Would I Need To Reinstall Drivers If I Replace Identical Hardware?

I've been having problems with my current 5 port usb pci card for a while now. It's worked fine for over 2 years and recently about 5 months ago some of the ports stopped working. & if anything is connected to them the pc will freeze or reboot itself. With the exception of two ports that work fine. So I decided to take a look at the card and clean it off because it had major dust on it. That didn't help solve the problem, so I setup a system restore point, uninstalled the card from my "device manager" in xp, rebooted my system, and xp reinstalled the card again automatically. That also didn't help as the ports still didn't work properly. So whatever I restored my system back to before I did that. Point is I give up so I'm going to buy a new usb pci card.

My question is...

Can I buy the exact same usb pci card and just switch it with the old one without having to reinstall the drivers [or xp doing it automatically]? I ask because there are many programs I have that would have to be reinstalled to work if the usb card drivers need to be reinstalled.

I can get the exact same card, but I'm wondering if I can switch it with my current one as if I never even did a switch. Please let me know if I can fool xp this way or not.

 

In theory yes that should work fine.

 

If an identical card, driver should already be on your hard drive.

 

XP updated should recognize and install drivers for the card. If not use the CD or better yet check the mfg's web site for drivers. Look at the card you are purchasing, quality does still matter to some of us, hold the cheap card next to the more expensive one and see if you notice any differences, such as quality of PCI connectors, soldering, pcb material. Belkin makes quality, at least from what I have seen. I would hope to get at least 5 years use out of a USB card. I assume you tried another slot for the card. I assume you have checked in accessories, system tools, system information, hardware resources and components. Good they aren't to expensive, hope replacement works, uninstall old, power down, remove, install new. No use carrying old baggage that might cause problems, IMO
http://www.usbman.com/Guides/Upgrade Card Manufacturers.htm