Device manager missing PORTS com & lpt selection

[Guest]

Have problems with my modem ( no dial tone detected ) and the modem
troubleshooter reports the com port is disabled. I go to device manager and
there is no selection for PORTS in device manager.
Checked BIOS no option to change there, tried adding new printer to force a
LPT port, no help, looked in regedit to find a way to enable ports, no
success.

Disabled both the MS firewall and Mcafee firewall, tired adding a com port
thru the firewalls as well, all no help.
Tried reloading the toshiba software modem as well, no help.

Toshiba laptop, running windows XP home, running on a home network with a
wireless router for wireless internet access.

Wife's toshiba laptop does not have ports in device manager, but her modem
works and finds a dial tone for the modem. She does NOT have Mcafee on her
computer.

Is it a Mcafee problem? ( would not be a suprise) Running Mcafee Internet
security 8, and am about ready to delete it.

 

[Steven Umbach]

You could also try using msinfo and then go to components/ports to see if
anything shows there and the status. Also try booting into Safe Mode with
networking to see if that makes a difference. I also suggest posting in the
windowsxp.hardware newsgroup. If you suspect Mcaffee is the problem try
uninstalling it to see what happens though if it was you would have noticed the
problem right after installing it or did some configuration change. --- Steve