Many of you held off upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista and are considering the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system Windows 7 (or even the new Windows 8), but are wondering if many of your existing applications such as WinFax PRO will work.

WinFax PRO and TalkWorks PRO (the fax/voice version of Symantec’s popular fax software) still have a strong user base and many of you don’t want to give up this powerful and easy to use desktop faxing software.

Unfortunately Microsoft Windows 7, along with the upcoming Windows 8 are NOT compatible with WinFax PRO.

We ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser, this is a tool offered by Microsoft that scans your computer to determine if it can be upgraded to Windows 7. The program also scans all the existing software installed, and determines if there are any known compatibility problems with Windows 7.  The Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser, incorrectly  indicates that WinFax PRO / TalkWorks PRO has some minor issues, and to contact the publisher’s web site. The link to Symantec’s Web site is no help as Symantec chooses to ignore the existence of WinFax or TalkWorks since they’ve discontinued the software.

Minor issues they are not. You may be able to install WinFax or TalkWorks with Windows 7, but the required WinFax printer driver will not install.  This will prevent you from accessing WinFax from any application you want to fax from, it also prevents you from adding attachmentssuch as PDFs, Word documents, Text files, images, etc. for faxing.

Windows 7  includes the not so impressive fax utility called Windows Fax & Scan, a feature that was previously included only in the Microsoft Vista Ultimate and Vista Business Editions. If you’d rather update your software to a much more professional package that is compatible with both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, Windows Server 2003 & 2008, Windows XP and 2000, then we recommend FaxTalk FaxCenter Pro or FaxTalk Messenger Pro.  For more details, see our Web page at http://www.getfaxing.com/faxtalk

Quick Summary: Windows 7 is not compatible  with WinFax PRO. There is no upgrade path available from Symantec for Windows 7 (or Windows 8)  compatibility.  The WinFax PRO 10 software was discontinued by Symantec in June 2006, and no plans for future versions exist.  

Who we are: We are WinFax PRO experts with over 15 years knowledge of WinFax PRO software and support. For information on moving to another fax software package that can import your WinFax data, please see http://www.getfaxing.com/faxtalk

If you’ve sent a large number of faxes and you want to stop all of them, you can do a simple “HOLD ALL” in WinFax to stop the sending of all faxes in your outbox.

1. Start Message Manager.

You can start Message Manager using the same methods you use to start any other program running on your operating system. To start Message Manager, do one of the following:

From the Windows Start button Click the Windows Start button, point to Programs, then WinFax PRO or TalkWorks PRO, and then click WinFax PRO or TalkWorks PRO Message Manager.

From the Controller Right click the Controller icon on the Windows taskbar and click Start Message Manager on the menu that appears.
From the WinFax folder/program group  Double click the Message Manager icon or executable file (FAXMNG32.EXE).

From Windows Explorer or File Manager Double click the Message Manager icon or executable file (FAXMNG32.EXE).

2. On the Go menu, click Outbox. The Logs window opens to display the Outbox folder.

3. In the record list, click the message you want to put on hold.

4. On the Send menu, click Hold (for selected faxes) or Hold All (for all faxes in the outbox)

• To hold all scheduled messages in the record list, click Hold All on the Send menu.
• Held faxes are marked with an upheld palm icon in the Outbox.
• An error message will appear if you try to Hold a fax that is currently being sent. This is a normal message as you can only hold faxes that are waiting to be sent.

Looking to purchase WinFax PRO? You may have found links on the internet to download software on the Web and we recommend you do NOT download WinFax illegally from any of these sites. These sites will take your money and you’ll end up with nothing, or worse, stolen personal & financial information. Symantec (the developers of WinFax PRO) discontinued the software in 2006. The final version is WinFax PRO 10, and Symantec no longer sells it.

To purchase WinFax PRO, you’ll need to buy from a liquidator/distributor who has NOS (New Old Stock) on hand, or buy from a third-party 2nd hand.

You can find some sellers of WinFax (used and new) on eBay. Remember, WinFax Pro does not work with newer Microsoft Windows Operating Systems such as Windows 7 or 8.

NOTE: Just because you’re buying an actual CD ROM doesn’t mean the software is legitimate. We’ve found some eBay sellers are knowing (or unknowingly) selling illegal , copied software. If the seller has more than one copy, and continues to sell the same product be suspect that the software is illegal. If you suspect a seller has illegal software, ask them to send you a photo of the CD ROM they are selling. You can compare with our “Counterfeit CD” article we have on our site here.

Any web site which offers you an “instant” download of WinFax PRO is an illegal site not authorized by Symantec to sell & distribute WinFax. For your security, do not buy and download any WinFax software from any of these “OEM download” sites you might find in some search engines such as Google. Not only are you purchasing pirated software (if you actually get anything at all), but you risk exposing your personal credit card details to criminals. The only authorized download reseller of Symantec WinFax PRO prior to 2006 was Digital River. Digital River operated the Symantec Online Store. They no longer offer this download, or provide on-line sales for Symantec.

An important update to all WinFax PRO fax users 

UPDATED NEWS : Microsoft releases “ActiveX Killbits” Security Patch for XP February 9th, 2010 (See below)

A security flaw (called a Remote Buffer overflow) with a specific ActiveX Control that is used by WinFax PRO was reported. This type of security flaw is fairly common with ActiveX controls, and effects many programs out there. Recently the same security risks were identified in Facebook & Yahoo Music ActiveX controls. The flaw allows a script (on a Web page that you visit) to execute a program on your computer. When these risks are identified, Microsoft releases a security update to the operating system that fixes these holes.

For this flaw to effect you, you’d have to 1) Have WinFax PRO, TalkWorks PRO or WinFax Basic Edition installed 2) be tricked to visiting a Web page set up with this exploit, and 3) click “Yes” to allow the ActiveX component to run (it is preferred that you don’t allow ActiveX components to automatically run, so beware and check your settings in IE)

We’ve tested the “proof of concept” test script in Internet Explorer and our AVG Anti-Virus detected it immediately and prevented the script from executing. However, one user commented to us that a carefully encoded script could bypass current Anti-virus detection. We’ve determined this Fax Viewer flaw effects all versions of WinFax PRO (from 8.0 to 10.04) and TalkWorks PRO (2.0 and 3.0) and all WinFax Basic Editions.

Symantec’s Security team response was they would not be updating the effected file since they discontinued sales and support of WinFax PRO in 2006.

How to protect myself?

We have included a free tool (WinFax Tools) which sets the “killbit” for this WinFax specific ActiveX control in the Windows registry. A “killbit” disables the WinFax ActiveX control from executing in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Explorer. This doesn’t effect the normal operation of WinFax PRO but will disable any custom written (WinFax SDK) applications that may use this WinFax Viewer Control from a Web page.

The Fix:

1. Click here to download WinFax Tools
2. Click the “No Operator Code” button when prompted
3. Click the “Fix Viewer DLL Security” button to set the “Killbit” for the WinFax ActiveX Control.
4. Click “Yes” when prompted.
5. You’re done, and are now protected from this security risk.

This type of security flaw is common with many ActiveX components used in applications, not just WinFax. Facebook & Yahoo ActiveX controls have recently been indentified with the same risks. It always recommended to follow safe surfing practices, have anti-virus enabled and a firewall, keep your Microsoft Windows OS updated with the latest security patches released by Microsoft, don’t allow ActiveX controls to run automatically, and be aware of any ActiveX controls that you allow to run.

It’s possible that Microsoft will include a security update (which includes the Killbit) in the near future that would prevent the execution of this specific ActiveX control. We recommend you take action now, instead of waiting for Microsoft to release Killbit Security updates.   

 UPDATE March 2010: In a Windows XP update that was released February 9th, 2010, this security flaw was finally addressed. The actual update released by Microsoft is: Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-008 – Critical Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits (978262).   If you have already downloaded this security update for Windows XP, then your system will already have the necessary ActiveX Kill bits set for the WinFax PRO ActiveX control.  You can still download WinFax Tools and check to see if the ActiveX kill bit was applied properly by Windows XP Update. If your system has the Killbit set, the WinFax Tools program will indicate it has already been applied.

Here are some links to interesting applications and technical articles on ActiveX controls and Killbits for those interested in learning more about “Killbits” and security issues with ActiveX controls.

Killbit Explorer application (lets you see all ActiveX controls that have killbits set.) http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/killbitexplorer

How to disable ActiveX controls from running in Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

Article on ActiveX Controls and Security http://www.infoworld.com/d/security-central/security-pros-kill-activex-164?page=0,0

Symantec’s Official Report on this flaw http://www.symantec.com/business/security_response/attacksignatures/detail.jsp?asid=23348

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