That cable is set up for a hardware handshake (CTS/RTS) on a serial port.

It may be that XP is instead set up for using Xon/Xoff handshake.

--Mac
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"Keep listening. Never become so self-important that you can't listen to other players. Live cleanly....Do right....You can improve as a player by improving as a person. It's a duty we owe to ourselves." --John Coltrane

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