USB device identification

Is there a way, on Windows XP, to revert the USB subsystem back to the way it
worked (yes, worked, as opposed to not working) in Windows 2000 ?

The particular niggle is this:

If I plug a USB gizmo into port 1 on a windows XP system, it recognises the new
device, and happily installs drivers.

If, later, I plug the same USB gizmo into port 2 on a windows XP system, it
recognises it as a new device, and, depending on the device, wants to install
drivers. (That decision is probably made on the basis of whether or not it can
find a serial number on the device)

If, later, I plug the same USB gizmo into port 3 ... etc. etc.

If, later, I plug the same USB gizmo into any port it has been plugged into
before, windows is a happy bunny.

On windows 2000, I can install the device once, and windows is perfectly happy
to beleive that when it sees it again, possibly even on a completely different
controller, that it is the same device.
Similarly, On a linux box, the hotplug script gets a device class, manufacturer
and model ID, and does what it needs to do. It cares little for any of this
'what port is it on' stuff. It gets 'Its one of these, deal with it'.

The practical upshot of all this is that on WinXP, when we plug our data
acquisition boxes in to a different port than the one that WinXP is used to
seeing it on, it decides its a new device. We daredn't send out systems to
customers without plugging every device into every port just to convince XP that
it has seen everything it is ever going to see.

I can only see this situation getting worse, particularly with the likes of Dell
'engineering away legacy ports' (i.e. taking away everything useful, like
serial/parallel/keyboard/mouse ports) and placing eight USB ports on the box,
and four more on the monitor (blinks in amazement at the lack of USB hub in the
keyboard)

Jim
--
(Alternatively, can someone give me the address of the WinXP USB subsystem
designer, so I can place a cash-on-delivery order for twenty tons of manure in
appreciation of his/her/its work)
.

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