USB/Serial Converter & XP Pro

[GJP46]

I am upgrading my desktop PC tp 'Vista' but don't feel confident about installing PsiWin on the new machine. I do have a new laptop running XP Pro (SP3) but will need a USB to Serial converter. I have 2 questions:
1. Does it matter what make of USB to Serial converter cable I buy?
2. Which software gets installed first - the drivers for the cable - or PsiWin (I have version 2.3.3.)?
Many thanks in anticipation for any assistance.
Regards to all.
Graham

[Colin Messer]

I've been running Vista for over a year and have had no problems with PsiWin.

I regret that the USB -> Serial converter I have is no longer sold. You will find numerous posts about converters that work and those that don't. there is no guarantee that any specic converter will work, but some do seem to be more successful that others.

Yes, the installation sequence is important.
First, add the converter and software to create a new serial port. Try to give the port a low number as if I recall correctly PsiWin doesn't see COM ports above 8
Secondly, install PsiWin and it should pick up the new COM port.

Regards
Colin

[GJP46]

Thank you for the advice. I did try Clove Technology - just on the off-chance - but they haven't had any stock of dedicated Psion USB/Serial adapters for over a year.

I think I have found a suitable alternative (see my other posting today), so I am hopeful of getting sorted with XP. I have noted your's and other's comments about assigning a low port number.

Re your comments about running Psiwin with Vista, did you have any installation problems - or did you simply follow the same procedure as outlined above?

Many thanks.

Graham

[Colin Messer]

I had no difficulties installing and using PsiWin with Vista. It seems that as Windows matures PsiWin runs better - for a 10 year old piece of code it's doing well.

[GJP46]

Just for those who may be interested - I installed a 'Keyspan' high speed USB to serial adapter (USA-19HS), bought from Expansys. Then installed PsiWin and hey presto - everything works tickety boo (well so far anyway).

Everything went very smoothly. Simple intallation of the adapter (which was assigned as port number 4). Once this was matched up in Psion>properties>connections, I hooked up my 5mx and netBook and backed up both with no problems. Copy anywhere also works fine. However, I am not sure about the 'high speed' rating on the adapter, as the backup speed was about the same as on my old PC using the built-in serial port (5 hours for my 5mx and 4 hours for the netBook).

All this said, I'm still not sure I'm brave or savvy enough to risk intalling PsiWin on my Vista PC.

Many thanks to those who have contributed to the threads on the adapter and Vista issue.

Regards.

Greaham