By default Phone Dialer is not added to the communication menu. Therefore unless you know where to find it your immediate assumption is that Windows XP no longer uses Phone Dialer. As you can see, from the instructions below, Phone Dialer is alive and kicking. It's just keeping itself well and truely under wraps!
1/ Click the Start button.
2/ From the Start menu click Run.
3/ In the Run dialog box type: dialer.exe and press Enter.
4/ The dialer application will now open.
1/ Click the Start button.
2/ From the Start menu click All Programs followed by Accessories.
3/ From the Accessories drop down menu click on Windows Explorer.
4/ In Windows Explorer click on the drive/partition your Windows XP is installed on. This is usually C:.
5/ Navigate to: Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Communications.
6/ Click File on the main Windows Explorer toolbar.
7/ From the drop down menu click New and then click Shortcut.
8/ The shortcut wizard will now open.
9/ In the shortcut dialog box type: c:\programfiles\windows nt\dialer.exe
10/ Click Next.
11/ The 'type a name for this shortcut' dialog box now appears.
12/ Type: Phone Dialer.
13/ Now click Finish.
14/ Phone Dialer should now appear on the Communications menu.