The cable in question sounds fine, as CJ said the upgrade worked from windows 98.
The question is, if hyperteminal and the upgrader fail on the Win 2K laptop, does the serial port work at all?

I have problems upgrading my empeg when using my PC under windows (works fine under linux) but I've always been able to connect fine via a terminal emulator.

Just something to check.

Jazz
(List 112, Mk2 12 gig #40. Mk1 4 gig #30. Mk3 1.6 16v)