I've found WinXP "automatic" enough that when I plug in a USB device it works. If I use the "Safely Disconnect" button things keep working, and if they don't for some reason a reboot cleans things up.
A problem with going into Control Panel to "do things to your USB devices" is that it's very difficult to tell which controller goes with which device. WinXP may also insert "extra" bridge controllers if you have multiple USB controllers and/or USB and etherlink controllers and/or other "network" controllers, so there are likely to be more controllers than devices.
Too complicated for me, unless it gets absolutely necessary.
WinXP is good enough about automatically finding and mounting USB devices that "kill-em all and reboot" is actually a viable solution for a major cockup, with the minor problem that if you kill the USB mouse controller you may have a little trouble figuring out how to do a clean reboot with no mouse. But the BRS still works, usually.