i have a small prob. my pc is running on winxp sp2 and is fully updated. but i still have a problem with my usb ports. i have an external hdd that i can connect to a usb port and the pc isn't detecting the hdd as a device through usb. the notification that a usb device has been detected appiers but i'm unable to see the drive.

any suggestions?

with seeing the drive do you mean something like E: in "My Computer" ?

can you find the drive in the windows disk management? (right click "my Computer" --> manage)

Are you running this on a single pc or is connected to a network?
If so, do you have any network-drives mapped? If yes, put the network-drives to the end of the alphabet.
Start with "z" and go backwards. Otherwise this might cause you to not see the connected local drive.