Alex,
        I'm sure this sounds very basic but you may want to verify WIN95
is using "standard" COM I/O addresses and IRQs. While in most cases this
is the case, when a WIN95 PC is short on resources and the COM port is a
plug n play (set to auto in CMOS) it will use non-standard resources,
and if the software is directly writing to the port this can occur. You
may want to check the CMOS setting for your com port to make sure it is
not set to auto.

Good Luck,
Fred

> ----------
> From:         Campbell Scientific Australia[SMTP:csa@ULTRA.NET.AU]
> Sent:         Thursday, July 24, 1997 2:39 AM
> To:   PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject:      PICSTART Plus
>
> I'm wondering if anyone else has been having problems getting the
> PICSTART Plus
> programmer to work reliably under WIN95.
>
> I have a Pentium-150 w/32Mb, PICSTART Plus (about 3 months old) and
> MPLAB v3.12. Since I first got the programmer, I have been having
> problems
> programming 16C84's reliably. I don't mean to say that the processors
> are
> written with the wrong code in them, it's just that when I use
> Program/Verify
> in MPLAB it often pops up a window saying "Cannot transmit.Please
> Verify
> serial and power connections". And then sometimes by pressing
> "program" again,
> it works, sometimes it needs a reset from the software, sometimes I
> need to
> power it down and up again. However once it starts programming, it
> ALWAYS
> programs the chip correctly.
>
> I have checked the connections many times, and they are fine. I am
> using the
>  serial
> cable & power supply provided with the programmer by Microchip.
> Sometimes I will
> program a chip 5 times with no problems, and sometimes I can't even
> enable the
> programmer without a hitch.
>
> Is this common or is it simply faulty hardware?
>
> Alex Thomas
> Campbell Scientific Australia
> csa@ultra.net.au
>