I finally gave up on my lap top (Celeron, Windows ME,600 Mhz) and
tried running the LX 200 GPS from my desktop (Pentium 4,WindowsXP,
1.6 Ghz)using the same RS 232/USB bridge cable assembly. It
communicated with th LX200 right from the start. I used one of the
front USB 2.0 ports and it came up as USB to Serial port(Comm4). I
selected that port on Guide 8. After auto aligning (ALT,AZ in the
daytime), the slew Guide,slew telescope, and add align data on the
scope pad appeared to function properly. When slewing to a new star,
I confirmed alt/ az angles were approx right. I then went to the
downloaded serial port monitor program and issued a couple of
commands to the LX200. The command #:GL# yielded a response of LX200
clock time. Similarly, the command #:GVP# got a reponse of "LX2001".
I'll verify accurate operation at night, but I'm sure the set up is
now functional.
I'll try to salvage the Notebook computer by upgrading from Windows
ME to XP and see if that helps. I had previously verified that both
notebook USB ports ran ok with an optical mouse. Anyway, my sincere
thanks to Bill Gray of Project Pluto and all the others for their
suggestions and help. My home club, The Milwaukee Astronomical
Society, are fans of the Guide 8.0 and use it as the Star
chart/catalog for three of their fixed observatories. I'm currently
snowbirding in Tucson.
Thanks again!

Rudy