Date: 07/17/06 (Computer Geeks)    Keywords: software

I am tired of having to turn my computer on and off because it can't go into sleep or hibernate. After a period of inactivity, I get a box with this error message: "The device driver for the 'Communications Port (COM1)'device is preventing the machine from entering standby. Please close all applications and try again. If the problem persists, you may need to update this driver."

COM1 is where the docking port for my Palm IIIx (stop snickering; there's no point in upgrading something that works just fine and does what I need!). I've tried removing the docking port, removing the port and un-installing the software - any combination you can imagine, with full shutdowns in between, and also reinstalling the Palm III software. Same message. Is there something in a registry I need to kill? If I will have to give up the Palm backup, I'm willing to do that just so I don't go through a half a dozen shutdowns a day to keep the heat down. As it is, the power supply is failing and will have to be replaced very soon. But simply un-installing the program with "Remove Program" doesn't help.

I'm on a custom built computer running Win XP. Tell me if you need hardware details and I"ll ferret them out, but this seems to be a software issue. Thanks for any help you can give.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/950434.html