USB drive won't show up in XP

I'm trying to send files from my old PC (on XP SP1 or 2... can't recall) to my new hp TouchSmart (on Vista... 64, I think). I tried using the Windows Easy transfer two nights ago, but songs started saying they wouldn't go, so I cancelled the whole thing. The old computer has no DVD burner, so I tried my wife's new 8GB Kingston USB drive. When I plug it in, nothing happens. I even went under my computer > manage to see if it was there, but with no letter assigned, and nothing. It's like it doesn't exist. What can I do to transfer my 50+GB of old files? I have an old 128MB thumb drive that does work, but that would take about 500+ transfers. Not going there.

A lil' help please?

 

Windows makes a sound when an USB device is plugged or unplugged. Do you hear this sound? Does the USB device show up under the device manager with a yellow exclamation point indicating a missing driver?
The device manager is located at control panel -> system and maintainance -> device manager