first determine if it is a hardware or software modem. hardware modems have jumpers which can be set to specific interupts and com port settings. software modems are set by system cmos and windows.
you will need a sighted reader or an opticon and go to the pnp section of the system cmos. see if the slot the modem is in has a hard wired interupt setting. also in the preipheral settings sections see if the serial ports on the computer are assigned. i am assumine there is no hard wired interupt and both com1 and com2 are assigned and are being used by the hardware. another quick way to find what setting the computer is assigning to the modem if it is pci is to put a blank floppy in the "a" drive. the computer will not be able to boot but it will display the basic system settings on the screen. here you can have a reader read the serial port assignments and under that a chart where each installed card is listed with its interupt. then re-boot and let windows start. go to device manager and check the properties for the modem. under resources see that the modem is not assigned to com1 or com2 and that the interupt it is using is the same as the actual one the hardware is using. windows sometimes does not get it right and you can manually change the settings. another real down and dirty way to maybe get it to work is to go to device manager and remove the reference to the modem, then shut down and remove the physical modem. restart windows and then shut down again. reinstall the hardware either in the same slot or sometimes better in a different slot. re-start windows and give windows another chance to set up the hardware correctly. there are other methods like memory addresses and hardware options but that would take a bit to explain. you may not be able to even buy a new modem that will work with 98 and old junk modems may work or not. if you know that the modem used to work then it still does all the above processes are speech friendly except reading the system cmos. even the trick with the floppy can be done if you have a dos screen reader and an external synthesizer. you are providing a worthy service here so your time is well spent. i am sorry but i do not always have time to read all the messages on this list, so if you need more help, please write me directly. pete
