Permanently assigning COM port #'s

[Harry]

Is there a way to force Vista to always assign the same COM port number to a
device? Vista defines a completely new device every time it boots, if a USB
cable is disconnected, and every time it randomly decides to ignore a
connected device (about 1 time every 3 or 4 hours).

Beacuse of this, I'm constantly having to open DEVICES to find the newly
assigned COM ID, the open the config for the appropriate application, and
manually change the COM number for the device.

I've noticed this problem with Printers, Scanners, and GPS receivers.
Printers redefine themselves (Brother, Brother (Copy 1), Brother (Copy 2),
..... Brother (Copy 23), etc. Scanners just seem to be left defined, but
can't ve used. GPS receivers just keep getting a different COM ID.

What I need it to do is to stop defining new copies of the same *&*%
printer, and to leave my GPS receiver assigned to a single COM port so the
software works more than an hour or two at a time.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rojo Habe]

That's odd. If you use the same USB port each time it should remember the
device and assign the same COM port. If you plug it into a different USB
port it will see it as a new device and make a new copy, as you described.
If you're sticking the the same USB port each time for a given device this
should not be happening.

 

[Harry]

This stupid OS (Vista) doesn't do that on this PC. Heck, it can't even stay
connected to my air card (USB) after it's connection times out, or I pass out
of range of one "tower". The only way to get it to recognize the device
again is to do a complete re-boot. POS. And, of course, I haven't heard of
ANYONE who hasn't had issues with Vista with non-OS software and/or hardware.
Equally of course, each one has had issues with a different
device/application that works perfectly for someone else.

I won't even go into the 3 months of support time my parents spent with HP
and Microsoft trying to get 1 PC (desktop) to connect to 1 HP printer! The
latest recommendatioan on that is to return the PC and printer and buy
something else (direct suggestion from both HP and Microsoft!)

Anyway, the devices aren't disconnected physically, just virtually by Vista.
The COM values are redefined every time the laptop is rebooted, which has
averaged 3 or 4 times in a 12 hour period because it "forgets" the devices
are there.

As a matter of fact, one of the GPS applications I have uses a MICROSOFT GPS
receiver. It crashes (blue screen) the PC w/in 10 minutes of being turned on
by the application. The two applications that use non-Microsoft GPS
receivers work perfectly (except when Vista forgets the receivers are there).

I'm done with it. When I get home I resurect my XP Professional and wipe
Vista out. I can't believe Microsoft actually released Vista in this
condition; there is absolutely no way a problem(s) of this scope were not
there during development and testing. Someone chose to whitewash bad test
and/or integration cycle results and should have their you-know-what fired.