asked on

Modem assigns it's own com port

I have an issue where the hard drive had to be formatted and Win98 re-installed. Ever since this took place the modem (internal, USR 56k), rather than using com1 or com2, its assigns itself to com3 or com4. However, this only happens when the modem shows up as a new device at start-up, otherwise Win98 does not find the modem. If I let it stay on com3 for instance, since com3 does not exist, I get the message: "Unable to open port" when I try to get 'More Info' on the modem.

I have tried deleting the com ports themselves and re-installing them, and there are no conflicts to be seen.

Anyone have any ideas?

jatcan

What's the model number of the modem & did you use the driver disk to install the drivers or did you try using the win98 supplied drivers?

What other devices do you have on your system? Is there some type of problem concerning using com 3(other than the obvious)IE.-another device is already using com 3.?

Jatcan

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

dew_associates

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

nm_main

ASKER

dew associates(Dennis),

Thanks for the idea.

I will try it and accept the answer for you if it works.....

nm_main

dew_associates

Okay, but if there are problems, let me know and we can try the other methods. What I posted is the most common, but if the modem has jumpers that predetermine the com port, than we'll need to try an alternate method. Sometimes though, Windows inadvertanly loads duplicate devices that can only be seen while in safemode.