Windows 3.1 Does Not Update Third-Party Communications Driver (83512)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows 3.11
This article was previously published under Q83512

SUMMARY

If you upgrade to Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1 from an existing version of Windows 3.0 that is using a third-party communications driver, Windows 3.1 Setup does not update the COMM.DRV= line in the [boot] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.

MORE INFORMATION

If Windows 3.0 is using a third-party communications driver to replace Microsoft's COMM.DRV and it has a different filename, Windows 3.1 will not update the COMM.DRV= line in the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI and will not copy the Windows 3.1 COMM.DRV file into the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. This behavior occurs so that Windows 3.1 can be compatible with Windows 3.0 communications programs that ship with their own COMM drivers.

To use a third-party driver, it is necessary to add the following line to the [386enh] section of SYSTEM.INI:

COMMDRV30=TRUE

If the Windows 3.0 application still does not function in Windows 3.1, manually install the Windows 3.1 COMM.DRV file as follows:

  1. Expand COMM.DR_ in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. (COMM.DR_ is found on Disk 2 in the 5.25-inch format and Disk 1 in the 3.5-inch format.)
  2. Rename COMM.DR_ to COMM.DRV.
  3. Edit the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI by changing the COMM.DRV= line to the following:

    COMM.DRV=COMM.DRV

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/14/2003
Keywords:KB83512
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.