my phone and ipod are not being charged by my computer. and they arent being picked up by itunes.
ive tried all my usb ports and 3 different cables and still nothing. my cables work perfectly fine in wall chargers.
But my computer does make the noise of a device being plugged in. but after that nothing else happens at all.

It could be difficult when things don't work the way it should be on your computer. Issues with power management or iTunes may lead to such problems. However; let's try to narrow down to see what is causing this issue and try to fix it.
Please follow the methods mentioned below:
Method 1:
I would suggest you to run the hardware troubleshooter and check the issue status. The Hardware Troubleshooter is an automated tool which checks the hardware connected to the computer for any known issues and provides the details on how to fix them.Follow the steps:
a. Press Windows key + W.
b. Type Troubleshooter in the Search box and hit enter.
c. Select Hardware and Sound from the Troubleshooter Window.
d. Select Hardware and Devices under Devices option.
e. Follow the On Screen instructions.

Method 2:
Follow the steps mentioned in the following blog and check:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/usbcoreblog/archive/2013/11/08/help-after-installing-windows-8-1-my-usb-device-doesn-t-charge-or-it-disconnects-and-reconnects-frequently.aspx

Important: The above mentioned article contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, follow the steps from the following link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/en-us
Method 3:
If the issue persist, I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned in the following link:
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538