hi,
i am using pic 16f877 development board which is connected to the laptop using usb to uart converter. i am using winpic softwarefor loading the program. but when it was connected to the laptop it was getting an error "cannot initialise the programmer". but the usb to uart coverter was connected properly to the laptop without any errors. so can anyone help to rectify this problem pls.

 

Some links to the tools you are using might help us help you.

Generally, once you stray from Microchip tools you open yourself to dead ends as you have found.

 

when you connect usb to uart converter, it get's assigned COM port number. if you plug it into different USB port, you also get another COM port number. normally you need to know that port number (check what it is in Device Manager) so you can configure your programming software.