Removing or changing unused COM Ports from Windows

[WizBandit]

To get the Firmware updater to work try this to remove phantom COM PORTS:

[RossW]

To get the Firmware updater to work try this to remove phantom COM PORTS:

.... pressure Bob, Ryan, Andrew et al, to do a native OS/X version, then all the windows foibles, bugs, bloat, unreliability and general crappyness ceases to be an issue?  Yay, I support the motion!

[ClassicCrazy]

Nice job documenting the port switcharoo and clean up process Whiz .

I used to have a small utility program that showed all the ports being used at a given time - but don't remember what it was . I will have try to find it again.

Larry

[ClassicCrazy]

I just found this free Window utility program - showed many things  I ever plugged in to a USB port and if it assigned it a serial port number.  Since I am always helping friends with Android devices every one is listed on there along with many ports . It shows what the device was , when last used, and will let you delete them too.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html

Here is the line for my Com 8 ( kind of jumbled here when copied and pasted  and without the column identifier but you get the idea ) Looks much nicer in utility program.

Port_#0003.Hub_#0001   USB CDC serial port emulation   Communication   No   Yes   No   No   COM8   DEADC0DE   1/24/2015 4:26:20 PM   1/10/2015 9:24:53 AM   ffff   0005   1.00   02   02   01                  usbser   USB RS-232 Emulation Driver   usbser.sys   Ports   MidNite Solar Inc.         USB CDC serial port emulation   3.1.0.0   USB\VID_FFFF&PID_0005\DEADC0DE