I have had two modems damaged by lightning very recently, and the analog
circuit is burned, but the digital components continue to work.  The modem
can communicate with the pc, but not the outside world.

Your message looks more like a problem with the install.  Some modems report
your error when they can not get clear usage of the proper resources.
Sometimes the modem reports the line is in use, but the errors I have seen
often just say modem unavailable.

The easiest to fix is the IRQ.  Comm ports 1 and 3 use IRQ 4 and comm ports
2 and 4 use IRQ 3.  You should not have ports 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 installed,
this would cause an allowable sharing of the IRQ, but many modem drivers are
not happy when this occurs.  If your dell has nine pin male connector serial
ports on the back, go to your CMOS settings and disable any you don't need,
preferably all since serial devices are outmoded, except for external
modems.  reinstall your modem so that it has a change in port settings,
which will then change the IRQ setting.

If this doesn't help, go find a better driver.  Many cases of poor resource
management I have seen are due to installing a driver that is only 95%
compatible with the device.

-----Original Message-----
From: Doctor Data [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2003 11:21 PM


I've seen several times at clients of mine that after an electrical storm,
the modem loses all functionality even though if you do a diag on it in
control panel, it will be successful.  Try reinstalling the dial up setting
as well as the modem driver.  If neither works, I'm pretty sure the modem
may be blown.

----- Original Message -----
From: "cfinnigan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>

> what does it mean when a computer loses touch with it's modem? two
different
> modems on a Dell P333 reported working properly without any conflicts but
> when we tried to dial up, an error message appeared that said the modem
> wasn't available. we tried updating to Windows 98 and that didn't help. i
> think the error message was 053? should we try reinstalling the Dialup
> setting in Win98? there were no problems with any other device under the
> system settings.

              The NOSPIN Group is now offering Free PC Tech
                     support at our newest website:
                          http://freepctech.com