We discovered this issue because a Java program stopped communicating with an oscilloscope using an USB to Serial RS-232 cable after updating to Windows 11.

It turned out to be a driver issue: Prolific, the manufacturer of the chipset used by several USB to Serial adapter brands, has yet to publish a driver for Windows 11.

Surprisingly, the newest driver does NOT work on Windows 11… but an older version from 2018 does…?

Unfortunately, their recommended instructions for uninstalling the current driver and installing the older version in its place did not work. It appears that Windows kept reinstalling the driver no matter how many times it was uninstalled.

Modified instructions:

1. Download the legacy driver 1.20.0 from the download page here.
2. Extract the contents of the zip file downloaded in Step 1.
3. Connect the USB to Serial adapter to the computer.
4. Open the Device Manager (right-click) on the Start Menu and select “Device Manager”.
5. Expand the “Ports (COM & LPT)” section.
6. Right-click on the entry “Please install corresponding PL2303 driver to support Windows 11 and further OS.” and select “Uninstall device”.
7. Check the box to delete the drivers.
8. Click on the “Uninstall” button to proceed.
9. Navigate to the extracted files from Step 2 and run “PL2303-Prolific_DriverInstaller_v1200.exe”. This must be done quickly after Step 8 to prevent Windows from automatically reinstalling the newest driver version. It may also be possible to disconnect the computer from the internet to prevent this from happening.
10. Follow the on screen prompts to install the Prolific serial drivers and when completed the serial adapter should be assigned a COM port number.

You can find the original instructions from Prolific here under the Get Started tab:

https://plugable.com/pages/prolific-drivers

Update: Windows automatically updated the driver to a bad version AGAIN!

After applying this fix, Windows automatically updated the driver to a newer version, presenting the same error.

Resolving the issue this time was much easier, having already installed a working version:

1. Connect the USB to Serial adapter to the computer.
2. Open the Device Manager (right-click) on the Start Menu and select “Device Manager”.
3. Expand the “Ports (COM & LPT)” section.
4. Right-click on the entry “Please install corresponding PL2303 driver to support Windows 11 and further OS.” and select “Properties”.
5. Click “Roll Back Drivers”.
6. Follow the prompts.
7. Device should be functional once again.

To permanently resolve this error

To permanently resolve the “Please install corresponding PL2303 driver to support Windows 11 and further OS” error, buy another cable with a different chipset.