There are three possible reasons for why you might receive an error message indicating that TCP-Com cannot create a Virtual COM Port. You can try the following solutions:
Check if multiple instances of TCP-Com are running
The most common reason is that the Virtual COM Port has already been created by another instance of TCP-Com that is running in the background. We sometimes encounter a problem where multiple instances of TCP-Com are running and trying to create the same Virtual COM port. For example, if you run TCP-Com, configure and activate it, then minimize it, the TCP-Com icon will appear in the Windows System Tray instead of the Windows Taskbar.
If you run a second instance of TCP-Com without closing the first, the second instance won’t be able to create the same port as the first instance has already done so. Likewise, if you install TCP-Com as a Windows Service or run it “At Startup” as a Scheduled Task using the Windows Task Scheduler, you won’t see a TCP-Com icon in the Windows Taskbar, even though it is running in the background.
You can use the Windows Task Manager to check for multiple instances and close them. If you installed TCP-Com as a Windows Service or created a Scheduled Task to run it at startup using the Windows Task Scheduler, we suggest uninstalling the service or stopping the task before editing your TCP-Com configuration settings. Then, run TCP-Com as a standard executable, make and activate your changes, quit the executable, and reinstall the service or restart the task.
Note – If you want TCP-Com to start automatically for all logged-on users on PC startup, we recommend using the Windows Task Scheduler (create a scheduled task that runs TCP-Com at startup) instead of installing TCP-Com as a Windows Service. The Windows Task Scheduler gives you more flexibility and control that running TCP-Com as a Windows Service.
Run the TCP-Com Setup program “As Administrator”
It is also possible that the Virtual COM Port Drivers for TCP-Com have not been installed correctly in your system.
This can sometimes happen in certain systems with higher levels of security. We recommend that you download and install the latest version of TCP-Com and run the TCP-Com Setup program as an administrator (see steps here) to make sure that the software is fully installed correctly.
Uninstall conflicting virtual COM port drivers
You may have multiple, conflicting versions of Virtual COM Port drivers installed in your system. TCP-Com uses Virtual COM Port Drivers from Eltima Software, who has multiple versions which are also used by other software products to create virtual COM ports. If you have another software installed that uses a different version of Eltima’s drivers, we suggest uninstalling TCP-Com and the other software. Then, reinstall TCP-Com by running the TCP-Com setup program as an Administrator. Follow the steps here to see if this resolves the issue.