USB 2.0 drive

I recently installed the windows xp sp1 but i forgot to load the usb and here is the problem that i have is that i updated the sp 2 but now it will not recognize the usb 2.0 drive so i can’t connect to my external hard drive. Is their a fix on this matter? If nothing works then i will delete the windows os permanently. So please help becuase i have all the information on my external hard drive. Thanks.