Zombie said:
uh, excuse me, but windows is FAILING TO RECOGNIZE his modem when it boots
up.
Pardon me but that isn't what he said. He said the modem needed to be
"re-initialised" using the "query modem" option in Control Panel and he
wouldn't be able to do that if the system didn't 'recognize' there was a
modem 'installed'.
It also wasn't clear from his post whether "if the power goes off" referred
to the whole system or just the modem (as in an external modem) or vice versa.
This is usually caused by not installing the drivers, which put the
proper entries into the registry so that it DOES recognize it.
That's a possibility and I was not saying there was nothing wrong with the
"installation." I was clarifying the usage and meaning of "initialize" vs
"install."
There is no
particular "modem initialization" going on here,
And just exactly how do you know that when there's not clue 1 in his post
as to what modem, or even what type of modem, it is?
other than windows reading
the entries in the registry that tell it about the modem (providing that he
installed the drivers, that is !)
Well, one might wonder how he has a Control Panel entry with the ability
to send a "query modem," and then it work, if the modem drivers have not
been "installed" and Windows doesn't "recognize" there is one.
Could you please elaborate on this magical
"hardware initialization" that is supposed to take place with no discernable
cause and effect ?
Many hardware devices require some form of configuration, as in, for
example, hardware registers being set up, before they can be used (this,
btw, is often the cause of hibernate/suspend resume problems). It's
normally transparent to the user but if a device can be turned off without
Windows knowing about it then Windows would not necessarily know to redo
the "initialization." It can also be caused by non-compliant
drivers/hardware (resume problems) or, as you suggest, a driver
"installation" problem.
A similar, but in reverse, problem can happen if, for example, an external
modem stays 'on' while the machine is restarted if the modem was left in a
non-command, or hung, state. Windows may think it's 'ready' when it isn't
and communications will be blocked till something 'kicks' the modem into a
state where it will accept commands again (typically "cycle modem power").
There just isn't enough information in his description to make a definitive
diagnosis but, regardless, "initialize" and "install" are not the same thing.