SerialKey Accessibility Option Does Not Work in OSR2

• Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, you should first make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat). Both are hidden files in the Windows folder.

SYMPTOMS

When you turn on the SerialKey option in the Accessibility Options tool in Control Panel, the SerialKey feature may not seem to work. In addition, turning on the SerialKey option may cause the computer to stop responding (hang) with a page fault error message.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs only in Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). Changes in OSR2 require Power Management features to be disabled for serial devices.

RESOLUTION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall Windows 95. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

NOTE: For information about how to edit the registry, view the Changing Keys And Values online Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe). Note that you should make a backup copy of the registry files (System.dat and User.dat) before you edit the registry.

To resolve this issue, turn off Power Management features for the Vcomm driver in the registry. To do so, set the value for the EnablePowerManagement value to 0 (zero) in the following registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\vxd\Vcomm