Omron ZEN PLC not communicating

[jb35sport 0]

I've been lurking at this website the last few weeks but decided to join so I was able to post threads. I had an older model laptop at my job that communicated just fine with the older OMRON Zen V1 model PLC's, but we recently upgraded the laptop and now can't seem to establish communication. The cable is the same (serial to PLC - used for Zen's only). I checked the laptop and thru device manager, it shows the serial port set to COM1, 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit. To make matters worse, my old laptop was replaced 3 weeks ago with a model without a serial port. Both my laptop and my work laptop had little issue establishing communication, but now I'm having difficulties. The replacement laptop is running is Windows XP SP3. I kind of need this to work, considering we are right in the midst of a project that utilizes this retread PLCs. Is it possible the COM port drive needs upgrading or is there something I'm obviously overlooking? Any help is much appreciated.

[Mendon Systems 22]

Soooo ..... what are these newer laptops using for a serial port?? There are a LOT of problems with USB serial adapters.

[jb35sport 0]

In my case, we are using an older Dell Latitude D820. I've tried reassigning COM ports to no avail! So frustrating.

[IO_Rack 178]

First thing is to verify that your hardware is working. You should perform a loop back test. Open Hyper Terminal, give it a name, Connect Using: (your COM port number), Click OK, set Flow Control: None, Click OK. With pins 2 &3 shorted on your laptop you should see characters when you type. Remove the short and you will NOT see characters when you type. After that is OK you can move on to the Zen. I've had intermittent communication issues with the Zen before. It was an AC model and I suspected it was due to a lack of ground at the main power. I never confirmed that.

[Crossbow 295]

Did you double check the configuration of the serial port in the ZEN software? It's in the File menu.