Modem not detected

[indianarchie]

Ok..now i dont know whether this should be in Windows XP or in hardware.

The problem is this:

I have an external dial-up modem installed on my computer which runs Windows XP media center with SP2. When i boot up my computer, the modem is normally swtched off. I switch it on only if i need to connect to the Internet. Now when the computer boots up, it does not detect the modem. Earlier, i used to be able to run the Add hardware wizard to make it detect my modem (after switching it on obviously ), but now after i installed media center, it does not work. The wizard runs, but does not detect the modem.

If i turn the modem on and then boot up the computer, it detects it at times, but not at other times. If it does not detect, i have no option but to reinstall the modem manually. This is getting to be a big pain, having to reinstall the modem or reboot the system each time i need to go online! I have tried out the options in the Windows modem troubleshooter but to no avail.

Is there any way in which i can make the computer detect the modem while booting, or anytime after i switch the modem on? Please dont suggest switching the moewm on while booting, as i dont want to do that!

Thanks and waiting for your response!

[[deXter]]

Yeah, XP has this weird things with modems. I myself had this problem for a long time. I had solved it by making a script that starts the device manager and scans for hardware changes (this is a faster method instead of running 'add new hardware'), closes the device manager and dials my connection.

Only recently I figured out why XP was forgetting that my modem was there: Its because of an IRQ conflict! (And you thought you'd never hear the word IRQ again, didnt ya?) Since XP supposedly handles all IRQ resources well, the thing doesn't even allow you to manually set the IRQ!

In my case, my modem was connected to COM1. The IRQ was in use by COM2 port! So I disabled my COM2 port, and viola!, my IRQ was freed and COM1 got back its rightly deserved IRQ! Of course, I could have also plugged my modem to COM2 and that would have solved the issue.

To check whether theres an IRQ conflict with the port your modem is using, just access Resources in the Properties of your port under Device Manager. See which device is conflicting and you may disable it if not needed. If you cannot or do not want to disable the conflicting device/port, then disable all unused devices to free up some resources.

Btw, it may also help to check whether your modem is really plug n play compatible. Also, you may want to Toggle the option "Plug n Play aware OS" in your BIOS settings.