iPhone XR not recognized in File Explorer

I plug my iPhone into my computer running WIndows 10 and for the last year it has faithfully recognized the connection. File Explorer opened up and showed the iPhone connection and I could manually transfer files over to my PC. 2 days ago it was behaving as always but half way through the transfer of photos to my PC it suddenly stopped and a message pop up stating something like the device connection was not recognized. What happened. I have spent two days reading about people with a similar issue. I have tried all the advice I found from multiple sites. Uninstalled and reinstalled Itunes multiple times. Located the driver on Device Manager and updated the drivers multiple times using all the different methods recommended. I have even uninstalled the Driver and reinstalled it multiple times. Changed the USB cable and port connection. Turned off firewalls and antiviruses. Updated Windows, etc. The thing is, when the iphone is connected and I open iTunes on my PC, this program sees the connection and backups my phone, and I see the iPhone icon. But in File Explore it shows no connection. So my PC through iTunes sees the connection but it shows not connected device in File Explorer. I have tried multiple times opening Windows Photos and have tried to import the photos but I get a messages it does not find photos on any connected device. There are definitedly hundreds of new, never before transferred photos and videos on my phone. SO how do I fix my PC to recognized my iPhone XR so I can transfer photos? BTW, I have tried to connect my wife's iPhone 7 too, which I have connected many times before to transfer photos but my PC doesn't recognize this phone any longer either. My PC changed part way through the transfer process, why?