HELP! Can I reset hardware properties in Device Manager after meddling?

[Claudia Sheridan]

Hi all,

Yesterday I transfered the modem from a Compaq PC to the motherboard of a
Packard Bell. I've had both these computers for a while now. The Compaq
one is the least powerful, but it has a good 56k dialup connection
(Supraexpress 56i) - whereas the PB has a useless 'generic' one. So I
decided to try and 'swap' modems... It seemed to slot in perfectly to the PB
but WinXP didn't recognize the modem. I uninstalled the old modem from
Device Manager and then tried 'installing a new modem' from the "Add
Hardware" applet in Control Panel. When I was doing this I noticed that it
was installing the modem to COM1 (It wouldn't give me any other choice) but
I know that the original modem was recognized as being COM3, (and I put the
Supraexpress in the exta same slot). So I started trying to manually change
this ... and I ended up making a real mess - adding various COMs to the
device manager etc. - in short, I am not sure what things looked like
beforehand...
Basically, I want things back the way they were! I have to retreat and just
put the old modem back, but will this be enough if I've messed up what was
in Device Manager? I need to get the Device Manager to revert to the
original proper configuration. Is System Restore worth my while? (Although
I imagine it only affects software...).

Thanks in advance,

Claudia

 

[Philip Herlihy]

I believe a System Restore is just what you want. Ideally, you'd have
created a restore point before mucking about, but assuming you can find a
suitable recent one it should put things back the way they were. I'd
suggest you put all the devices back in their original places first.

 

[Guest]

right click on the new compaq modem in device manager and uninstall it.
You can use it just find the drivers for it. Try compaq for drivers or....
You can also go to www.driverguide.com Also, if it was installing fine and
you changed the com port then don't change it.... accept the settings that xp
gives and see how that works!
If it doesn't work.............
System restore will take your computer back to before you installed the
device.

 

[Claudia Sheridan]

So System Restore will reset my Device Manager settings too? This is
excellent ...!

 

[Claudia Sheridan]

FOLLOW UP:

I decided to try uninstalling the modem and the new false 'COM3' before
resorting to system restore. I then opened the PC again and discovered the
reason my modem wasn't being detected was because I hadn't snapped it in
fully
I switched the PC back on, the modem was detected and installed in seconds,
and everything seems to be fine.