Hardware Drivers :: Access To Multiple COM Ports

I have two programs on my hard drive. They both require access to a COM port. When I attempt to access either one it works fine, but I need to have both of them running at the same time---thus I need an additional COM port. When I setup either program, the available port appears (COM 3). It does not allow the entry of any other port or call up an additional one---with all the COM's available, it would seem reasonable to be able to use more than one port at the time! I am using a Dell Pentium Laptop (1545) with Windows 8.1 PRO. The computer has 3G of memory.