No dial tone for Windows fax

[oao]

I had my laptop serviced by the manufacturer. I had the hard disk restored from

backup and I ran into a problem with the fax which had not existed before the

service. I am trying to establish whether the problem is with the hardware

which requires to send the laptop back.

I have one phone line which I split into two by inserting 2 RJ11 cables into

a dual connector: one goes to the phone, one to the laptop/fax. I use one

device at a time, of course.

When I try to fax from the laptop I don't get a dial tone. I also noticed that

as long as the fax line is inserted into the connector, the phone does not get

a dial tone either; when I disconnect the fax cable, the phone tone comes back.

The following error occurs in the Windows Event log:

Event Type: Error

Event Source: Microsoft Fax

Event Category: Initialization/Termination

Event ID: 32105

Date: 10/1/2009

Time: 9:09:49 PM

User: N/A

Computer: GATEWAY

Description:

Activity logging is disabled because the Fax service cannot access the folder C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows NT\MSFax\ActivityLog specified for the activity log. You can modify the location of the activity log from Fax Service Manager. For more information, see Troubleshooting in Fax Service Manager help.

Win32 Error Code: 5

This error code indicates the cause of the error.

I checked and everything is OK with the log files -- they are all there with the proper permissions/

I did the following to no avail:

1. Switched cables

2. Edited the predial command in the registry to not wait for the dial tone

3. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Windows fax component

3. Reinstalled the modem driver

It looks like the laptop kills the phone line for both phone and fax.

Any ideas?

[catgate]

Have you tried a new filter?