I wanted to add that I found the MSComm1 property that fixed my problem..

If anyone is trying serial communications like this and cant get proper character sending and receiving even with pins 2 and 3 shorted on the serial connecter..

Change INPUTLEN to 1 on MSComm1

Originally Posted by Peter_wadley

Will do.

Probably going to use RS232 with VB then JAVA then C++ before I go for USB.

I have been using C# with .NET on the PC side. The .NET stuff keeps getting better.