Have two devices that have worked on com port for 4 years. Yesterday my PC could not find the devices? Checked and both com ports are working. Could this be a virus or setting out of wack? Reloaded software but computer still can't find device. Any suggestions?

what kind of computer do you have?

It's a Compaq Presario 5000, Intel Celeron 1100 MHz processor. Sure would appreciate any thoughts you may have.

Ok and i need to know a few more things. By com ports do you mean usb ports? and what devices are you trying to plug in (the exact device and product number)? also what operating system do you have?


You can try downloading usb drivers if thats what you mean. You can look up what you are trying to connect to your computer here.

http://www.usb-drivers.com/

or here is another site that might help. Its the Persario 5000 support drivers:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s..._page=product&

Thanks for your reply. I'm running Windows XP and the ports are serial ports. The devices are Sky Golf GPS model # SG201-011703 and a One Touch Blood Glucose Meter model #AW 060-213-01A. Can't download meter readings to take to Doctor. The link you provided recommends I check to insure the ports are enabled in the BIOS and suggests the ports be reinstalled.
This will be my next order of business and I'll let you know if it fixes the porblem. Thanks again for your response and providing the link to COMPAQ.
Kieth

Hmmm ya i dont think you will find any usb supports for those. fill me in on how your re-installing of the usb ports go.

Goodness me, Rickson, you're making me feel very old - and Keith, too, probably - and I'm only 28! Serial ports (often referred to as COM ports) are the old-fashioned equivalent to USB ports. They were the ports that we used to plug our mice and 33Kbps dial-up modems and things into before USB ports were invented in the mid-1990s. They are trapezoid in shape (I think!) and had 9 pins inside the COM1 port and 15 pins inside the bigger COM2 port normally. Then, when USB ports became popular and serial ports were hardly used, manufacturers decided to fit PCs with just one serial port or, sometimes, two 9-pin ports. Hardware manufacturers almost completely stopped making devices that used the serial port and switched over to USB, which had pretty much become the standard by 2000 / 2001. If you have a very modern PC or laptop, you'll have either one 9-pin serial port or none at all. In fact, I've just checked your profile to see how old you are and, from that, I'm guessing that you've never plugged anything into a serial port before

So there you go - just like History lessons at school, some old guy telling you about what happened in the old days, knowledge that you'll probably never need ever again!

Haha thanks for the lesson. I geuss you learn somthing new everyday, just not from an old man on the internet and your right i have never even seen a com port in my life. But im glad you clarified that with me.

Well, I'm the old guy here and my calling them serial ports was the give away. My PC has two of them that still don't work. I enabled the ports in BIOS and the Base I/O Address number wasn't the default numbers, "found on most computers" according to COMPAQ; however, they were not the same address. Then I reinstalled the ports, but all to no avail. The devices still can't be found by the computer. Anyone have another idea?