COM1 not working

[Ed]

Hi,
I have a Dell laptop with XP Pro SP3 for my business. I have a program
(Doors) that uploads data to a security system. I do these uploads about once
a month. I connect to the security system via an AOpen external modem thruogh
the COM1 port.
It all worked fine for years but...I had to reinstall XP and now I can't
get it to work. Windows recognizes the modem and prompts me to load the
install CD and the drivers do get installed, according to device manager.
I've uninstalled/reinstalled that program, can call my cell through
hyperterm, device manager has a query to test it and it seems to pass.
The program comes with a "COM port loopback test plug" and a program to
test the port. The port fails that test saying that there must be either
another program using that port or the port is no good.
I don't know what to do. Any thoughts?

Ed

 

[Zhi-Xin Ye [MSFT]]

Dear Ed,

Based on my understanding, you reinstall XP and the drivers recently, when
you try conect to the COM1 port in your application, it fails.

Would you please let me know the exact error message you got when you test
the COM1 port?

Anyway, you can try the following to isolate the problem.

1. Open the Device Manager and check wether there is a "Communications
Port(COM1)" item under the "Ports(COM & LPT)" node or not, if not, you may
need to go into your BIOS and enable it. After enabling the COM1 port in
the BIOS, reboot and check the Device Manager again, if the COM1 port is
there, then go ahead to run you program again.

2. Use the Portmon utility to check which program is using the COM1 port,
the Pormon utility can be downloaded at:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896644.aspx

Please try my suggestions and let me know the result.

Sincerely,
Zhi-Xin Ye
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[Richard Grier]

Make sure that MSFax services are disabled (Control Panel/AddRemove Windows
components). If these are enabled on this port, the problem that you are
seeing will be evident.

 

[Zhi-Xin Ye [MSFT]]

Dear Ed,

How about this issue now? If you still need any help or have any concern,
please feel free to feedback, thanks.

Sincerely,
Zhi-Xin Ye
Microsoft Managed Newsgroup Support Team

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
suggestions about how we can improve the support we

provide to you. Please feel free to let my manager know what you think of
the level of service provided. You can send feedback

directly to my manager at: (e-mail address removed).

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.