Thanks, I found schematics for the rs232 to TTL conversion, and I have all the parts lying around, so I think I will just make one.

My arduino uno seems to have a dead usb to serial chip. I was wondering if I could use the RX/TX pins to program it using a serial port on my computer? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Now I have done a loopback test, which failed, probably because the correct com port does not show up.

Thanks, I am using Windows 7 and Arduino IDE 1.03 if that helps.  If it is a short circuit, is it repairable? Right now I can't see anything that might cause a short.

While uploading a program to the board, the computer I was using turned off with out warning, it did not shut down, it just seemed to die. When I turned the computer on, it did not recognize the Arduino. I then tried on a different computer, and I got the same message when I plugged it in, something like, "Windows does not recognize your USB device which has malfunctioned ..." I have tried uninstalling the device with the device manager and then re-installing the drivers, but I keep on getting the same message. The Arduino still works, the program that was on it still runs, but I can not connect it to my computer. Does anybody have an idea of what is wrong?
EDIT: the message I get when I plug it in is "One of the devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.