Com Port Constipation

[Dookie]

I'm sitting at a hp nx9600 laptop trying to find out where the ports have gone. If I open the device manager there is no listing for ports, com or otherwise. If I try to query the internal modem on com 3 I get the OpenComm error Port in Use or Port Already Open. if I try to find the port status with mode in the command window I get "Device COM3 is currently unavailable"

 

[Markbnj]

Which operating system? When you look at the hardware in Device Manager, do you see any yellow question marks over unknown devices, or yellow exclamation marks?