How do I clear COM ports that are appearing as in use

There is only one device listed under serial ports and it using com 1.

 

Hi, Sy1001,

Try the following:

In control panel, printers folder,

Right click on Printer

Select Properties not Server Properties

Click on Ports Tab

Do you See COM listings?

Select and click Delete

The trick was to open the Command Prompt as administrator and start the Device Manager from the same command prompt.

1. Right-click “Command Prompt” in Accessories and choose “Run as Administrator”
2. Enter “set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1″ – without the quotes obviously
3. Enter “start devmgmt.msc”
4. In the box that opens, select “Show hidden devices” in the ‘view’ menu.

Now if you expand the section on COM ports, all the COM ports that have ever

been created will be displayed, the non present ones being in grey. You can

uninstall away anything that you don’t want (right click, select uninstall).

http://www.fettesps.com/how-to-remove-com-ports-which-are-in-use/

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/how-do-i-delete-the-unused-com-ports-in-windows-7/4bb72733-1be0-4168-9ba5-68dcb72d31d9

You're welcome.

There should be a printers and faxes folder in Control Panel (see photo)

http://www.onlinecomputertips.com/tutorials/control_panel.html

See if this helps

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-hardware/all-the-icons-disappeared-in-the-printers-and/96f54795-d27f-e011-9b4b-68b599b31bf5

How to delete printer ports in Windows XP

http://www.ehow.com/how_8120289_delete-printer-ports-windows-xp.html

To delete a Port

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/print_delete_port.mspx?mfr=true

How to remove com ports in Windows XP

http://www.ehow.com/how_6216286_remove-ports-windows-xp.html