Prolific PL-2303 USB-serial driver installer 3.2.0.0 (legacy, 2007)
====================================================================

WHAT THIS IS
------------
Prolific's "PL-2303 Vista Driver Installer", version 3.2.0.0, for USB
programming cables built on the Prolific PL2303 USB-to-serial chip. The
installer's own strings name the application "PL-2303 Vista Driver
Installer", the company "Prolific" and the version "3.2.0.0" (built with
InstallShield 10.5). Miklor dates the 3.2.0.0 driver 7/31/2007.

It is kept here because it is an OLD driver. Cheap two-pin (K1) programming
cables for BaoFeng radios, and many third-party Yaesu data cables, use
PL2303 chips that are either counterfeit or old types Prolific has
discontinued (PL2303HXA/XA). Prolific's newer Windows drivers check the
chip and refuse to start such cables (their error message names 2012 as the
year the HXA chip was phased out). Windows Update installs those newer
drivers automatically, so a cable that worked last year can stop working with
no change on the user's side. Reinstalling an old
driver such as this one is the widely published workaround; Miklor
recommends 3.2.0.0 for Vista, 7, 8, 10 and 11.

The real fix is a cable with a genuine chip. BTECH recommends its FTDI-based
PC03 cable for the BF-F8HP, and Miklor notes that "FTDI cables will not
experience the above". This driver is for owners who already have a
Prolific-chip cable.

APPLIES TO
----------
- USB programming cables with a Prolific PL2303 (or PL2303-clone) chip,
  used with the BaoFeng BF-F8HP and UV-B5 (Kenwood-style K1 two-pin plug)
  and third-party Yaesu VX-8DR data cables.
- Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 and 11 per Miklor's page. Miklor gives Windows XP
  users a separate, older driver (2.0.2.1), not included here.

Must NOT be used for: cables with FTDI, WCH CH340/CH341 or Silicon Labs
CP210x chips (Miklor: "Cable drivers are not interchangeable"); the AnyTone
D878UVII, which uses its own USB connection (GD32 driver entry); macOS or
Linux, which need no Windows driver.

The same symptom appears on genuine but end-of-life PL2303TA chips under
Windows 11, where the Windows-installed driver reports "PL2303TA DO NOT
SUPPORT WINDOWS 11 OR LATER, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER". CHIRP's issue
tracker gives the fix as "PL2303TA: must use driver v3.8.39.0 or prior"; that
driver is not in this archive and whether 3.2.0.0 works for the TA chip was
not confirmed.

BEFORE STARTING
---------------
- Identify the chip. In Device Manager, a Prolific cable appears under Ports
  (COM & LPT) as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port" (with a yellow warning
  mark when the driver refuses it). The failure messages are Code 10 or
  "PL2303HXA PHASED OUT SINCE 2012, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER".
- A Windows administrator account.
- Unplug the cable before installing.

CONTENTS OF THIS ZIP
--------------------
The zip published on fubsypoly.com contains the vendor file(s) byte-for-byte,
unmodified.

P3200.exe
    2,065,563 bytes
    SHA-256 807b8a5a61c7d30149d65f0862eef51fc86e322b96a956ba04ae30fec266632e
    Prolific "PL-2303 Vista Driver Installer" 3.2.0.0 (InstallShield). Miklor
    also offers P3200.zip, which contains this same file (identical
    SHA-256).
README.txt
    This file.
SHA256SUMS
    SHA-256 checksums of the files above.

INSTALLATION
------------
Following Miklor's procedure:

 1. Unplug the programming cable.
 2. Run P3200.exe and let it install the driver.
 3. Plug the cable back in.
 4. Open Device Manager and find the cable (under Ports, or under Other
    Devices if it has a warning mark).
 5. Right-click it > Update driver software, choose to browse the computer
    for driver software, then choose to pick from a list of the drivers
    already on the computer. (Wording varies between Windows versions.)
 6. Select "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port Version: 3.2.0.0" and finish.
 7. Note the COM port number shown in Device Manager and select it in the
    programming software (CHIRP, the BaoFeng/BTECH CPS, etc.).

Windows Update may later replace the driver with a newer one and the warning
mark returns. If that happens, repeat steps 4 to 6. Miklor points to a
Microsoft procedure for blocking the automatic driver update on Windows 7 and
notes it does not apply to Windows 10.

VERIFYING
---------
Device Manager > Ports (COM & LPT) shows "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port
(COMn)" with no warning mark; the Driver tab of its Properties shows driver
version 3.2.0.0.

IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG
-----------------------
- Version 3.2.0.0 is not in the list at step 6: run P3200.exe again with
  the cable unplugged, then repeat steps 3 to 6.
- Still Code 10 after installing: the chip may need a different legacy
  driver, or the cable is faulty. Miklor also mentions that on some clone
  cables the radio transmits as soon as the cable is plugged in, a sign of a
  cloned chip. Unplug immediately and use a cable with a genuine chip.

DOWNGRADING
-----------
This is itself the downgrade. To return to the current Prolific driver,
choose the newer version in step 6 or let Windows Update reinstall it.

PROVENANCE
----------
- File: P3200.exe
- Retrieved from: https://www.miklor.com/COM/software/P3200.exe
- Wayback copy:
  https://web.archive.org/web/20260722202133/https://www.miklor.com/COM/software/P3200.exe
- Page: https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Drivers.php
- Date retrieved: 2026-09-18
- Status: community (Prolific no longer publishes this version; this copy
  survives on a community reference site. The Prolific company name and
  version inside the installer were checked).
- Related entries in this archive: the Uniden USB-1 cable's Prolific
  installers (1.5.0, 1.6.0, 2.0.2.0 and a 2006 Vista installer), distributed
  by Uniden for its scanner cable.

MORE INFORMATION
----------------
- https://radios.fubsypoly.com/baofeng-f8hp/vol-3/ (Programming)
- https://radios.fubsypoly.com/baofeng-uv-b5/vol-3/ (Programming)
- https://radios.fubsypoly.com/yaesu-vx-8dr/vol-3/ (Programming)
- Miklor driver page: https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_Drivers.php
- Miklor driver alert: https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_DriverAlert.php
- CHIRP issue #9509 (PL2303TA and Windows 11):
  https://chirpmyradio.com/issues/9509
