> Any ideas? Is there a USB Hub Priority or some such idiotic "feature"?

IIRC with USB 1 on WinXP there were some "feature" whereby if you plugged 
the same device into a different socket Windows would think it was a new 
device and try to install it again (rather than assuming it was the same as 
the identical device plugged into a different socket 2 minutes ago).  If to 
install it you needed some special driver, then plugging it into a different 
socket would mean you needed to supply those drivers again.  (Just like if 
you open up your computer and plug some PCI card into a different slot, when 
you next boot Windows will want to install the drivers again as it thinks it 
is new hardware)

I thought this had been fixed with USB 2 and/or Vista, but maybe not if your 
friend is running a new laptop.

BTW a friend of mine had exactly the same problem with a card reader that 
needed specific drivers.

You can look in the device manager and see what goes on when you plug/unplug 
into different sockets.

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