Tom S. Lee said in news:
[email protected]:
I frequently install and remove modems and multi-port I/O cards in my
XP Pro system. The Comm port numbers grow, and now my modem is Comm
14. My software doesn't work with that high of a port number. I
have removed all hardware and re-booted, but when re-installed the
modem is still Comm 14.
Is there a way to reset the port number to like 3 or 4?
Thanks for Help
Tom Salicos
My guess is that you either still have the enumeration for that device
in the registry, that you still have the .inf file around for the
removed modem, or both. I know that I have run into problems with PCI
modems whose uninstall does not remove the enumeration listed in the
registry so a subsequent install gets screwed up. For example, the
enumeration in my current system for my PCI modem is under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI\VEN_14F1&DEV_10B4&S
UBSYS_9300141D&REV_89\4&3b1d9ab8&0&4840
Under there is a value name of "ClassGUID" (global <something>
identifier). I then did a search on the classGUID and found it under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet<xxx>\Control\Class\{4D36E96D-E325-1
1CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
where xxx = null, "001", or "002". Way too many settings under that key
to bother checking now. The subkey under Enum\PCI and this classGUID
key would be the ones that I would try deleting ... obviously after
first exporting them to permit recovery.
So look under the Enum\PCI key for VEN... subkeys to see which might be
for old and non-existent modems. I'd also go hunting in the
\Windows\INF subdirectory for any modem-specific .inf files to move them
out so on startup Windows won't reuse it (if you are reinstalling the
same or similar modem and want to enforce Windows to ask for new
drivers/definitions instead of trying to reuse the ones already there).
Sometimes the .inf file defines several modems but if it is a
vendor-supplied INF file then you can delete it (by moving it elsewhere)
after removing the modem since an install of modem even by the same
vendor should install the INF file. However, some modems are so generic
that they use the INF file(s) provided by Windows which can cover more
than one brand and model, so don't delete that INF file. You could
always ask the modem maker if they provided their own INF file so you
know which one to delete.
I haven't had to do this for over a year so this is from memory. As
always, when monkeying around with the registry then make a backup of it
or, at least, the keys you will edit or delete.
Description of the Information in the Subkeys Under the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Branch of the Registry
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=250405
An Inf Error Occurs During Installation of a Network Adapter on a
Windows 2000-Based Computer
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306983
According to this last article, you delete the subkey and not the VEN
key. Don't know why you would need the VEN key since that is supposed
to identify the vendor of the device and obviously the registry isn't
going to have a VEN key for every vendor that existed, exists, or will
exist. But then this article is geared towards a repair rather than to
eradicate irrelevant definitions.
However, the above discussion regards the eradication of defunct PCI
device definitions. It is entirely possible that the ports are defined
separately (and then bound to these devices). For example, my PCI modem
got assigned to COM3 (doesn't physically exist so this is a logical
definition) and I found it under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\COM3
But I also found all the ports under Windows defined at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Ports
The binding of COM3 to my modem was found at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{adb44
c00-1b8d-11d4-8d5e-00a0c90d1c42}\##?#PCI#VEN_14F1&DEV_10B4&SUBSYS_930014
1D&REV_89#4&3b1d9ab8&0&4840#{adb44c00-1b8d-11d4-8d5e-00a0c90d1c42}\#COM3
where the ...VEN... key has the same name as the VEN key back under the
Enum\PCI key.
Lost yet?
