HP DV7-7135US - USB 3.0 ports not working at all

I've got an HP DV7-7135US that is causing me some serious headaches.

For the past month or so I've lost complete access to my USB 3.0 ports. They do nothing - NOTHING.

I've gone the route of reinstalling the Intel chipset drivers and USB 3.0 drivers from Intel and from HP. When I plug anything in to the ports, it's as if I have done nothing at all.Thumb drives are not detected, it's as if the ports have been disconnected from the motherboard. USB 2.0 and 3.0 external drives are not detected, nor do they attempt to spin up or show any activity on their LEDs.

I've also gone the route of reinstalling the OS from the ground up (I hate the loads that OEMs put on their systems!), only installing HP drivers and apps from the HP website. I've also done the same but only installing drivers from the Intel website - again - nothing.

Nothing related to USB is showing up in any of the event logs.

The one single USB 2.0 port works fine - 100%.

Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated! I'd really hate to send this in for warranty work - I've only had it since September!

Thanks!

[ADDITIONAL INFORMATION]
NOTE: Everything appears to be normal in device manager !