Incorrect settings on Acer Aspire PC

[RMG]

I have an Acer Aspire PC with a Celeron 400 Mhz processor with 64 MB RAM, Win98, and a HP CD-Writer 9300. About a month ago it started giving me an "Incorrect setting on Serial 1 IRQ" message on boot up. I access CMOS and go to the Hardware option which by the way only has two sub-options: Serial port and parallel port, each with its IRQ and address settings, I disable them both and still get the message. I thought it was a windows error but i formatted and re-installed windows and nothing. Does anybody has any idea what could be wrong? [sig][/sig]

 

[clivo]

When is this error message displayed? [sig]<p>Clive<br><a href=mailto:clive@digitalsky.co.za>clive@digitalsky.co.za</a><br><a href= > </a><br>[/sig]

 

[RMG]

When i boot, immediately following the Aspire splash screen, which is the first thign displayed when you turn it on. [sig][/sig]

 

[clivo]

Can't be a windows message - at that stage it has not yet started. Can't remember the Aspire's BIOS too well, as I have only seen it once and that was some time ago. If it has failsafe or default settings, load them and try again.
I think what the BIOS is trying to tell you is that your serial 1 port's IRQ (normally #4) has been &quot;taken&quot; by another device, in other words an IRQ conflict.

If the PC boots to desktop after the error, look in Device Manager and check the properties of COM1 and you should be able to track down the conflicting device. [sig]<p>Clive<br><a href=mailto:clive@digitalsky.co.za>clive@digitalsky.co.za</a><br><a href= > </a><br>[/sig]