Problems installing anything

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.configuration_manage (More info?)

I am running windows xp pro with Sp 1A.

I am having problems installing any new hardware on my
system.

So far, I have not been able to install a new usb card
(Belkin 2-port 5U005) which windows should be able to
install without any user provided dirvers. At first I
thought this was just a USB problem, so I purchased the
USB card. Now I cannot even install this card in the
computer. I also cannot install my sony digital camera
(via USB) and I have not been able to install a USB
printer.

Here is what happens, When I plug in a USB device,
windows detects that it has been connected but it does
not seem to be getting all of the informaiton about the
device. I say this because I can plug the same device
into another xp system and it will show a specific device
name rather than the generic one and it will successfully
load the driver needed.

I have admin privileges on the problem computer.
PNP manager is started and set to automatic.

I personally think that XP is unable to obtain the device
information from these devices, or it is unable to match
the info with a system driver (driver.cab) and an inf
file (windows/inf) directory. I have not found any MS KB
articles that help.
Does anyone have any suggestions?