Connecting old serial device to new computer Q

I’m trying to help my neighbour who used to run a program on his old Vista laptop which controlled a (SMART) cutting board. That laptop used a USB to serial adapter cable to connect to the cutter machine’s control cable. That laptop is dying now so he has bought a W10 laptop. He connected the new laptop to the machine using the same adapter cable. The new laptop will not connect to the machine as it cant find a driver for this old adapter.

Is it just a case of buying a new adapter cable? I understand that some (or all?) do not need a driver with more current versions of windows.

Or does windows come with a universal serial driver that i need to register?

Thanks

Most USB-serial chips are prolific or ftdi. Could try from one of them, or a new one isn’t much.

do you know what specific driver the cable needs? It’s also possible the Vista one will work on W10 if the old laptop is still functional.

pretty sure you can turn off driver signing and then forcibly install an older driver

3 Ways to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement in Windows 11 (windowsreport.com)

I think for the sake of a tenner i’ll get him to buy a new adapter.

Thanks for your help all!  :0)

The new laptop will not connect to the machine as it cant find a driver for this old adapter.

I knew this was going to be the case before I opened the thread.

Before you go spend money, you need to ascertain exactly what it needs. “Serial” is not a standard, it’s simply a form of communication.  If the controller cable is supposed to fit into the old 9/25 pin PC serial port then it will be RS232, and USB adapters are easy to come by.  Unfortunately, a lot of them are dogshit.  As jam-bo mentioned above, I would avoid like the plague anything which didn’t explicitly mention FTDI.  This looks as reasonable as any.

pretty sure you can turn off driver signing and then forcibly install an older driver

Please don’t do this unless you absolutely have to.  It’s there for a reason.

Thanks Cougar, I did take jam-bo’s advice re ftdi and ordered this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIGITUS-USB-serial-adapter-Type-Black/dp/B0030IT780/ref=asc_df_B0030IT780/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697295976404&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=939867375682126859&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045065&hvtargid=pla-526099495821&psc=1&mcid=e01c8ed67a7d3fa8a7437bd82798abdf&th=1&psc=1&gad_source=1

I have been through many USB>serial devices over the years, at varying price points.  I’ve never had issues with anything FTDI-based aside from catastrophic failure, pretty much everything else I’ve tried has been a royal pain in the plums.

The one you linked to looks identical to the ones I bought a dozen of for my apprentices a few years ago (though “looking identical” could mean anything…!).  They worked fine, though I did have a couple which died after a few weeks.

One thing to be aware of with that sort of dongle is it creates what is effectively a lever on the USB port.  If you’re a ham-fisted gibbon it’s easy to cause damage.  If the laptop is on a bench driving a machine rather than walking around with it then he should be golden.

Thanks again Cougar, hopefully it’ll do its job and good point about being a potential port bender. The laptop  will be dedicated to its job so won’t be moved off the bench.

Those are the ones we used to supply in my old job with every product. Thousands a month and very rare failures. They come with a short usb cable from memory

I have been through many USB>serial devices over the years, at varying price points.  I’ve never had issues with anything FTDI-based aside from catastrophic failure, pretty much everything else I’ve tried has been a royal pain in the plums.

https://hackaday.com/2016/02/01/ftdi-drivers-break-fake-chips-again/