John, you and Gary are probably right about the cable. I installed the 
cloning software on another computer  on which I also use the dec talk 
express through com1 and got the same message "can't find com1. I can't 
imagine how that cable could have become defective because I have hardly 
used it. I can check for continuity with a talking multimeter I have here. 
if I have continuity to the tip and sleeve of the plug and no short, then it 
has to be in the mike jack. I'll plug the external mike into the ict90 to 
rule that out. thanks for the help.

Bob K8MXC