When you connect your Computer Timing Interface to a USB Port, Windows assigns a COM Port number to the device. If you use a different USB Port the next time you plug it in, or if you’re also using a USB printer, they might get assigned a different COM Port number each time you use them. When a new port number is assigned, Windows doesn’t always clear the old port number so that it will still show as “in use”.
Since TIMEWARE 2/MEETWARE recognize only 9 COM ports, you may eventually run out of available ports (this will change in the next version upgrade). Clearing the “in use” ports that aren’t really being used is a bit cumbersome, so here’s a step-by-step procedure to follow:
Window’s Device Manager will show you a list of ports that are currently being used, but will not show ports that are assigned but not currently being used (“in use”). The first step is to make these “in use” ports visible on the list. (The red numbers on the picture match the numbers in the list below.)