Some of the newer laptops of the past couple of years no longer have traditional RS232 serial ports, however the CROPSCAN MSR System can still be operated or connected to these laptops by use of a USB to Serial converter. Various brands of USB to Serial converters are available at most computer stores or from numerous computer related websites by mail order.

A Belkin USB to Serial Converter:

In most cases, USB to Serial converter installation software will install a Windows driver configured for COM3 or COM4 serial port use. The MSR Software is designed to work with COM1 or COM2 serial port numbers.

The Windows driver for the USB to Serial converter can be easily changed back to COM1 or COM2 by doing the following:

1. Click Start on your computer. Move the mouse pointer to Settings. The following should appear:

2. Click on Control Panel. Something similar to the following should appear:

3. Double click on 'System'. The Systems Properties window should appear:

4. Click on the Hardware tab. The following will appear:

5. Click on the Device Manager button near the middle right of the window. Something similar to the following should appear:

6. Click on the + to the left of Ports to expand the ports list. There should be an entry corresponding to the brand of USB to Serial converter you have installed. In this case, it is a Belkin F5U109 USB to Serial Converter:

7. Right Click on the USB to Serial Converter item. A pop-up window should appear:

8. Left click once on Properties. Something similar to the following should appear:

9. Click on the 'Port Settings' tab. The following should appear:

   Click the pull-downs and set values as shown:

10. Click the 'Advanced' button. The following should appear:

11. Click the COM Port Number pull-down. It should drop down with something similar to the following:

12. Click on a COM port number that is not in use.

13. Next click on the OK button and after that click on OK buttons or close buttons, as appropriate, to back out of all of the windows just opened.

At this point, the COM port number you chose has been assigned in the Windows operating system for use with the Serial USB adapter. Remember that COM port number and enter it at the COM port prompt in the CROPSCAN MSR Software (TERMINAL, RETRIEVE, etc.).

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