COM Ports Are Enumerated Incorrectly After Running Sysprep.exe (304979)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

This article was previously published under Q304979

SYMPTOMS

After you duplicate an image with the Sysprep.exe tool, two COM ports may be enumerated in Device Manager as COM2. If you remove the COM ports in Device Manager and then redetect the hardware in the computer, the ports are detected as COM2 and COM3.

CAUSE

This issue can occur if the device ID information for the COM ports in the BIOS in the master image is different from the device ID information for the COM ports in the BIOS on the target computer. For example, this issue could occur in the following scenario:

You create the master image on a computer in which the BIOS is programmed to assign COM1 and COM2 to devices with _UID 0 and 1. You then duplicate the image on a computer in which the BIOS is programmed to assign COM1 and COM2 to devices with _UID 1 and 2.

RESOLUTION

To avoid this problem, do not use Sysprep on computers that have different settings for the COM port IDs.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/14/2003
Keywords:kbenv kbprb KB304979