Setting up serial (COM) ports in Windows

To view and edit the settings of COM ports, start the Device Manager. Right-click the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties in the drop-down menu.  The System Properties window will open. Open the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.

The Device Manager window will open. Expand the Ports (COM & LPT) branch and select the COM port to which the device to be set up is connected. Then, right-click the required COM port in the tree to open the drop-down menu and select Properties. The settings of the port will open in a dialog window. Go to the Port Settings tab to view and edit the Bits per Second and the Parity parameters.