|
How to Change a Modem
COM Port in Impact ColorFax
This
tutorial is designed to show you how to change or specify a Modem
COM Port in the ColorFax software.
Frequently
Asked Questions:
- What is a Modem
COM Port?
A modem COM Port is a channel that is used to send and receive
faxes. You must have a COM Port open with a fax modem connected
to it in order to send and receive faxes. In addition, you
must also have a telephone line plugged into the computer and the ColorFax software must be running whether you are sending
or receiving a fax. Please Note: ColorFax Lite will
list all available COM Ports on your system that are free to use. COM
Ports will be listed whether they have a fax modem attached
or not. If a COM Port is used by another application, an
Internet connection for example, it cannot be used by Impact ColorFax
and will not be listed. Changing a COM Port is simple and
easy. Please follow the steps below.
- Can I fax through
a DSL or Cable Modem?
No. You cannot use a DSL/Cable line or modem to send
and receive faxes with the Impact ColorFax Lite software.
You must use an analog or digital telephone line with a Class 1,
Class 2 or Class 2.0 fax modem.
How to change a COM Port
-
The first step is
to check and see what COM Ports on your system are available
for ColorFax to use. Open the ColorFax software and
click on the Fax menu item and select Open Modem
COM Port. The following dialog box will appear:
In
the box above you can see that there are two COM Ports on
this system - COM1 and COM2. You can also see
the Status and the Open Mode of the COM Port. For
more information on the status and open mode of the COM Port,
please see How
to send and Receive Faxes with ColorFax
Lite.
Please note:
A
computer can have several COM Ports depending on the system configuration. You
can open and use any of the listed COM Ports to send and receive faxes as
long there is a fax modem attached. If the COM Port is not listed,
it is being used by another application and cannot be used. You must
free the COM Port from the other application before it can be used by ColorFax
Lite.
-
The
next step is to determine which COM Port(s) have a Class
1, Class 2 or Class 2.0 fax modem attached. You
cannot send and receive faxes without a fax modem so
it does not make sense to change the COM Port to a port
with no fax modem. Click on the desired COM
Port from the list and press the Test Modem button.
Impact ColorFax
will test the COM Port to determine if there is a modem
attached or not. The results of the test will appear
in the Modem Test section of the dialog box. If No
Modem on COMX was reported, there is no fax modem
on the selected COM Port and it cannot be used to send
and receive faxes with Impact ColorFax Lite. If a modem
is detected, you will see something similar to the following
in the Modem Test section of the dialog box:
As
you can see above, there is a Data, FAX Class 1, Fax Class
2.0 modem manufactured by US Robotics on COM Port 2. This
COM Port can be used to send and receive faxes with ColorFax
Lite. To change the COM Port to COM Port 2, click on
the Open button. As a result, ColorFax Lite
will open and use COM Port 2 to send and receive faxes. To
verify that the COM Port was changed and that the port is
in fact Opened, click on the Fax menu
item again and select Open Modem COM Port. The
following dialog box will appear:
You can only open one
COM Port at a time with Impact ColorFax Lite. The dialog
box above is telling you that you already have a COM Port open. Click
OK to proceed. The following Dialog box will appear:
Please note: If
you want to send and receive faxes through more than one port
(telephone line), you can upgrade to the 4 port
Impact
ColorFax for $39.99.
As you can see above,
the COM Port was changed to COM Port 2 and it is now open and
ready to send and receive faxes. Repeat the steps above
to change the COM Port to another port.
Other
questions? Please visit the the ColorFax
Lite FAQ for answers.
|