I can't really instruct you on how to do it because every PC is unique and it depends on the BIOS manufacturer and motherboard type. Check the documentation for your PC to see how you can access the BIOS/CMOS and shut off integrated devices, such as the modem. On the majority of PCs', the BIOS is accessed by pressing the Del key during power on, or some other function key like F2 or F10.

********CAUTION***********

Improperly setting parameters in the BIOS can prevent your PC from booting up and may require resetting BIOS to defaults...so consult an experienced PC tech if you are not comfortable with this

Hope this info helps. :-)

by techexec2

Hi Gloria,

When Windows starts up, it looks for hardware that has not been configured yet. If it finds something, it trys to install the drivers.

Are you sure that your PC does not have a FAX modem? If Windows is asking for the CD to install it, it is likely that it exists in your computer.

Here's something else to try:

Sometimes a detected but unconfigured device like your fax modem does not appear in the correct place in the Device Manager tree. Look for a yellow question mark icon (?) that has a yellow circle over it. It should appear in the "Other devices" section (don't know what that translates to in Norwegian).

If you find that icon, follow the instructions from "Why Me Worry?" and disable that device. After it is disabled, Windows will never bug you for the CD during start up ever again.

Good luck!

by gloria

when I went to control Panel > printers and fax modems i found a fax..not activated. when I explored properties, I found the name "Conexant HSF V90 56K PCI modem". Should I deavtivate it?
The ting is: the PC has been fine for 2 years with no Fax messages :)
Best
Gloria

by dawgit

Gloria, first, just what kind of computer do you have? (PC? or Laptop?) What is the brand? How do you normally conect to the internet? (Do not disconnect the modem if that's how you make your connection) & ok, one more, did you 'hook-up' any thing (new) to your computer? (like, just before this started) -d (we sort of need that info)

by gloria

Hi again.
I have a PC. hp pavilion t480.no. Connected to it is 2 external harddrives, 1 scanner, 1 hub extencion(do not know the real name for this but ut gives me more
USB connections,1 printer, a web camera and a mouse (wireless). The thing is, all of them is working just fine.
I am connected to the internet by adsl. I cannot remember connecting anything else to the PC.
I found a modem in Devise Manager and disabled it, did nor disconnect it. Rebboted but the PC will still install a fax. Can it be a virus?
thanks all for your help
Gloria

by techexec2

[i]"The ting is: the PC has been fine for 2 years with no Fax messages"[/i]

Windows has "personality". Something happened inside your PC that is causing Windows to try to load drivers for your fax modem. It does not have to make sense. Just like our human friends. :-)

-----

[i]"when I went to control Panel > printers and fax modems i found a fax..not activated. when I explored properties, I found the name "Conexant HSF V90 56K PCI modem". Should I deavtivate it?}[/i]

From that place, you probably do not have an option to deactivate the device, only configure it.

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[i]"Can it be a virus?"[/i]

Anything is possible, but this is not likely.

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[i]"I found a modem in Devise Manager and disabled it,"[/i]

If you disabled the modem in Device Manager, Windows should no longer be bugging you during startup. If Windows is still bugging you during startup, we will just have to keep trying. There is often more than one way to get Windows to shut up.

If you have the HP Pavillion Driver CD, you could try removing the device from Device Manager (that is, deleting the device, not just disabling it), restarting Windows, and then giving Windows the CD to install the drivers when it asks for it. The purpose of removing the device is to start "fresh"...full "new" hardware detection followed by full driver installation.

If you don't have the HP Pavillion Driver CD, contact HP and obtain it. Or, you might be able to find the drivers on the HP website and download them.

-----

Keep posting back.

God natt (this is all the Norwegian I know)

by the ice man

I think first step here is to determine if windows is trying to install new hardware, or if it's software it's trying to install/repair or finish install of.

When windows starts Gloria and you get the window to install the fax, at or near the top of the window does it say "found new hardware" if translator I used is correct in Norwegian it might be "funnet ny jernvare"? If this is the case what I would do is to follow the steps to install the fax driver and if it doesn't find the driver for it there should be a checkbox that says something like "never ask me to install again" in Norwegian "aldri sp?r meg installere igjen". Check that box and then click finish. And you should never be bothered again. This of course takes into consideration that you have administrative rights to do the install on the computer.

If it's software it's trying to install that could get a bit more complicated, but in end will be a similar process to fix. I'll check this again tomorrow to keep updated on it and provide help as I can.

by mjd420nova

The more it looks like a virus, and I have seen it before. A user had been surfing around and had been to a web site that they had picked up a trojan worm from. That's the first thing it wanted to do was install the dial up modem so it could call home. Got stuck in the loop, even though there was no modem installed, it insisted on trying to install one and wouldn't allow anything to proceed normally until it could call home. It was a pretty nasty bugger too, forced the user to wipe and clean the drive and reinstall the OS as even a restore wouldn't get rid of it. Good luck

by why me worry?

and your theory makes sense, but it doesn't have to be a porn auto-dialer, as it could be a virus or trojan dialing home. If that is the case, this lady would need to run a virus and spyware scan on her machine to get rid of it. I sure hope she is running some kind of antivirus and anti-spyware software on her machine and keeps it updated.

by techexec2

How did this work out for you? If you've still got a problem with this, I want to keep working with you until it is solved.

P.S. By the way, for you, YASU clearly means "Yet Another Smart User" :-).

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