What is a USB - Serial Port Windows Driver?

A USB - Serial Port driver is a piece of software that allows your Windows computer to communicate with devices that use a serial communication protocol (such as RS-232) over a USB connection. These types of devices are often used for industrial equipment, networking hardware, serial peripherals, and certain legacy systems that still rely on serial communication for data transfer.

When you connect a device (e.g., a modem, serial printer, or microcontroller) to your computer via USB, the computer needs a specific driver to recognize and manage the virtual serial port created by the USB-to-serial adapter. This allows the device to function properly with your operating system.

In Windows, this driver typically assigns a COM port number (e.g., COM1, COM2, etc.) to the USB device, allowing it to be used just like any other serial port device. The USB-to-Serial driver emulates a traditional COM port over the USB interface, enabling software and applications to interact with the connected device using the standard serial communication protocols.