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Installing VCP Drivers
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To install VCP drivers for an FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM or FT8U245AM device under Windows 98, follow the instructions below:

·If a device of the same type has been installed on your machine before and the drivers that are about to be installed are different from those installed already, the original drivers need to be uninstalled. Please refer to the Uninstalling FT232BM, FT245BM, FT8U232AM and FT8U245AM Devices section of this document for further details of this procedure.  

·Download the latest available VCP drivers from the FTDI website and unzip them to a location on your PC.  

·Connect the device to a spare USB port on your PC. This will launch the Windows Add New Hardware Wizard. Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take a few minutes to pass. Click "Next" to proceed with the installation.  

   232-245 win 98 vcp fnhw 1


·Select "Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)." as shown below and then click "Next".  

   232-245 win 98 vcp fnhw 2


·Check the box next to "Specify a location" and uncheck all others as shown below. Click "Browse" and locate the driver files. Once the files have been located, click "Next" to proceed with the installation.  

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·Windows may display a message reading "Building driver database" at this point which may take a few minutes to pass. Once Windows has found the required files, click "Next" to install the device.  

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·If the driver being installed does not have Microsoft WHQL signature files (.CAT files), the wizard will request a driver disk to attempt to find them. Click "OK" on the "Insert Disk" message box.  

   232-245 win 98 vcp disk request

The following window will appear to assist in locating the file. To proceed with the installation without the .CAT file, click "Skip File".  

   232-245 win 98 vcp ftdibus cat request


If the driver being installed is Microsoft WHQL certified, then the .CAT files will be located with the other driver files and should be installed automatically.  

·Windows should then display a message indicating that the installation of the serial converter driver was successful. The COM port emulation driver must now be installed. Click "Finish" to complete the installation of the serial converter and proceed to the COM port emulation driver.  

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·Under Windows 98, the COM port emulation driver will be automatically installed from the same location as the serial converter driver. However, if the driver is not WHQL certified as explained above for the serial converter driver, the wizard will ask for the location of .CAT files. Click "OK" on the "Insert Disk" message box.  

   232-245 win 98 vcp disk request


The following window will appear to assist in locating the file. To proceed with the installation without the .CAT file, click "Skip File".  

   232-245 win 98 vcp ftdiport cat request


If the driver being installed is Microsoft WHQL certified, then the .CAT files will be located with the other driver files and should be installed automatically.  

·Open the Device Manager (located in "Control Panel\System" then select the ""Device Manger" tab) and select "View devices by type". The device appears as an additional COM port with the label "USB Serial Port".  

   232-245 win 98 vcp device manager