| Depending on what options you selected when you used the Fax Configuration Wizard to set up your fax modem, receiving faxes can vary. For instance, if you set up your fax to automatically answer a fax call, all fax calls are answered. If you set up your fax to manually answer the call, you are notified when a fax is being sent. You can then choose to answer the call. If you set up your fax to automatically answer calls, the modem receives any incoming faxes and handles them according to the options you selected. If you selected to print the faxes upon receipt, they are printed on the printer you selected. If you selected to store them in a folder, they are placed in that folder. You can open that folder and then view the faxes. You can also view faxes from the Fax Console by selecting Inbox in the Fax list. tip  | You can customize the fax configurations, including setting notification options. To do so, click Start, Control Panel, and then Printers and Other Hardware. From these options, click Printers and Faxes. You should see your fax listed. Right-click the fax printer and then select Properties. You can then use the tabs in this dialog box to set options, such as notification options, for your particular fax. |
Opening Faxes To open the Fax Console and view any stored faxes (either new faxes or faxes you have received previously), follow these steps: 1. | Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, Communications, Fax, and finally Fax Console. You'll see the Fax Console window (see Figure 10.8). Notice that Fax Console is similar to Outlook Express. Both include a list of folders on the left side of the program window. In Outlook Express, you see mail folders. In Fax Console, you see fax folders. You can click any of the folders to view the faxes in that particular folder.
Figure 10.8. Use Fax Console to open and view faxes. 
caution  | If you have problems receiving faxes, your fax device might not be set up to receive faxes. You can, however, enable it to both send and receive them. To do so, click Start, Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware, and finally, Printers and Faxes. Right-click the fax device, right-click Receive, and then click Auto. |
| 2. | To open a fax you have received, click Inbox in the Fax folder list. You'll see a list of the faxes you have received. The fax list also contains identifying information about each fax, including when the fax was received, the number of pages, and so on.
| 3. | To open a fax, double-click it (see Figure 10.9).
Figure 10.9. You can open faxes in your Inbox. 
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Handling Faxes You also have other options besides simply viewing faxes. You can't do much from the preview window, but from the Fax Console, you can print, delete, or email any of the received faxes. To do so, follow these steps: 1. | Click the fax in the fax list.
| 2. | Do any of the following:
To print the fax, click the Print button or click File and then click the Print command. Select print options in the Print dialog box and then click OK.
To save a fax to another folder, click the Save As button. Select a folder, type a name, and choose a file type. The default is .tif (a popular graphic file format). Click Save.
To email a fax, click the Mail To button. You'll see a New Message window with the fax attached. Complete the recipient, subject, and message and click Send. For more information on sending email messages, see Chapter 7, "Sending and Receiving Email."
To delete a fax, click the Delete button. Then confirm the deletion by clicking Yes.
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The Absolute Minimum This chapter covers the basics of using your computer to both send and receive faxes. Windows XP includes the Fax Console for these tasks. The important fax points to keep in mind include the following: Before you can use your computer to fax, you must set up the Fax Console. You do so by using the Fax Configuration Wizard. This starts automatically the first time you open the Fax Console. You can send simple faxes by typing a subject line and a note using the Send Fax Wizard. You also can fax a document from within a program. You can set up Fax Console to handle faxes the way you want. For example, you can choose to answer a fax call manually or automatically. You also can choose to print any received faxes or to store them in a fax folder. To view and work with received faxes, open the Fax Console. There, you can view, print, save, or delete any of the faxes.
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