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Support Forum » PL2303 usb driver for windows problem

December 08, 2011
by mcphout83
mcphout83's Avatar

When I download the PL2303 usb driver from the nerdkits download page, I "Save As" to my desktop...it gives me an Internet Explorer webpage link, then when I click it...it opens a ridiculous amount of Explorer webpage tabs...it never ends...and no drivers get installed. Any help would be awesome thanks.

December 09, 2011
by hevans
(NerdKits Staff)

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Hi mcphout83 ,

Thats quite strange. Try just clicking the link (don't right click and save as), since it is a link to a file it should just give you the option of saving it to your hard drive that way, or it might save it automatically to you your downloads folder (depending on the way your browser is configured).

The file is contained inside a zip file, so you are probably going to have to unzip it before you install the proper driver.

Humberto

December 09, 2011
by mcphout83
mcphout83's Avatar

Ya I just needed to extract it, I didnt have the Winzip program before so once I installed that I was good to go. Thanks for the info!

December 24, 2012
by jeo245
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Merry Christmas to all! When I download the installer this is what happens: 1) I do manage to unzip the file and click on "PL-2303 Driver Installer.exe" and the same shows up in the Programs and Features window as being installed (no publisher or date). 2) The USB does show up as an "Other Device" in the Device Manager. 3) When I click Properties, the message is "Driver for this device is not installed". I'm running Window 7 64 Bits HP 3500 Pro as administrator and have restarted the comp after installations with and without the USB connected. I have connected it at com5 or below. I have search the Forum, the web and tried links which opened in Chinese and all is not meiFUN! I know the issue is old and near exhaustion but I need HELP!! By the way, has NerdKits change its sourcing of the device?

December 24, 2012
by pcbolt
pcbolt's Avatar

Merry Christmas jeo245 -

Not sure I can help too much but I just wanted to let you have some info about a good install. First, in the "Device Manager" it shows up in "Ports (COM & LPT)" not in "Other". Second, the actual driver name is "ser2pl.sys" and it is stored in the $SYSTEM$//Drivers directory. This is a pretty generic driver for plenty of OEM's so you might have better luck searching for links to installing that driver rather than the device. Hope it helps. Good luck.

December 25, 2012
by jeo245
jeo245's Avatar

thanks pcbolt. I have successfuly installed the driver, however... It seems that all my previous download were successful; the issue was that the system was not able to find the driver no matter where I placed it. What finally solved the issue was the changing of the setting for windows to automatically search for drivers when a new device was connected to the system: it was set so the user would choose location, etc., etc. Once I enabled the auto search, all that you stated concerning a successful instal came to be, just like in fairytale land! Thanks for your effort in supporting my post and being a good NerdKit!

December 25, 2012
by pcbolt
pcbolt's Avatar

LOL. Excellent...the Nerdkit motto is "Learn by doing". I'd add a second corollary... "Learn by troubleshooting". Rock on.

December 29, 2012
by mongo
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I recently decided to put my little system back together. Originally, I was running from a Windows XP laptop but when it died, I found myself in possession of a Windows 7 machine. There are some things that I found are different, mostly in the drivers, but I will eventually get all that figured out. Plus, the W7 is a 64 bit OS and doesn't like very many 32 bit apps.

It has been almost 18 months since I tried anything new here and while installing the USB adapters, I found that my lowest com port that was available was com11. As I recall, the other software only recognizes up to com5.

That took a little doing and a little undoing to get it to work in the right range. First off, I had to disable the modem. I don't use it anyway, so no loss there. That freed up com1

Then I had to go into my drivers and reconfigure the USB adapter to com1 manually. But it seems to be working so far!

I am not using the same adapter that came with my kit. Though it works just fine, I found a few that are all built in like a thumb drive and there is just a cable from there to the kit. it just works better for me that way.

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