MSComm in VB.NET 2003

[Ed Barrier]

Hello,
I am attempting to transition a VB6 software application written into
VB.NET 2003 framework. As expected, I ran into a few problems when I ran it
through the Transition Wizard. We use the MSComm plug-in with this
application a lot. While the plug in made it through the transition, some
MSComm related problems came up.

My particular questions has to do with using the MSComm plug-in in the .NET
framework.

1) How are multiple port selections handled in VB.NET?
2) Has anybody encountered the following exception error: Exception from
HRESULT: 0x800A1F42. Is there a way to decrypt this vague exception fault
through a Try Catch statement? (I know it has to do with the multiple port
selection, but it would be nice if I can narrow down what is exactly causing
the system exception.)
3) For serial communications is it easier to use Visual Basic 2005 with the
Serial Class under the .NET 2.0 framework instead of trying to use MSComm in
the .NET 1.1 framework?

Note: I have referred to the Microsoft article 'How to handle serial and
parallel ports by using Visual Basic .NET' (using VB.NET 2003)

Is there is a VB.Net book that you can recommend that I can read or refer to?

Any clue would be appreciated.

Thanks,
EB