Last week I connected an old HP720C(?) inkjet printer (parallel port) to an XP SP2 system's USB port.
I put the HP installation disk in the CD drive. Without much thought I plugged the conversion cable into the XP system. Nice ding-dong sound of new device recognized. After a while I plugged the cable into the printer and turned it on. It was not recognized. I unplugged the conversion cable at this juncture. Failure.
For a second try I turned everything off.
Then turned on the XP system.
Connected the conversion cable to the printer and turned on the printer.
Plugged the conversion cable into an XP USB port.
Bingo, the printer was recognized and the driver installed. The HP CD was still in the drive but I didn't notice whether XP looked at it.
Success.
I didn't have to do any manual setup. The printer is now recognised whenever I plug it into that USB port.