My modem on my desktop was working just fine earlier today. However, at some point the computer froze while online and had to be restarted. Ever since, whenever I try to connect to the Internet I get a message that the COM port is already in use and to restart the machine. Even after a restart or shutdown, I still get the exact same message. This is extremely frustrating since I can't even get online.
The modem in question is an HAMR 5600 on a Windows98 SE system. Incidently, the COM port the modem is installed on doesn't show up in the Device Manager.

Try un-installing the modem in the device manager,rebooting and reinstalling.

Thanks, I think that's a much better alternative to pulling out the modem and tossing it out the nearest open window (which was the first thought I had in mind!)