Damn fine USB article Bill. I have noticed this on XP, but it did not matter the way I use my system.
I would assume that disabling USB in the BIOS would allow you to delete the current set of drivers. Just to deal with the politics of MS driver replacement... MS programmers have this neat little trick where they simply check the date of the file, or the version of a file, not the integrity of of the file, when parsing through update decision loops. But I will be damned if the file search function isn't robust. So when I write delete, you probably real should rename them. Something like usbhub.TAO would make it easy to find them later and the system won't be able to find them now.
My USB files and versions:
General Purpose USB Hub
usbhub.sys 5.1.2600.0
Intel USB devices - generic
usbhub.sys 5.1.2600.0
usbport.sys 5.1.2180
usbuhci.sys 5.1.2180
usbui.sys 5.1.2180
The Enhanced Intel Controller adds:
hccoin.sys 5.1.2180
USB Root Hub
usbd.sys 5.1.2600
usbhub.sys 5.1.2180
This is my system running XP Pro SP2 with an unknown hotfix level. YMMWV
Anyway, after you delete the files and re enable USB in the BIOS you will know the answer. Either your system will still freeze, or windows will attempt to find the USB drivers you deleted and should prompt you for a location we it doesn't find them. It is my sense based on many years of hacking computers, that if you have a hardware issue, you will not get to the point of installing the driver software, but you might.
I just see now that this is a Microsoft Forum post. Better answers might be found in the hardware help forum: »
Computer Hardware Help