PCs: The Missing Manual

Appendix C. Other Cool Things You Can Do Online

When most people think of the Internet, they think about sending email (Chapter 12) and surfing the Web (Chapter 13). But those aren’t the only things you can do with a PC and an Internet connection. This chapter covers some of the many fringe benefits you get with an Internet-connected PC: sending and receiving faxes, gambling online, playing games against others, printing directions for your next road trip, sending greeting cards, sending and receiving instant messages, creating and maintaining your own Web site, and dialing up long-distance friends with the Web’s newest darling, Internet-based phone calls.

Faxing with Your PC

If your PC or laptop includes a dial-up modem (Section 11.2.2)—and almost all of them do—here’s a secret: almost all dial-up modems can send and receive faxes. That’s right, folks stuck with dial-up Internet connections can finally do something that broadband modems can’t.

This section explains how to dust off Windows XP’s free fax software, send and receive your own faxes, and delete the junk faxes that appear in your fax’s Inbox.

Tip

No dial-up modem? No phone line? No problem. You can still fax through eFax (http://www.efax.com) or FaxAway (http://www.faxaway.com). Both sites let you receive a limited number of faxes for free. The services give you a local or toll-free fax number; any faxes to that number are then automatically routed to your email account. To send a fax, a perk available for an extra fee, email ...