USB - which COM Port?

[adyj1]

So, you plug in a USB device to your imaging PC and need to know what COM port it has been given so you can configure the software. Do you find yourself scrabbling for Device Manager and trying to work it out from the ports listed?

I found this really neat utility on Sourceforge that does exactly what I want; I plug in a device and a notification pops up to tell me what COM Port has been added;

Serial Port Notifier

It is quite old (2016),but in my experience has worked a treat on Windows 10. 

Ady

(I posted this in another thread, but I find it so useful I thought I'd give it one of its own.)

[DaveL59]

looks very handy, tho these day's I'm not often using serial devices much compared to when I was in the field and hooking into computer systems and peripherals. Thanks for sharing tho, might come in handy when I next need to use the car diags cables 🙂 

Edited July 3, 2022 by DaveL59

[adyj1]

18 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

looks very handy, tho these day's I'm not often using serial devices much compared to when I was in the field and hooking into computer systems and peripherals. Thanks for sharing tho, might come in handy when I next need to use the car diags cables 🙂 

For me, it seems that every other time I plug in my flat panel it gets a different com port! 

[malc-c]

Google "Deleting unused Com ports" - there are methods from editing the registry to 3rd party apps that can manage the registering of comports for the devices attached.  Sometimes plugging a device into a different USB port can cause windows to issue it with a new port number.

[adyj1]

1 hour ago, malc-c said:

Google "Deleting unused Com ports" - there are methods from editing the registry to 3rd party apps that can manage the registering of comports for the devices attached.  Sometimes plugging a device into a different USB port can cause windows to issue it with a new port number.

I know what you are saying, but would you agree that those methods are pretty hard-core for most?

For the casual user, there are plenty of install instructions that say "check device manager to see what com port has been added", and I just find it really useful for the computer to tell me the com port when I plug the device in, rather than digging around in the settings... 

[malc-c]

22 hours ago, adyj1 said:

I know what you are saying, but would you agree that those methods are pretty hard-core for most?

For the casual user, there are plenty of install instructions that say "check device manager to see what com port has been added", and I just find it really useful for the computer to tell me the com port when I plug the device in, rather than digging around in the settings... 

I did say that there are methods from both extremes.  Editing registry settings is not as scary as people think, and you can easily make copies before making changes.  However there are other ways as you say, and even apps that are more user friendly.  Most people are unaware of the option in Device manager to show hidden items.

[adyj1]

3 hours ago, malc-c said:

Editing registry settings is not as scary as people think

To my mind a novice could render their PC inoperable with the wrong registry setting (not likely but possible), so it's not something I'd ever suggest publicly without a ton of caveats. 

In my experience, whenever someone has needed to know what comm port a device is on, the suggestion has been to look in Device Manager / ports - which in itself isn't that intuitive (they don't have meaningful labels for a start). 

My post here is to say there's a quick and easy piece of software, particularly useful if you often plug and unplug devices, that tells you with a pop-up notification what comm port the device you just plugged in has been allocated... 

No ninja IT skills needed. 😉