Problem with secondary IDE channel/com 1 conflict

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500, running XP SP2. I am having Windows report an IRQ conflict between my secondary IDE controller and Com1. I disabled Com1 in the bios, using IRQ 15. However windows is still reporting secondary IDE controller in a hardware conflict. My internal DVD module is therefore not working.

Any ideas please?

 

Just a shot in the dark here. Go to Start...Run...and type in "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter.

Locate your DVD drive in the list, right click on it and select "Uninstall ". Close the dialog out and then reboot your system. Let Windows redetect the drive and install it.

This should allow Windows to assign another, free IRQ to your device.

 

No luck on first reply. Shall I reinstall all 3 devices - (IDE controller, primary, secondary) and com 1?

Also I disabled com 1 in the bios and still the same happened.

 

I tried all the above and the secondary controller and com port just reappear with the conflict

Could it be a corrupt registry entry?

 

Might work- see if in bios you have an entire for Plug and Play -turn it off.

 

The secondary IDE channel and the COM port are basic parts of the motherboard. When did this start happening? I might guess when a new piece of hardware was added. Remove the new hardware and see if things go back to normal. If it is still under warranty, contact Dell and let them try fixing it (you will probably have your system formatted).

If it only seems a conflict between the COM and IDE, no other hardware involved, try doing a BIOS upgrade.

The branded computers I have seen do not have a "full" BIOS, you may find the reason is because the BIOS has limited resouces to allocate.

If you have no luck try the Dell Community Forums.

Sorry, but...
Matt