Microchip just sent me 2 samples of a windowsed version of the PIC16C74.
I requested the 16C74 yet they sent 16C74A which have the Brown-out
detector circuit on-chip. I am currently using a PIC-1A programmer from ITU.
These new PICs seem to program properely. Upon verification by the
ITU software, the code verrifies to be correct. But when placing
them in circuit, they simply do not work at all. They seem to be
stuck in a permanent reset mode. Even disabling the watchdog timer
doesn't help. I did note that the configuration word of these two PICS
are different. I did take this into consideration. I made sure to keep the
Brown-out reset module disabled. I also did trials experimenting with PWRTE
either enabled or disabled. I made sure I was writing the proper configuration
word, by checking the actual hex word, before the itu software writes
the configuration. Still no luck.

Neil Gandler