Install Prolific USB To Serial (DB-9/DB-25) Adapter Drivers On Windows 7 64-Bit
Posted by alex in Insights at 10:40 PMI have had the same USB to serial adapter working on Windows XP for quite awhile. After I recently purchased a new laptop running Windows 7 64-Bit I needed to reinstall my USB to Serial Converter. I had a couple issues the first being the fact that the Dell Studio XPS laptop has a slot load CD/DVD drive and the drivers were on a mini CD. So the first thing I tried was to zip up the drivers CD that initially came with the USB to Serial Converter and get the zip file over to the new laptop. After doing this and attempting to install the drivers I was still receiving an error. I imagine either the drivers were not working with Windows 7 or there were no 64-bit drivers. Below I explain the USB error that was displaying, provide access to the correct drivers, and provide steps to install the drivers.
Windows 7: PL-2303 USB To Serial Adapter Error
The above error is what you would see after installing the drivers that came with the device and then attempting to plugin the USB to Serial Adapter. Follow the steps below to get the proper drivers installed by uninstalling what is currently there, installing the proper drivers, and then plugging in the USB to Serial Adapter.
Uninstall PL-2303 USB To Serial (DB-9/DB-25) Device:
- Windows 7 Device Manager: First open the Windows 7 Device Manager by right clicking My Computer and selecting Properties from the drop down. Select Device Manager from the left navigation of the My Computer Properties window. Scroll down and right click on USB-Serial Controller under Other Devices as displayed below. Select Uninstall from the pop open menu and then reboot.
- Download New PL-2303 Drivers: Click here to download the new Prolific PL-2303 USB To Serial Adapter drivers. Unpack the downloaded file, named PL-2303-Prolific-Driver-Installer-v10518.zip, to reveal the PL-2303 drivers executable called PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v10518.exe.
- Uninstall Old PL-2303 Drivers: Double click on PL2303_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v10518.exe to begin uninstalling the drivers that do not work.
Click Yes to confirm that you want to actually run the uninstallation script which will remove any of the old PL-2303 drivers from your system.
- Complete PL-2303 Driver Removal: After clicking yes above you will see the PL-2303 USB to Serial Adapter drivers being removed from your computer as displayed below.
After the process is complete a PL-2303 driver removal verification will display as shown below. Simply click the Finish button to complete the process.
Install PL-2303 USB To Serial Adapter USB Drivers On Windows 7:
Now that the incorrect drivers have been removed you can proceed installing the proper drivers. First make sure that the USB to Serial Adapter is not plugged into the USB port on the computer. Follow the steps below to complete the installation of the proper drivers.
- Launch PL-2303 Driver Installer: Double click on the same executable file mentioned in step three above which will now launch the actual installer as displayed below.
- Continue PL-2303 Driver Install: Click the Next button from the initial install wizard window displayed above to continue the PL-2303 USB to Serial Adapter driver installation wizard as displayed below.
- Complete PL-2303 Driver Install: After a short amount of time the PL-2303 driver installation wizard should complete showing the status window below.
Click the Finish button to complete the process.
- Verify USB To Serial Adapter Drivers: You can now plugin the PL-2303 USB To Serial Adapter to see if the drivers have been installer properly. After plugging in the device you should see a USB device status message as displayed below confirming that the device installed properly.
Your PL-2303 USB To Serial Adapter should now work without issue. Use your favorite application, such as SecureCRT or Putty, to console into a device via the serial port.
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Entries (RSS)
Very interested in your remedy to install the notorious PL-2303.
I have spent hours attempting to download this ridiculous file that obviously has not been manufactured for use with Windows 7.
It will respond to the uninstall but when finished it completely fails to install, it just reverts back to the uninstallation phase.
Given up now.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
February 25th, 2010 at 11:23 PM
Hello Jeff,
The solution to installing the USB to Serial converter on Windows 7 is in the article above. The driver is also available via link in the article above in step two titled Download New PL-2303 Drivers. If you have a specific issue with the article I might be able to assist but I wrote the article for the specific reason of detailing the steps so people could easily follow along.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi Alex, sorry but no such luck. It still refuses to install, the procedure you laid out is exactly what I have been doing, except for the uninstalling in the device manager and rebooting.
It uninstalls as stated but insists on uninstalling on the second command, it will not show “install” just “uninstall” and therefore completes a second uninstallation. I have continuosly attempted this without success.
I imagine the procedure you have stated, is the same for my setup…Windows7 on IE8. 32 bit.
I guess I may have a problem with my machine after all, although every thing else seems to work, even after all the different drivers I had to download for windows 7.
Thanks for trying,
Jeff Hazell
[Reply]
alex Reply:
February 26th, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Hello Jeff,
What do you mean by Windows 7 on IE8? One different between our setups is the fact that I have 64-Bit Windows which is specifically what this article relates to. I do not have a 32-Bit Windows machine to test on so I am not going to be much help there but I am guessing the drivers I located above are specifically for 64-Bit Windows 7 which is probably why they are not working for you.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi Alex,
I struggle with the same results. My Prolific chip is in a cable for my Garmin GPS, which was originally serial. My laptop is a Dell Precision M4400 and I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate N, 64-bit. I followed your instructions closely, but no luck. For starters, my Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port shows up under “Ports” and not “Other Devices” in Windows 7. Nonetheless, deleting from Device Manager and rebooting, then running the specified executable to uninstall and then executing again to install results in the “Installing Device Driver” message, shortly followed by “Device driver was not successfully installed” message in a very repeatable fashion. This is frustrating as I have to lug around my old laptop to save my GPS routes. I’m stumped…
Thanks,
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:42 PM
Hello Fjellman,
It must not be the exact same PL-2303 or if it is being installed with the Garmin GPS must make it unique in some fashion. If you have a paid for product from Garmin I would open a support ticket with them or at least try calling Garmin support. The driver I was able to find was specifically for a PL-2303 generic USB to Serial converter. Anyhow I think the first place to start is with Garmin support as they should hopefully have already released Windows 7 drivers for their devices. Let us know what Garmin’s support says.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi Alex,
The cable was an Ebay item (neither made nor sold — or even branded — by Garmin) and it came with a CD containing drivers that worked fine on my 32-bit Dell Latitude running Vista 32-bit. The device showed up under “Ports (COM & LPT)” as a “Prolific USB-to-Serial Bridge”. The driver provider was Prolific, the date was 12/1/2003, believe it or not, and the driver version was 2.0.0.24. The driver did not work with Windows 7 64-bit, hence my quest for appropriate drivers. So it seems there is a Prolific chip in the cable, but I’m at a loss why my experience has been dismal. I do appreciate you posting your experience though, and I will keep seeking!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 1:37 AM
Hello Fjellman,
My apologies. I misunderstood your initial post. So now that I do understand maybe I can provide more useful information. My adapter also displays under “ports” in the Windows 7 Device Manager and also not Other Devices. When the driver is installed and the devices displays under Ports does it have “COM#” next to it? I wonder if maybe the Garmin software is configurable to connect to a specific com port? Once installed on Windows 7 does it have a yellow exclamation mark net to it or does it appear to install properly? If I remember correctly I would also get the message that the device did not install properly but in fact it really did. Hopefully some of the above information helps you out.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi Alex,
Yes, it shows as COM 5 (or whatever I set it to in the driver) and yes, it does have a yellow exclamation point. I have a physical COM 1 on the back of my docking station (don’t believe the laptop itself has one, but don’t recall) and I have RIM virtual ports on COM 3 and COM 4. I could delete them as I no longer use a Blackberry. I have the ability to change the Prolific COM port to COM 2 or COM 5 – COM 256. I have tried a number of ports without success. The Garmin MapSource software cannot find the GPS unit. It has an automatic search function where it searches the COM ports, or I can direct it to a specific COM port. If I choose the physical or RIM virtual ports, it attempts to query and, unsurprisingly, cannot find the device, even if I set the Prolific driver to use that port and ignore the conflict message. If I set it to any other port in the driver, the Garmin software returns “The serial port “COM x” does not exist.”
Any ideas are appreciated. I have not struggled this much since trying to get an ancient printer to work with 64-bit!
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 11:40 AM
Hello Fjellman,
Have you tried the various drivers available from Prolific for USB to Serial Bridges? I imagine you have but if not try this page.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 3:14 PM
Hello Fjellman,
Just curious if you checked out the link above and if it helped you out at all or if you found a different solution for your USB to Serial Adapter driver issue.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi Alex,
I have made no further progress. I had no success getting to that page, or even to http://www.prolific.com.tw. Attempts to do so result in the following error:
Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers ¿ù»~ ’80004005′
[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver]³q°T³sµ²¥¢±Ñ
/LM/W3SVC/703585378/Root/global.asa, ¦C18
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 10:51 PM
Hello Fjellman,
Check out the comment below from dendy. I didn’t know if you had attempted to use one of the older Vista drivers as suggested in the comment below. Let me know if that resolves your issue.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
I have the same problem, I’ve tried using the latest driver from prolific for win 7 64-bit
but the drivers not working
instead i’m using the old one for vista and the drivers working fine
try download the driver from this link
http://www.cooldrives.com/wividrforprc.html
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 10:52 PM
Hello dendy,
Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to post that information. I imagine numerous people will be able to reach the same solution that you have. I posted to Fjellman to let him know about your suggestion and hopefully he will respond to let us know that resolved his issue as well. Thanks again for taking the time to post informational feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
nospoonx Reply:
April 4th, 2010 at 10:40 PM
i have not seen this problem on any other forum. but my Pl-2303 ownly installs as printer suport not as LPT or com ports under the divice maniger . no errors just a useles divice.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 4:37 PM
Hello nospoonx,
I am not sure that I fully understand. You have a PL-2303 USB to Serial adapter that when you install shows as a printer? Are you attaching a printer to the adapter for connection to the computer?
Without fully understanding the issue I would recommend uninstalling the drivers as explained in the article and then possibly trying the drivers that dendy mentions in the comments above.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
TK Reply:
April 7th, 2010 at 6:50 AM
Thank’s for youre solution.
It works great.
[Reply]
I am looking for some more help please, I hve the driver working okay for this but am trying to connect a thermal printer. At the moment the device is showing up as “unspecified” in Win & Devices and Printers. I am looking for some help on how to specify this device as a printer, can someone help ?
Thanks in advance….
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 2:26 PM
Hello Scotty,
This article specifically relates to getting the Prolific USB to Serial adapter working so it sounds like your issue is outside the content of the article. I would suggest posting your question on Engage for the best chances to produce an answer for your issue. If you were able to resolve the issue we would love to hear what it was so others that may run into the same issue will be able to resolve it easily.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
To Fjellman or anyone with a Garmin and W7-
I tried every driver under the sun including the”Windows 7 64 bit” driver. NONE worked until I downloaded the VISTA driver suggested above from
http://www.cooldrives.com/wividrforprc.html
It works GREAT! Thanks-
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 9:43 PM
Hello KC Garmin,
Great to hear! Thanks for taking to the time to leave feedback and confirming the comments of dendy. If the initial article does not resolve the issue for people they now have a second option that is proven to work with multiple people who have left feedback.
Thanks again.
alex
[Reply]
Hi ,,thanks for the tip. it work on my 32 bit Win 7. though i had some problem at first. When USB serial was connected to my PC before i installed the driver, i removed it and do the procedures above and plugged it after the driver was successfully installed.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 21st, 2010 at 9:41 PM
Hello Mark Gene,
We are glad to hear that the article and comments above assisted resolving the issue with your USB to Serial converter on Windows 7 32 Bit. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
works great!! thanks
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 3:32 AM
Hello omar,
No problem at all. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Well, I am not having as much luck. I followed the instructions above, plugged in my 2303 cable and in Windows 7 -64 bit. I see windows searching for a driver in the bottom right corner. Gives me the same yellow exclamation mark as above. I even ran the file as administrator both to uninstall and install.
When installing, it flashed a few files and does not seem to be really installing the drivers.
Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Brad
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Hello Brad,
I would suggest trying a different USB port. Try installing the packages listed in the article before plugging in the adapter. If you have a second adapter try plugging that in to see if it works. It sounds like you may be having a different issue since there is no question that the above drivers work for the PL-2303 USB to Serial adapter in normal scenarios.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Update… also, when viewing the properties in the driver, there was no driver installed.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 19th, 2010 at 5:07 PM
Hello Brad,
Please see my notes above.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
it ALMOST works, the device is recognized, but i then get a black screen from putty, no exclamation simbol in device manager for the adapter
[Reply]
alex Reply:
December 20th, 2010 at 2:38 PM
Hello FEr,
That means the device is installed properly. Are you sure you are connecting to the proper COM port? You can obtain the proper COM port via Device Manager. Also depending on the device you are connecting to you might try different settings within Putty to see if you can get connected.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi alex,
Thank you for the procedure. I followed it using the driver you link to in step 2 but I am still getting the device driver software was not successfully installed. One difference from my scenario is in the Device Manager, the device shows up under Ports and labeled as Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM3) with the yellow yield symbol with exclamation point whereas your problem device, shown in step 1 is under Other devices and labeled as USB-Serial Controller. I uninstall it and follow the procedure but no luck. Any clues would be appreciated.
Thanks
Patti
[Reply]
alex Reply:
December 23rd, 2010 at 4:52 PM
Hello Patti,
This is definitely possible as there are dozens of different versions of this type of device and while the above instructions work for most I assume it doesn’t work for all. You might try reading back through the comments to see if anyone else has had a similar issue and located a resolution to the problem. Unfortunately if the above steps haven’t worked then its hard to say without being in front of the computer to resolve the problem. Once you find a solution we would love to hear what it is.
Also we offer a remote service where we can login to your computer and resolve the problem. If you are interested in this service contact us via the contact form on the site by clicking here.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hi alex,
Well I found the disc that came with the adapter I have which is an Ultra USB 2.0 to RS232 Converter. I installed using the Vista/Win7 option and it worked perfect from the get go. This is still a Prolific driver. The driver detail is ser2l64.sys, version 3.3.0.1, date 1/31/2008. The actual install file on the disc was named Ultra-2303 Vista_Win7 Driver Installer.exe. Incidentally I found that another adapter from different manufacturer worked perfect with the driver you linked. This other adapter worked also with the Ultra driver mentioned above. Thanks for the help.
Patti
[Reply]
alex Reply:
January 3rd, 2011 at 3:31 PM
Hello Patti,
Great to hear. Glad you got it all sorted. Thanks for taking the time to let us know what resolved the issue! Have a great New Year…
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Hello,
How can I use with Ubuntu?
[Reply]
alex Reply:
January 24th, 2011 at 2:43 PM
Hello doniQ,
Install the drivers in Linux. I would suggest using Google to search for Ubuntu related articles.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
hello, i am using prolithic pl2303 drivers w/ windows 7 and the adapter and cannot get communication when i try to use it, my software will either lock up or continually give the message,downloading inf0. in my device manager it says it is functioning normally?? thanks
[Reply]
alex Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 4:19 PM
Hello charles,
Have you tried to uninstall the drivers and reinstall? Are you sure that you are installing the correct 32-bit drivers if you are on a Windows 7 32-bit machine or the proper 64-bit drivers if you are on a 64-bit Windows 7 machine? Have you tried connecting to any other devices besides the one you are having issues with? The more information you can provide the better.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Great! Windows 7 64bits
[Reply]
alex Reply:
March 5th, 2011 at 1:26 AM
Hello Edward,
Thanks for posting feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Using BQ25 HDD without power adapter. Connected to WinXP computer – found drivers, installed drivers, “Device is ready to use”. In WinExplorer tried to access it – froze my computer. Pulled out USb connectors and got my computer back.
Same thing on Win7 computer (I am transitioning from XP to 7)- found drivers, installed drivers, “Device is Ready to Use”. In WinExplorer tried to access it – froze my computer. pulled out USb connectors and got my computer back. Plugged into “old” WinVista computer (again without power adapter) and it worked just fine. It was originally bought/used with the Vista computer with no problems.
Juliet
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 28th, 2011 at 1:24 AM
Hello Juliet,
This article relates to a USB to serial adapter so no idea if any of it relates to the BQ25 HDD unfortunately I have never owned one of those.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Thank you that worked like a charm!!! Keep up the good work.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
July 15th, 2012 at 9:19 AM
Hello Warren,
No problem. Thanks for taking the time to post feedback and thanks for the positive encouragement.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]
Awsome, had a lot of trouble installing the dongle on win 7, and your tutorial worked fine. thx.
[Reply]
alex Reply:
April 22nd, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Hello Christi,
Good to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks.
alex
[Reply]