Are the ports listed in the Device Manager?

Right click My Computer then click Manage then Device Manager

+ Ports (COM & LPT)

Yes, the ports are listed in device manager and listed as working properly. When I try to trouble shoot them, a short pause and then nothing. Both ports same story. Any ideas as to what the problem might be?

What exactly do you mean by you reinstalled the ports?

I see the Presario 5000 has a VIA chipset. You might try reloading the VIA 4 in 1 drivers:

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx...D=1&CatID=1070

I would guess you might need the retro version.

If you want to verify your chipset you can use this tool:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

In device manager I uninstalled the ports and rebooted. As the system started it found the ports, installed them and assigned the correct address to each. I'll try reloading VIA4.