USB 3 front ports stopped working AND DVD drive stopped on ALL ports

Open CMD using Run as administrator and put this command

SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1

Then open Device Manager, View and Show Hidden Devices. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers and delete (uninstall by right click) all you can see as greyed. That is, probably some left over of previous drivers for particular USB devices. Make the same for Human Interface Devices and for DVD/CD-ROM drives, after you expand it there.

Restart you computer.

Just one small trick, which was useful long time ago when we speak about USB ports and not recognizing anything there. You can try to Shut Down your computer, unplug it from power completely for couple of minutes. Then plug computer to power, turn it on and let Windows do the rest.

DocDJ said:

but my Phanteks P600S has no front panel cutouts

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Bummer. (very nice case, by the way)
I knew back in the day there was a registry fix that worked for INTERNAL dvd drives by removing upper and lower filters, but didn't remember where to find it. I found it.
See if any of these suggestions here work for you when dealing with an external dvd drive.

I once had issues with DVD drives not recognised properly. It was due to some filters that Nero had installed, sorry I don't remember the exact terms. Once I deleted the relevant keys from Registry the issue fixed.

glasskuter said:

Bummer. (very nice case, by the way)
I knew back in the day there was a registry fix that worked for INTERNAL dvd drives by removing upper and lower filters, but didn't remember where to find it. I found it.
See if any of these suggestions here work for you when dealing with an external dvd drive.

Your CD or DVD drive is not recognized by Windows or other programs - Microsoft Support

This article describes a problem with CD or DVD drives not work, or is missing, or not recognized after installing or uninstalling programs.

support.microsoft.com

Click to expand...

That's the one I was looking for! I'm glad you were able to find it. I had no clue where to look.

Catnip said:

That's the one I was looking for! I'm glad you were able to find it. I had no clue where to look.

Click to expand...

YES, YES, YES!!!! That did it! My Device Mgr driver had an error code 39 so I followed the instructions at Your CD or DVD drive is not recognized by Windows or other programs - Microsoft Support and they fixed it. In my case, there was no Upper Limit key, but I just renamed the Lower Limit key (so could put it back if needed) and after a re-boot. TA-DA, my DVD drive re-appeared and works in both front and rear ports (after fixing the front-port problem by setting USB power always available via BIOS).
MANY THANKS to all who posted here. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!!!

Similar to my old issue with Nero. Once deleting the filters my DVD worked.

glasskuter said:

Bummer. (very nice case, by the way)
I knew back in the day there was a registry fix that worked for INTERNAL dvd drives by removing upper and lower filters, but didn't remember where to find it. I found it.
See if any of these suggestions here work for you when dealing with an external dvd drive.

Your CD or DVD drive is not recognized by Windows or other programs - Microsoft Support

This article describes a problem with CD or DVD drives not work, or is missing, or not recognized after installing or uninstalling programs.

support.microsoft.com

Click to expand...

The only time I had my DVD drive (internal) disappear was when I installed i-tunes on my Win 7 computer back in the day. The only way for me to fix it was a reinstall, then when I installed it again, thats what was causing the problem. Never installed it again on any om my systems.

Go in bios and enable XHCI hand-off setting.

I have it enabled too, but doesn't help if the upper or lower filters mess things.

spapakons said:

I have it enabled too, but doesn't help if the upper or lower filters mess things.

Click to expand...

Yes, you have to delete (or at least rename) the upper and lower filters. But the mystery is how they caused this problem after MANY years.

I use various Nero versions over the years. Only once I had this issue. Who knows why. Only God.