Get extra COM ports to appear in Device Manager

Another tip from guest James Saunders:

I noticed while configuring my Bluetooth devices that they were using quite high COM port numbers (COM8, COM9, COM10), and each time I installed a new device the COM port numbers would keep on rising.
Windows has a habit of assigning COM ports to connections which, even after the device is removed, still remain allocated to that device. As you connect new devices they get assigned the next free COM port number, and before you know it, you are using COM ports 30-40.
Although they are configured in Windows, they will not show up when viewing the hardware configuration in control panel. These COM ports can not be seen even after selecting ‘Show Hidden Devices’. The only time these COM Ports are visible is when the device is connected.

In order to get these extra COM ports to appear in Device Manager, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start -> Click Run
2. Type ‘cmd.exe’ in the textbox and click OK.
3. Type ‘set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1′ and hit ENTER.
4. Type ‘cd \windows\system32′ and hit ENTER.
5. Type ‘start devmgmt.msc’ and hit ENTER.
6. When the Device Manager opens, click View -> Show Hidden Devices.
7. Click on the + sign next to the Ports to see the full list of COM ports being used.
8. Highlight the port you wish to delete and then press delete. Accept when asked to do so and continue with any more that you wish to delete.

Thanks James!