Combo Box Queries

I have a couple of queries concerning the combo box, I'm undertaking a very ambitious project for a new comer to VB and have got a form with a number of combo boxes on there that will be used for setting up the serial port.

I would like to know how firstly to get the first item to display in the combo box when the window is opened for example the list in one of the combo boxes is:

COM1

COM2

COM3 etc.

So when the form opens I want it to diplay COM1 not a blank drop down box. Secondly another box has a list of numbers however when displayed the numbers are not sequenced i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc. they actually display as 1, 10, 2, 3 etc.

Any help or pointers in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.