Installed Modem Detected as Serial Mouse on Restart

 Last reviewed: January 6, 1998
Article ID: Q167394
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

During the setup of Remote Access Service (RAS) on a Windows NT 4.0 server computer, a serial modem is installed and configured. When the server is restarted, the modem is detected as Microsoft Serial Mouse and the modem is no longer usable by RAS.

CAUSE

During startup of Windows NT, the NTDETECT program gathers information about the hardware installed on the system including pointing devices such as serial mice. If a mouse is detected, the system designates that port as a mouse port and does not allow it to be used for other purposes, such as a modem. Data is sent to the serial ports and the response from the modem is interpreted as the presence of a mouse. The system will attempt to load serial mouse software for that com port and prevent the use of the port for serial modems.

RESOLUTION

Edit the boot.ini file and add to the end of the "Operating Systems" lines one of the following; 

   /NoSerialMice (This disables detection of Serial Mice on all COM ports

   -or-

   /NoSerialMice:COMx (This disables detection of Serial Mice on only the
   COM port specified by x)
For additional information, please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q131976
   TITLE     : How to Disable Detection of Devices on Serial Ports

Keywords          : ntsetup NTSrvWkst kbsetup
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt
Issue type        : kbprb
Solution Type     : kbworkaround

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Last reviewed: January 6, 1998
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