Windows Vista: No HyperTerminal to Configure Cisco Routers Connected Via a Local COM Port

by nixCraft on February 2, 2008 · 33 comments· Last updated October 23, 2008

Recently I was hired to work on a Government project. They are 100% Microsoft shop expect for few Redhat boxes and Cisco gear.

They also have lots of customized VPN and cisco routers supplied by local company. Apart from securing those RHEL boxes, I had to connect routers / vpn devices via a local com port to upgrade BIOS and other configurations. They have Windows vista on all desktops and my Laptop has no serial port. So I decided to use old good HyperTerminal. I thought HyperTerminal is still under the Programs > Accessories > Communications menu. I failed to locate hypertrm.exe. From Microsoft support website:

HyperTerminal is no longer part of Windows. There are several options you can use to replace its functionality. If you previously used HyperTerminal to control serial devices, you can usually find a downloadable version of HyperTerminal on the Internet that is free for personal use.

So what was the purpose of removing Hyper terminal from vista ? How do you use the equivalent of Hyperterminal in XP, with Windows Vista to configure Cisco routers?

Get Putty to replace vista hyperterminal

Download and use open source putty terminal software. You can grab putty here.

Start Putty

Double click on putty > Select Serial > Type COM1 and speed rate such as 19200:

(Fig. 01: Putty as replacement for HyperTerinal under Windows Vista)

Configure putty

You also need to setup other serial connection parameters by visiting category > serial menu on left side:

(Fig. 02: Configure putty serial communication options)
Finally, just hit open button:

(Fig. 03: Windows Vista putty serial communication in action)

There you have it.

Other options for vista hyperterminal software

TeraTerm Pro open source terminal
HyperTerminal Private Edition version 6.3
If you have an old Windows XP installation, find and copy the file named "hypertrm.dll" and "hypertrm.exe" to Windows Vista in the same location. Run hypertrm.exe from run > cmd.

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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Si_4&a$=( February 3, 2008 at 4:47 am: your screenshot can be better if you save in gif or (better) in png format.
regards
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2 vivek February 3, 2008 at 5:16 am: Thanks for feedback. Usually, I do use .png, but not sure if paint will support the same.
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3 Cisco March 11, 2008 at 10:18 am: Thanks for post. It`s help me in job. Respect
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4 Balo March 20, 2008 at 11:41 pm: Hey,
Thanks for this article. Just the other I found myself wanting to use my MS Vista-running laptop to configure a cisco router and was left befuddled as to where Hyperterminal was.
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5 WES October 26, 2008 at 4:49 am: thanks for the tip got hyperterminal going in vista.
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6 Anthony November 7, 2008 at 4:27 am: Thanks solve my problem regarding hyperterminal after i read thru part copying hypertrm.exe & dll.
Now i have no regard using Wins Vista Basic.
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7 MikeL November 23, 2008 at 6:02 am: As with other comments, thanks for the very useful article. Next problem, though, is how to get a Smartlink modem to work properly under Vista .
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8 User December 19, 2008 at 12:51 am: Yes, this works, but does not support XMODEM.
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9 is January 20, 2009 at 9:35 am: i m using windows vista basic but there are no option for hyper terminal.how to use me windows vista tell me?
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10 DSU March 12, 2009 at 7:34 pm: Very late to this topic but thought I would add that Putty is available as a PortableApp. This made my life much easier.
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11 ENS April 3, 2009 at 5:08 am: Thx for this useful article sir….
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12 Mohammed Mostafa April 5, 2009 at 1:48 pm: really i am thanking who guide or help or recommend this software
it is so helpful for me
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13 geek April 15, 2009 at 4:45 am: Hello, in the graphic the baud rate is set to 192000. This is incorrect. There is an extra “0″. Some people who are familiar with this can figure out, but newbies might not. Could you replace that at your convenience. Let me know if I’m wrong.
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14 amera April 15, 2009 at 9:04 pm: Thank you so much and all the best
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15 Vivek Gite April 15, 2009 at 9:23 pm: @geek,
Yes, there is an extra 0. I may update it sometime later…
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16 TaToosh June 3, 2009 at 6:22 am: Hey, i often got bluescreen on Vista SP1 with putty serial connected to cisco 851.
what can i do to resolve the issues ??
Thx
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17 James June 5, 2009 at 1:04 am: Thanks man, you saved me precious time and headache. Cheers!
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18 varun July 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm: thanks
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19 js October 3, 2009 at 2:38 am: Great article. Thanks!
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20 abbas October 5, 2009 at 2:35 pm: can we configure hyper terminal in windows vista to Hughes modem
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21 kaushik kundaliya November 20, 2009 at 7:16 am: as option given putty is working ok. thanks a lot
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22 jim January 5, 2010 at 11:34 pm: Thanks.
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23 zeeshan January 6, 2010 at 9:25 am: its was realy helpful
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24 someone321 January 24, 2010 at 5:26 pm: even better than the normal putty, is the portable version:
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/putty_portable
since you can install on a usb stick, and it’ll save that configuration locally, instead of in the registry. sweet.
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25 Latodrecas January 26, 2010 at 11:25 pm: Thanks for taking the time to help a newb……Very helpful article.
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26 Anonymous May 6, 2010 at 8:27 pm: Thanks a lot. This was very helpful and easy to follow.
:)
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27 sandeep singh rana October 16, 2010 at 8:33 am: good article, thanks
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28 NoskoSteve January 19, 2011 at 4:37 pm: What about the version of HyperTerminal that is on NT. Shoud it run ok on Vista?
I’ve seen a post saying that one of the versions [don't recall which] will work on NT through 7.
Regards
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29 mrfixit January 30, 2011 at 2:49 pm: Why did these A**holes remove HyperTerminal from their OS? Why did they feel the need to touch it and remove features, actually USEFUL features. Hey development team at microsoft, did you a**holes ever consider that the whole point of using Hyperterminal is to get on the Net? If youre not on the net yet and need to connect to a serial device to GET on the net, how are you supposed to download third party software. A**holes!
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30 me January 12, 2012 at 6:25 pm: I had to use the original setting of 9600 to get my cisco connection to work.
I just used all the defaults on putty.
hope this helps anyone.
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31 NoskoSteve January 13, 2012 at 12:13 am: HyperTerminal on Vista.
The HyperTerm on NT does indeed transfer to Vista. I remember I had to look for the icon file. It was in Jan 2011 that I did this, so I am looking at what is on my Vista now.
Here’s what I copied to my Vista machine:
- Folder: Help Hyper
…. This folder contains 3 files: hypertrm.cnt hypertrm.FTS, and hypertrm.GID
- Dialer.exe
- HTICONS.DLL
- HyperTerminal BBS.ht
- HYPERTRM.DLL
- HYPERTRM.EXE
- HYPERTRM.GID
- hypertrm.hlp
- A note to put (a copy of) the HYPERTRM.DLL into Windows\System32.
The HTICONS file stayed where I put the .exe
I believe “HyperTerminal BBS.ht” is just settings for a connection and a new one is formed for every connection you set up.
I don’t think I put it there, but I now see “hypertrm.FTS in:C:\ Users\’MyUserName’\AppData\Local\Help
Replace ‘MyUserName’ with yours.
Then I pinned the .exe to the Start menu.
This also has some info for XP>Vista:
http://jimdoylemcse.wordpress.com/2007/09/28/hyperterminal-and-vista/#comment-206
–
Steve
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32 Shane August 12, 2012 at 9:46 pm: Mochasoft has the best terminal software IMHO. Use if for Cisco and AS/400
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33 Nelson February 7, 2013 at 9:37 pm: HyperSerialPort has serial terminal emulator that was written under the .NET framework. Works perfect in Windows 7 and 8.
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