[aprssig] Re: Serial port to USB question

[KC2MMi]

< My question is is there a way to permanently and forevermore kill dead
Microsoft Serial BallPoint pointing device. (Windows XP)  I would have very
little problems with any of the Serial to USB dongles if I could just keep XP at
bay.  I of course disable it in the device manager  but when I least expect it,
it comes back.>

Roger, you might stop by the local library or bookstore and pick up a book on
configuring XP. You can set it up to *never* use that device in your normal
hardware profile, so it will be dead forever even if it is built into your
keyboard, etc. and always there. Or, you can often kill it at the BIOS level
from your computer (again, if it is built-in hardware).

Serial/USB dongles are problematic because most of them are not certified to run
under XP. Last time I looked, only the IBM and Keyspan models had passed
certification tests. (Which means either the others couldn't, or their makers
chose not to spend the money getting the approval test done. There's just no way
to tell.)

This is all "basic Windows stuff" not really topical for this list. I'd suggest
pursuing it on the Compuserve PCHardware or WindowsXP forums. Both are free to
the public now. You need to register an email address, it won't be spammed,
there's no charge. Plenty of other places on the web but I know you can get good
answers from those two. About Windows--not APRS.<G>