COM Ports

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POP - 28 Jun 2006 18:19 GMT

Hi,

I'm guessing this might be a good place to ask this:

I'm trying to use the portmon port monitor (sysinternals.com).
When I fire it up and ask it to connect to Serial Com 1, I get an
error message that it "may be busy" and cannot be set for
monitoring, start portmon before using the port.
There is also Com3, for the dialup modem, but I've uninstalled
the modem in Device Manager. I also checked; it is not passing
the data I am interested in: Com 3 is passing no data at all.

I'd be happy to start portmon beofre I use the Com1, but I'm not
knowingly using Com 1; even immediately after bootup, I get the
same error message.

I have a USB mouse, standard PS2 keyboard and a few other USB
devices, but nothing connected to any of the physical COM
connectors.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm missing or not thinking of?
Or, another method of monitoring Com1?

XP SP2+, av/adware protect all updated & current. No known
problems, last scans were two days ago.

TIA,

Pop

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Gordon - 28 Jun 2006 18:28 GMT

> Hi,
>
> I'm guessing this might be a good place to ask this:
>
> I'm trying to use the portmon port monitor (sysinternals.com).

I would guess a good place to start is the Sysinternals tech support, rather
than a newsgroup supporting OUTLOOK EXPRESS, as in the title......

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POP - 29 Jun 2006 01:12 GMT

> > Hi,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> tech support, rather than a newsgroup supporting OUTLOOK
> EXPRESS, as in the title......

Well, aren't you the helpful one. Your assistance was about as
valuable as your waste of ether; useless and enough to make one
wonder why you bothered to waste the molecules on the ends of
your fingers.

I guess OE doesn't use a COM port, eh? No one using OE would
ever be using the COM ports, right? Nah, definitely not.

Happy days blatherskite

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Kath Adams - 29 Jun 2006 06:41 GMT

>>> Hi,
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Happy days blatherskite

Gordon gave you good advice.
Look at it this way - if I wanted advice about my car engine, I wouldn't
ask in a group about cake baking.

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Kath Adams
MS MVP - Windows (Outlook Express)

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POP - 29 Jun 2006 12:55 GMT

> > > > Hi,
> > > >
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> Look at it this way - if I wanted advice about my car
> engine, I wouldn't ask in a group about cake baking.

No, but I would go to a place where I knew they had the
information for my car. Your analogies need work.

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DGuess - 29 Jun 2006 17:18 GMT

"POP" <nobody@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote in message

> No, but I would go to a place where I knew they had the information for my
> car. Your analogies need work.

Actually her analogy works quite well. You're asking about a particular
program that is not Outlook Express related or created by Microsoft. The
company that wrote it would be the place to go for help on it. And if you
really look at it, OE does not use a COM port, it has no programming built
into it for COM ports as all communications is handled elsewhere in Windows.
OE hands off all communications to those sections of Windows (see the
Windows and the hardware newsgroups for additional) . That's why you don't
see anyway in OE to change the COM port settings, you have to go into the
Modem's propeties to get to that.

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Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE - 29 Jun 2006 22:59 GMT

>> > > > Hi,
>> > > >
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> No, but I would go to a place where I knew they had the information for my
> car. Your analogies need work.

So you would have preferred that no one answered rather than try to help you
find someplace that might help. Rather shortsighted of you.

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Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
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"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve
neither liberty or security"

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N. Miller - 29 Jun 2006 18:38 GMT

>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I'm guessing this might be a good place to ask this:
>>>
>>> I'm trying to use the portmon port monitor
>>> (sysinternals.com).

>> I would guess a good place to start is the Sysinternals
>> tech support, rather than a newsgroup supporting OUTLOOK
>> EXPRESS, as in the title......

> Well, aren't you the helpful one. Your assistance was about as
> valuable as your waste of ether; useless and enough to make one
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Happy days blatherskite

MSOE doesn't use a COM port. It uses an established Internet connection.
The COM port is used by the DUN application to establish the Internet
connection; assuming that you are using a dial-up connection to the
Internet. For those of us on cable, DSL, satellite, or similar non-dial
connections, MSOE doesn't use COM ports at all!

The COM port connection is probably a Layer 2 connection; MSOE should be
up around Layer 7, I think. I am not really up on this OSI Layer stuff;
but, it appears that I know a tad more than you.

I have no idea when your OS is establishing a COM port connection, but
it apparently is doing so early in the boot process. I seriously doubt
that the MSOE experts are willing to delve into system layer operations.
As Gordon pointed out, Sysinternals tech support will have a better
knowledge base on the matter.

====

> Kath Adams wrote:

>> Gordon gave you good advice.
>> Look at it this way - if I wanted advice about my car
>> engine, I wouldn't ask in a group about cake baking.

> No, but I would go to a place where I knew they had the
> information for my car. Your analogies need work.

Do you like Baseball? I like baseball. Here's a baseball analogy:

You are 0 for 2 at the bat. Want to try for strike three?

You _could_ ask a car salesman about why your car isn't working. He
_might_ even know why. Or, more likely, not. Probably he will just try
to sell you a new car.

Your attitude is pretty haughty for somebody who clearly knows next to
nothing about computers.

Here's the wind-up...the pitch...it's a slider! So, what are you going
to do? Care to take a swing?

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Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

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