Modem Stops Working After Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition Upgrade (208129)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 98
This article was previously published under Q208129
If this article does not describe your hardware-related issue, please see the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles about hardware:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/w98?sid=460

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade your Microsoft Windows 95-based computer to Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message when you try to use your modem:
Port Already Open
You may also experience other symptoms that imply you may have a resource conflict between the communications (COM) port and the Fast Infrared (FIR) port, but there may not be any apparent conflicts in Device Manager.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if your computer's Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) shares the same Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) Interrupt Request (IRQ) for COM1 and FIR.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, contact your hardware manufacturer to inquire about the availability of a fix for this issue.

To work around this issue, disable all of the Fast Infrared drivers:

WARNING: Do not perform the following procedure if you depend on Fast Infrared-based devices.
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Device Manager tab.
  2. Double-click the Infrared Devices branch to expand it, click the first infrared device listed, click Properties, and then click to select the Disable in this hardware profile check-box.
  3. Repeat step 2 for each additional device listed under the Infrared Devices branch until all devices are disabled, and then continue to step 4.
  4. Double-click the Network Adapters branch to expand it. If a Fast Infrared port is listed, click the Fast Infrared port, click Remove, and then click OK. This device may not be listed in some cases.

    NOTE: If you remove the FIR port, it may be detected and reinstalled when you restart your computer.
  5. Click OK.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2006
Keywords:kberrmsg kbHardware kbprb kbui KB208129
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