Serial Mouse Stops Working After Changing COM Port Resources

ID: Q188572

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

After you change the resources for a COM port to which a serial mouse is connected, the mouse may stop working.

You may also see an exclamation point in a yellow circle in Device Manager with the following message when you view the properties for the mouse:

This device is either not present, not working properly, or does not have all the drivers installed. (Code 24).


CAUSE

This behavior can occur if you change the resources for a COM port to which a serial mouse is connected to non-standard settings.

The standard resource settings for COM ports are: 


   I/O Address   IRQ
   -----------------
   03F8           4
   02F8           3
   03E8           4
   02E8           3


RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use either of the following methods:

Method 1

Remove the serial mouse and COM port in Device Manager, and then restart the computer. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double- click System.


  2. Click the Device Manager tab.


  3. Click the serial mouse, and then click Remove.


  4. Double-click the Ports (COM & LPT) branch to expand it.


  5. Click the COM port to which the mouse is connected, and then click Remove.


  6. Click OK.


  7. Restart the computer.


Method 2

You can resolve this issue by setting the COM port back to its original resource settings.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. 


Keywords          : kbenv win95 win98 
Version           : WINDOWS:95
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: February 10, 1999