> I don't see where this does anything differently under my Windows 7 than
> it did before you got started on this quest. If I unplug my programming
> cable and then launch CHIRP, when I go to Radio => Download From Radio,
> CHIRP still shows and lists the COM port that was available before the
> cable was removed. If I continue, I do get a "could not open COMx:
> [Error 2] The system could not find the file specified". Was this your goal?

I think the only difference is if you're a "first run" case.

Go move your chirp.config away from the normal place and re-run.
Hopefully you end up with an empty dialog with this patch. Without it,
you got no dialog at all, which confused people.