COM port problem

Hi all,

wondering if anyone can help me with this, I have a PIC tutorial kit from Velleman (K8084 PIC tutorial) and I'm using it on an offline laptop (WinXP Prof. SP2) and everything has worked fine up until I try to write the code to the IC. I keep getting the message 'K8084 not found at COM port 1).

I have contacted Velleman but they are very vague in their advice. I tried using it on an online PC and it done the exact same thing.

I am very new to PIC programming so am very stuck now! Using a program called PICPROG2 to write code to IC, this seems to be where the problem arises even though I have followed instructions to the letter.

I can provide more specific details about the kit and instructions if need be. I do think it must be some setting in computer that needs changed for it to communicate. What it is I don't know. If anyone does I would be very greatful.

Regards

Andrew