your being very vague gary,so you have a laptop and have not got a serisl port correct?if so yes you will need a usb to serial adapter,if you no someone that has a pc with a serial port it would make it a whole lot easier.
easy if u have a pc with xp and serial port,u get into problems with usb adaptors as some dont work,and then there is vista more problems,and mac does not work.