com port 1

​ I have an Inspiron 8600 running Windows XP. I purchased a device to control my audio/video equipment from my laptop. When I first boot I get a message saying com port in use, unable to communicate with pc-ir link. ​​Then I go to device manager and disable Com port 1. The computer reboots and I enable Com port 1. Then the device works.Apparently something is grabbing my com port on boot. I have looked at every place I can think of and can't find anything that would be causing the problem. Does anyone have any suggestions? ​​ ​