Application Note V-114 Allowing the VIP-327 to be detected at bootup by disabling "fastdetect" in Win 2K

This Application Note provides information for users of the VIP-327 who have experienced bootup problems with Windows 2000, on how to disable the "fastdetect" feature in this OS.

Several users have reported that when using our VIP-327 on the serial port of a PC with Windows 2000 as the operating system, that the VIP-327 is not detected upon bootup. This is not a problem with our device, which is designed to look like a serial mouse to the PC. Windows 2000 uses something called "fastdetect" to speed up bootup by ignoring certain devices. By design, the serial mouse is intentionally not detected at bootup. When Windows 2000 is installed, "fastdetect" is on by default. Interestingly, "fastdetect" is also available in Windows XP, but when installed, it is off by default. Users of Windows 2000 can correct the problem by disabling "fastdetect" as follows:

Open the file C:\boot.ini. It should be in the root directory of the C drive. It's an operating system file, so you might have to change the folder viewing options to see it (view / options / view tab / show all files). In boot.ini, you will see a line that ends with something like ...\WINNT = "Windows 2000 professional" /fastdetect. Delete just the end portion, /fastdetect so that it looks like ...\WINNT = "Windows 2000 professional". Then save the file, boot.ini. This should allow the serial mouse to be detected on future bootups.

Windows 2000 has many reported problems involving the use of a serial mouse (any serial mouse, not just our device). For example, WIN 2K does not allow unplugging and replugging the serial mouse. The serial mouse does not work in save mode. There are also several Microsoft knowledge base articles about problems detecting serial mice, force-detecting serial mice, keeping other serial devices from being confused with serial mice, etc. along with possible solutions.

For more information on this, you can see the following:
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showthread.php?t=125315

For more information on "fastdetect", in general, see:
http://blogs.msdn.com/doronh/archive/2006/05/03/589516.aspx

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