How to remove old Flex Virtual Serial Ports (Fabulatec)

Kari Gustafsson SM0HRP

Hello OM:s
I have tried to remove previous Virtual COM ports from CAT SDR and they no longer are shown on the device manager. Even when looking at hidden ports. Howevere, when I try to re-configure COM ports to the FleX Ports I thought have removed they still turn up as in the COM port manager as in use. With another software (that remove COM Ports) I still see them listed.
Unfortunately I did remove the CAT SDR program from the control panel (remove programs) and not through the CAT SDR program uninstall procedures. 
Is there no way to once and for all remove all Flex Virtual COM Ports? 
I am in the process of re-installing SDR but I need to re-configure COM ports for other programs.

Steve W6SDM

Remove them in CAT.  Remove them in Device manager if they still exist.  Personally, I remove CAT too and then clean the registry to get rid of any traces.  I use the free version of CCleaner.  After that, I restart and put everything back the way I want it.

Michael Coslo

CCleaner is very good Steve. I'd also recommend Revo uninstaller. Free version works FB. After it runs the uninstaller, it scans the drive for related files. then you oick which ones you want gone, and they be gone. So you get the stuff outside the registry as well.

I run both to make certain everything is gone. 

Larry _ NY8T

https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200883925-Removing-Hidden-or-Ghosted-Com-ports

Kari Gustafsson SM0HRP

Thank you all for the inputs. The thing that really worked was to follow Larry´s hint BUT you must choose "run as administrator" eventhough your are logged in as an administrator. Strange but that was it. 73 Folks from snowy Stockholm! 

Vincent Martin - N5ATM

I went through that procedure Kari.  It gets rid of my 4 5 and 6 pairs.  When I reboot and check again, those are gone, but a new pair of 7 is now there.  When I do the same thing with it and reboot.  Guess what?  the 7/17 pair is gone but 4, 5 and 6 pairs are back!?! 

I'm so sick of this VSP ****.

Vincent Martin - N5ATM

I went through that procedure Kari.  It gets rid of my 4 5 and 6 pairs.  When I reboot and check again, those are gone, but a new pair of 7 is now there.  When I do the same thing with it and reboot.  Guess what?  the 7/17 pair is gone but 4, 5 and 6 pairs are back!?! 

I'm so sick of this VSP ****.

Vincent Martin - N5ATM

BTW, I use Revo but it hasn't affected this issue at all.  I installed and Ran CCleaner too but it didn't do anything for me either.

DrTeeth

Me too! I am having similar issues which I have posted here. "Left over registry entries" from the previous version I get told. But there does not seem to be the realisation that SmartCAT missed them during the upgrade and should be considered a bug; nor instructions on how to delete them. The hidden and ghost COM ports works until a reboot and a particular COM port is grabbed by SmartCAT again, but does not show up in it - it is just unavailable. Luckily, I just have this with one COM port pair. I can work around it but it annoys me. I feel for those with more complex setups.

DrTeeth

All we need are proper instructions on how to delete these COM port pairs *and* keep them deleted.

Vincent Martin - N5ATM

Honestly I think the uninstall program should take care of this problem.  I have never had any other VSP program cause or have these ghosted com ports issues.  Or any other program for that matter.

Kari Gustafsson SM0HRP

Actually com ports can easily be hidden and do not get deleted by all programs when uninstalling them. There is a Com port remover I have used that remote rig has provided to me. It shows all ports whether hidden or not and then you can remove those you want. If you are interested I can mail that program to those who are in need. 73 Kari SM0HRP

Steve W6SDM

Kari,  I tried e-mailing you but I got a bounce back saying your box was full.  I guess everyone else had the same idea.    I used your QRZ.com e-mail address.

Tim - W4TME

I would like to explain what is going on rather than allowing conjecture to continue which is muddying the waters.

First off, this situation where com port pairs reappear after being deleted is manifested by Windows and the not so graceful way it handles virtual com ports.  You have to do things in a particular sequence with the proper rights or Windows gets really confused.  Seriously confused.

The issues that are being described in this topic are a result of a few things.

1.) We provided a convenience feature where pre-1.6 CAT ports were converted to 1.6 type CAT ports.  In general this worked well, but it could result in a previous CAT com port pair not being converted depending on the initial state of your PC prior to the conversion.

2.) If you have a port pair that keeps showing up in Device Manager after you reboot and it is not a port pair defined in CAT, there is a way to re-associate to port in CAT so it can be properly removed.  This is not a trivial procedure, as it requires manual modification of a config file that is done improperly will make things worse. 

3.) FlexRadio Technical Support can fix this for you, but you must open a HelpDesk ticket so we can identify the port pairs, identify the un-associated port pair(s) and modify the configuration file to re-associate  the port pair(s) with the CAT Control Panel.

DrTeeth

Tim, Is there any way you can provide these instructions for those that are prepared to back up their computer before acting on them? I will open a helpdesk ticket anyway.

Tim - W4TME

The procedure is a little tricky and and unique to each customer's setup, so we would prefer to manage the process through the HelpDesk to ensure that the issue is corrected quickly without causing any additional issues (more work for support).

DrTeeth

Ticket just set up. Nice to know that there is a fix for this.