Hello,
Initially, I have a problem making a call from my PC, I get an error "another
program is using the selected telephony device. Try again after the other
program is finshed". The problem may stem from the 6 duplicate modems
showing in my device manager using various com ports. I cannot uninstall or
remove these modems. Each time I try, I'm prompt to restart but after
restarting the modems are still installed. I tried removing from the modem
options in control panel and the problem remains
It sounds very much to me as though System Restore may be defeating your
efforts for some reason - maybe you have a virus there as well? Otherwise -
what Error Number are you getting? There's a possibility that the modem card
itself is u/s, and if you've had lightning strikes recently in your area,
that could be the true cause. Post that error number please. Also see
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/dunserror.asp.
Anyway - try this for a start as a way forward, and post some feedback on
whether it worked or not:
1) Right-click 'My Computer', select 'System Restore' in 'System
Properties', check 'Turn Off System Restore on all drives';
2) Still in 'System Properties', click 'Hardware', then 'Device Manager';
3) Remove all of the 'bogus' modems, from wherever you can find them;
4) Restart Windows and let it find your modem hardware. The process of
restarting with System Restore turned off will empty out whatever files may
be stored in the hidden _Restore folders, good and bad, and will also clear
all of your previous Setpoints - so that if something really WAS stuck in
there, it'll be gone when Windows reasserts itself;
5) Recheck in Device Manager that you now have only one modem;
6) Only one modem now? Job done (I hope);
7) Still no go? Consider replacing the modem card depending on the Error
Code number.
Personally, I find that I can run quite happily without System Restore
being autocratic and wilful in the background - it can cause all sorts of
problems under normal circumstances, particularly if Windows gets its head
on for some reason and decides to behave in a deranged fashion, like some
sort of malicious juvenile on drugs. I'll leave it to you to decide whether
you want it back on or not, if this little repair manoeuvre works out
)
More importantly, System Restore can be targeted by certain viruses and
trojans, which use it to dig themselves in and make it very hard to dislodge
them unless you understand what's really happening on your PC. This
'weakness' was exploited hard in Windows ME, the place (as far as I know)
where System Restore was first applied as a tool - I can't give you the
names of the viruses and trojans involved, but I'd certainly treat their
creators to a free cremation (live) for causing such problems - and I'll bet
I'm not the only one in the world who feels that way.
If you think that you may have such a virus that your existing zapper has
missed (NAV, NIS & McAfee are the likeliest to fail in my experience as a PC
repairer), unload that program, go and get AVG7 Free from
www.grisoft.com,
and see what it can do for you. I think Grisoft must be mad to give such a
product away for nothing - but equally, I hope they never manage to respond
to the meds, for the sake of my pocket. Also, I hope that they decide on a
better set of default settings in the future, because the existing ones
could certainly stand some improvement.
Good luck - and a Happy(er) New Year.
Philip
