PCI adapter did not install

Open the Control Panel, then click on the System icon. When the System Properties opens, click on the Hardware tab, then open the Device Manager. When the Device Manager opens, double-click on the Universal Serial Bus controllers listing, which will expand the list of USB controllers and hubs. Look for a yellow circle with a black exclamation point inside it, which indicates that Windows has some type of problem with the hardware; double-click on the device with yellow/black exclamation point, and the device properties window will open. Next, click on the Driver tab, then click the Update Driver button. That will open the Hardware Update Wizard, which will offer you the chance to connect directly to the Windows Update service. The wizard will then search Windows Update for any new drivers or patches that might not have been installed on your system. Sadly, there are no guarantees that this will solve your problems, but it is fairly easy to do, and it can't possibly hurt.

As you know, Windows SHOULD have detected your new PCI card when you first installed it; the problem is, when Windows screws up hardware installation, you have to jump through a lot of hoops to manually correct the problem and install the device...

This IS doable, and you can probably fix this with a little time and patience, but Windows OFTEN has problems installing new hardware (which is why you have to jump through 17 million hoops to straighten things out manually). Some people claim to NEVER have such problems installing new hardware in Windows, but some also claim that the earth is flat, and the moon is made of green cheese...

I did some digging through the Microsoft Knowledge Base about the problems you're having with the embedded USB 2.0 drivers in WinXP, and found this article, which might help you:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/873169

Please keep us "posted" on your progress in resolving this issue...

This link will open the M$ KB webpage which explains the various error codes generated by the Device Manager in Windows XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310123

Long story short, this is how they suggest you fix the problem:

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Recommended resolution

Reasons for this error include a driver that is not present; a binary file that is corrupted; a file I/O problem, or a driver that references an entry point in another binary file that could not be loaded.

Uninstall the driver, and then click Scan for hardware changes to reinstall or upgrade the driver.

On the General Properties tab of the device, click Troubleshoot to start the Troubleshooting Wizard.

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IOW, the driver you've installed might be damaged or corrupted, so you should try to uninstall the driver; open the Device Manager, then double-click on the PCI card with the problem, click on the Driver tab, then click on the Uninstall button near the bottom of the tab, and follow the prompts to remove the driver.

Next, click on "Action" in the Device Manager Menu Bar (which is directly below the Title Bar) and select the "Scan for hardware changes" option, which is at the top of the list. Once you do that, Windows will scan the system to find the new PCI card again. When that happens, you shouldn't have any problems reinstalling the latest driver for the card.

If all goes well, you can ignore the remark about starting the Troubleshooting Wizard...

Just FYI, the age of the driver probably has no effect on how well it works with SP2; MOST of the drivers in Windows (whether embedded or provided by an OEM) pre-date SP2. Most of the changes introduced by SP2 improved security or fixed existing bugs; the only real driver improvements in SP2 were related to new technology, such as the introduction of dual-layer DVD burners. By the time SP2 was released, support for USB 2.0 was old news...

Keep punching, jonhyde; I truly believe that you're closer to fixing your system than you might realize...