I was tasked to do a serial port related software and I'm trying to do some initial preparations. I'm using windows 7.
My laptop physically only has USB ports (besides the screen), is it possible to check serial ports like this at all? Will any cable adapters help?
Windows 7 device manager shows nothing is connected to serial ports, which makes sense. However I've written a small application (in node.js) to list the connected serial ports. It lists COM3 as a connected port (though no information on manufacturer or any id). Is there an explanation to this?
To software, a USB-to-RS232 adapter is no different than any other RS232 serial port. It will show up on COM1 or whatever just like a physical port would.
If you have a serial port showing up on your system on COM3, then something is there. It isn't uncommon for RS232 ports to be on the motherboard, but not be exposed externally. Also, if your laptop has a dial-up modem, then this would be on the COM port as well. If you have a cellular radio, these are often on COM ports.