Hi Andre,

I tend to agree with Peter.

Accepted : XP is not the best OS when you want to work with COM ports directly - that way once XP enters your PC it needs to know and do all things by itself!

Before you change the kit or OS, did you check if your COM port and its settings are fine? One way to do this is to perform the loop-back test with an application like Hyper terminal. Just introduce a wire link between the Txd and Rxd pins and you should be able to see what you are typing in the Hyper terminal console when connected. I am sure the settings are the first point one would check, still thought will remind you.

I myself use many legacy DOS applications in Win_XP pro and have been getting along without much of problems. ( OK my laptop does not have a serial port but I use a RS232-USB convertor - that is different issue altogether..)

Raghu