Read on to learn how to capture serial port data to file in the fastest and simplest way. In this article, I’ll cover both software and hardware COM port loggers and highlight the clear benefits you get with one or another solution. There are also special hardware RS232 port analyzers designed to capture analog and digital signals but, like any professional equipment, they are rather expensive to buy. In order to monitor and analyze serial communications between a computer and a COM port device, you can rely on a dedicated software - serial data logger which will read and record RS232 data to a text file for its further analysis. However, the latter ones are still present in some modern computers, and probably the time has come to use them for some other purposes, for example, for controlling specialized COM-based equipment. High-speed USB interfaces are now seen as a universal means for connecting printers, mice and keyboards, whereas good old COM ports are used less frequently. Now, when we hear the word “port”, the first thing that comes to our minds is logical ports that are used in network technologies like TCP/IPor UDP to organize communication channels, but we forget about physical ports serving for connecting external devices. Today, computer viruses have literally flooded the world and continue moving freely around the Internet.

Windows serial terminal program