Windows XP "modem on hold" message - and modem won't work

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sdianas

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I've tried everything to get the modem of my recently purchased computer to work. It works with wi-fi, DSL, and a USB modem, but the USB modem is too slow, and dial-up is all I can get where I live.

Sometimes, when the computer starts up, I get a screen that says "modem on hold." I suspect this program might be what is wrong with my modem. The screen has "enabled" checked, but disappears too quickly to check "disable" instead - it's only there for a fraction of a second. I can't find the program anywhere on my computer, or any way to turn it off.

I've Googled it and learned that it's a program that will put the modem on hold while you receive a phone call. This one seems to have gone rogue, though, and might be keeping my modem on hold all the time. I would certainly like to disable it or uninstall it. Does anyone know where this option is located on the computer? (I've looked under modems (all tabs) in "telephony" etc, in Control Panel and in all the expected places!)

Thanks!
 
EvanDavis said:
Details of said modem would be a great help :D
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I will check on it when I get home. Details of the "Modem on Hold" program might be even more relevant, but I don't know anything about that except that it pops up at startup - very quickly, and disappears before I can check "disable"!

Come to think of it, I might have the modem model number on my thumb drive, which is with me. Yup, got it! It's an ESS ES56H-PI Fax Voice Modem. We've updated the driver, updated the computer to XP SP3, re-seated the serial port cables, nothing helps! Yet, it works fine with wireless, DSL, and the USB modem (which, however, is too slow). I think this "on hold" program might be responsible!

Thanks!
 
Modems use COM ports to communicate with the system. The issue could be that your Modem on hold program could have opened the COM port that the modem is using (because it is holding the modem for some purpose).

Try terminating the program/service and see what happens.

Edit: I just re-read the OP. If you want to remove the software, go to Start>Control Panel> (Add/remove programs in XP) or (Programs and features in Win 7 & Vista). Here you will find the list of installed programs (that come with an uninstaller package). If you do not have it listed here, you may need to go in and physically delete the application files.
 
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Silverhazesurfer said:
Modems use COM ports to communicate with the system. The issue could be that your Modem on hold program could have opened the COM port that the modem is using (because it is holding the modem for some purpose).

Try terminating the program/service and see what happens.

Edit: I just re-read the OP. If you want to remove the software, go to Start>Control Panel> (Add/remove programs in XP) or (Programs and features in Win 7 & Vista). Here you will find the list of installed programs (that come with an uninstaller package). If you do not have it listed here, you may need to go in and physically delete the application files.
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It isn't listed in Add Remove Programs, or in All Programs either. I haven't looked in Program Files under Windows because I'm not sure I would recognize the name and don't want to delete the wrong program! Does anyone know what the program's files would be named?
I have no doubt that it's interfering with a COM port. In fact, most of my com ports don't show up in Device Manager, and the one that does show up has a triangle with an exclamation point beside it - trouble!! The serial port is not installed - my fault; it also had the "trouble" sign, and I followed the advice of Troubleshooter to delete and reinstall it. Deleting went just fine, but there is no serial port listed as an option in "install harware" in either the first or the second screen. It could be that the Modem On Hold program was causing the problem with the serial port, but now I have the additional problem of having no serial port installed at all.
Thanks for your help! According to what I've seen already, I think it is right on.
 
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Sounds like you need this

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34564-45-what-modem-hold-kill

Google is your best avenue for searching for miscellaneous files related to the app. I'm not installing it on my personal machine and I have no test configuration set up to handle it right now.

COM ports are installed using a default driver, unless it is part of another add on card. If you reboot the machine, or use "scan for hardware changes" in the action menu, the COM port should be installed without issue. However, if it is a COM port that is configured during the installation of the modem, you may need to remove and reinstall the software for that as well.
 
Silverhazesurfer said:
Sounds like you need this

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34564-45-what-modem-hold-kill

Google is your best avenue for searching for miscellaneous files related to the app. I'm not installing it on my personal machine and I have no test configuration set up to handle it right now.

COM ports are installed using a default driver, unless it is part of another add on card. If you reboot the machine, or use "scan for hardware changes" in the action menu, the COM port should be installed without issue. However, if it is a COM port that is configured during the installation of the modem, you may need to remove and reinstall the software for that as well.
Click to expand...

That 'modem hold kill" sounds like exactly what I need! Thanks!

I think the modem came on the computer, but we updated the driver. It didn't remove the "trouble" icon from the com port, though. :-(

I am going to murder Modem on Hold (on the right computer) ASAP and will let you know what happens!
 
Silverhazesurfer said:
Remove the hardware in Safe Mode. Sometimes there are residual drivers in the system that cause an issue. Safe Mode allows you to see all of the drivers installed for a particular device. You may have a conflicting driver installation of itself.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...ll/proddocs/en-us/boot_failsafe.mspx?mfr=true
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It isn't hardware, is it?? Or is it a separate driver for the modem?

I will do it in Safe Mode. I didn't realize it enabled us to see more of the drivers! In normal mode, there is only the ESS driver that came installed by HP.

Thanks!!
 
Silverhazesurfer said:
Sounds like you need this

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/34564-45-what-modem-hold-kill

Google is your best avenue for searching for miscellaneous files related to the app. I'm not installing it on my personal machine and I have no test configuration set up to handle it right now.

COM ports are installed using a default driver, unless it is part of another add on card. If you reboot the machine, or use "scan for hardware changes" in the action menu, the COM port should be installed without issue. However, if it is a COM port that is configured during the installation of the modem, you may need to remove and reinstall the software for that as well.
Click to expand...
Oops - I finally had a chance to check out this link, but it's only another post by someone with the same problem, and they didn't find a solution! :-( I did see that "modem on hold" screen about a dozen times today while trying to get my wi-fi card to work. (The Linksys card worked right away with my other XP computer, but for some reason, it won't update my IP address: it connects to the Wi-Fi provider but not to the Internet. Maybe another result of Modem On Hold?) I tried to have the mouse in place to click "disable" instead of "enable" on the Modem On Hold screen, but it was always too fast for me. Other than this screen, it's not visible anywhere else on the computer, to remove or disable it! Any other ideas? Thanks!! This is driving me nutz. (Posted again to quote the right post - sorry!)
 
By the way, the page I got with the link has a post at the end from someone who found a solution, but when I clicked it, I got "Page Not Found." AAAUGH!
 
I did learn something! The file is called essspk.exe; none of the web pages I found said it could keep the modem from working, but who knows? There weren't instructions, really, on how to remove it. Someone advised NOT just deleting the file, and they are probably right. Maybe in Safe Mode it will show up in add/remove programs or somewhere....if I could right-click and disable it, that might be enough.
Thanks!
Diana
 
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