You thought it was done, but the fax still proves useful

Windows has hidden software to let computer send and receive

Technology has rendered many things obsolete, but one device seems to have defied the march of time and is still with us, despite an array of reasons for its demise. It's the fax.

Not many years ago if you wanted to send a document to someone you had to own an expensive fax machine or trudge downtown to pay a copy centre to send the fax for you. Receiving one was a further annoyance and there was no security since anyone standing by the fax machine could read anything that it received. I thought that email attachments would have spelled the doom of the fax but this old method of transmitting documents is still very much with us.

The big difference between then and now is that fax technology is very inexpensive. For less than $100 you can buy an all-inone printer, scanner and fax machine. You plug a phone line into it, hit the fax button, and the device will scan and fax the document or photo to the phone number you input. Receiving one is almost as simple but reading the device's manual will fill you in on the procedure.

There are also Internet services which provide faxing services. Several online companies allow you to email any document or picture on your computer to them and they'll fax it to the recipient. MyFax (www.myfax.com), Efax (www.efax.com) or PrestoFax (www.prestofax.com) offer monthly fees for their services ,which also includes a fax number you can use to get faxes that are then emailed to you as attachments. A real benefit is that each fax is saved on the Internet and is accessible from any computer. Every service has a free trial plan so you could try each out to see which you prefer. Top Ten Reviews (http://faxingservicereview.toptenreviews.com) has extensive reviews of online fax services and helpful tips.

However, a very inexpensive option is to use your computer as a fax machine by employing the hidden software included in Windows. Ever since Windows XP your computer has had the ability to function as a fax machine and the software is still there in Windows 7 and 8, although a bit tricky to find. You can use it to fax a Word document or digital photo and if you have a scanner the software will scan and import a document and then fax it or email it. You can also receive faxes through your regular phone number and print them.

You need to connect a phone line to your computer's telephone jack, which unfortunately many new laptops do not have. If you can connect a phone line you then use the Windows fax software. Microsoft has detailed instructions for using the soft- ware in XP at http://support.microsoft.com/k b/306550 and for Windows 7 or 8 PCWorld has good illustrated instructions (http://tinyurl.com/cfpjctq).

Otherwise you can use email to skip the fax process entirely and avoid long distance charges. I booked a trip and the travel agent emailed me two documents that required my signature and had to be returned. She sent them as PDF attachments and gave me her fax number and mailing address so that I could return the signed documents by fax or snail mail.

Most scanners on the market will scan and save documents to your computer in PDF format. I printed the documents, signed them, scanned them in PDF format, and then sent the signed documents as email attachments. The travel agent received the authorized documents within an hour and there was no charge for a long distance call. I used the software that was installed when I set up the scanner by clicking on the scanner's icon on the desktop although I could have pushed the Scan button on the printer/scanner. A window opened on my computer which allowed me to pick a folder in which to save the scanned PDF document. Some quick reading of your scanner's instruction manual should acquaint you with the process.