Deleting Serial Ports

You can configure communication ports as described in the previous section. You might also need to delete one or more COM ports. Communication ports should be deleted by using the Ports option in Control Panel.

To delete a COM port by using Control Panel

· In Control Panel, double-click Ports. In the Ports dialog box, select the port you want to delete, then click Delete.

Sometimes, if you use Control Panel to delete a COM port that was created manually, the process leaves unwanted data in the Registry. If the deleted COM port is generating error events in the Event Log, you can remove the port directly from the Registry.

To delete a COM port by using a Registry editor

1. In a Registry editor, locate the Serialxxxxx subkey for the port in the following Registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System
\CurrentControlSet
\Services
\Serial
\Parameters

Tip

To identify the Serialxxxxx subkey for the COM port, double-click the DosDevices value entry for a Serialxxxxx subkey. The value entry identifies the port by number, such as COM3.

2. Delete the Serialxxxxx subkey for the COM port. In Regedt32 or Regedit, from the Edit menu, click Delete.

If the communication port is active and detected by the Hardware Recognizer, the port reappears in the Control Panel Ports list when the system is restarted. If you do not want a built-in serial port to be active in Windows NT, you must disable the hardware by using a tool such as the computer's CMOS setup program.