Hi
Just had a thought if you should be curious to try anytime in the future
If you download and burn a G-parted-Live-CD then use it boot your computer you will booting up in Linux. Then any test of USB behavior would tell you (at least) if the issue has anything to do with Windows or if it's strictly related to BIOS, hardware and device firmware (since everything would now be running in Linux and NOT Windows!)
Sometime over next several days i plan to post a guide about tackling USB drive problems (it might also be interesting for you to look thru the guide tho not sure how much of it would apply specifically for your unique problem... but somethings.. like how to check the power draw on a USB hub might apply.
The guide will include a detailed step-by-step for creating/booting/using G-parted-live-cd. Or if you want to try it sooner then i'm ready to post my guide you can search online for "how-to's" do of using the Gparted CD
