Event ID 32018 — Fax Service Availabililty

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

After the Fax Server role is installed, the Fax service runs under the Network Service account.

The Fax service depends on the following services:

• Plug and Play. Enables a computer to recognize and adapt to hardware changes with little or no user configuration.
• Print Spooler. Manages all local and network print queues, and controls all printing jobs.
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC). Services applications using RPC or COM services.
• Telephony. Provides telephony API (TAPI) support for clients using programs that control telephone-based devices and IP-based voice connections.

Event Details

Resolve

Restart the Fax service

The Fax service might need to be restarted if it was stopped manually, if it had an initialization error, or if it is denied system resources by another application. If you encounter this problem, restart the Fax service. You can manage the Fax service using Services in Server Manager or Computer Management, the Fax Server role page in Server Manager, or Fax Service Manager.

To configure fax components, you must be a member of the Administrators group or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

To restart the Fax service using Fax Service Manager:

1. To open Fax Service Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Fax Service Manager.
2. In the right pane, right-click Fax, and then click Stop to stop the service.
3. In the right pane, right-click Fax, and then click Start to restart the service.
4. To ensure that the service is running, right-click Fax again and confirm that Start is grayed out and that Stop is active on the menu. 

Verify

To confirm the Fax service is available, you should confirm that the service is running and that startup is set to automatic.

Then, if the service is not running, you should confirm the following:

• Confirm that there are no active clients connected to the server or that there is no active processing to do. In the absence of active clients or processing, the Fax service will stop. The service will automatically start when clients connect to the fax server and request its services, or when the server has some pending tasks in the queue. As a result, the service may seem to be in a stopped state, but this is actually because there is no processing to do—not because the server is in a bad health state.
• Confirm that none of the services that the Fax service depends are on are disabled (this would cause the Fax service to fail to start).

To configure fax components, you must be a member of the Administrators group or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Confirm the Fax service is running

To confirm that the Fax service is running, you can either use Fax Service Manager, the Services snap-in, or the net start fax command.

To confirm that the Fax service is running using Fax Service Manager:

1. To open Fax Service Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Fax Service Manager.
2. In the right pane, right-click Fax, and then view the menu.
3. Confirm that Start is grayed out and that Stop is active on the menu.

Confirm Fax service configuration

To confirm that the Fax service is configured to start automatically at startup:

1. To open Services, click Start, click Run, and type Services.msc.
2. In the Startup Type column, confirm that the value for Fax service is Automatic.

To confirm that the services the Fax service depends on are not disabled:

1. To open Services, click Start, click Run, and type Services.msc.
2. In the Startup Type column, confirm that the value for Plug and Play, Print Spooler, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), and Telephony is not set to Disabled.
3. In the left pane, double-click Fax, and click the Dependencies tab.
4. Review the list of dependent services to confirm that it is complete.

Related Management Information

Fax Service Availabililty

Fax Server