Q:\> Why Do You Need To Setup The Adapter?
A:\> For the most part, these adapters can work right out of the box, but the adapter may likely not be setup to work with the device it will be connected to, or the software that you will be using.

Q:\> Install and Setup of the USB-To-Serial Adapter
A:\> Like any USB device, it's as simple as plugging it in for the installation

The driver for these devices are NOT built into Windows XP, so you'll need to insert the driver disc included with the adapter. Once the driver disc is in the drive, just choose the "Install the software automatically (Recommended)" option. Follow the steps for the device installation, nothing specific needs to be selected, however this can vary on the adapter. Usually if anything, you may need to point to a folder on the disc for the specific driver, but there should be installation instructions bundled with the adapter.

And your standard prompt to indicate that the installation is complete and successful.

Now that the setup is complete, now is the part of configuring the adapter. You'll need to check your software to know what ports and settings it's expecting match those to make things easy. To do this, you'll need to get to the device manager. The easiest way is to right-click on "My Computer", choose "Properties". From there, click on the "Hardware" tab, and in there you'll see the button for "Device Manager". As well, you can get it from going to your "Control Panel" and selecting the "System" icon.

From the Device Manager, find and open up the "Ports (COM & LPT)" section. Under there, you'll see a list of devices. You have have one or many, depending on the system. In that list, you'll see "USB Serial Port" along with the current COM port that it's configured to by default. To enter it's properties, right-click on "USB Serial Port" and choose "Properties". Than select the "Port Settings" tab. From there you can change the basic port settings. If you want to change the actual COM port that's being used, that's the next step. Those options are available when you click on the "Advanced..." button.

Here you'll find the advanced settings for the COM port. Default settings are usually what you want, the only thing that needs to be changed is the COM Port Number. That's up to your personal preference on what your device and the software your using requires

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