Firewire Intermitent Problem

I have an HP Pavilion notebook which I access two external hard drives via the firewire port with no problem. Recently, I had to format my internal hard drive (actually got a new one which I needed to update the BIOS) and reinstall Windows XP

If I remember correctly, I didn't have any problem with my firewire hard drives until I did a Windows update which had to do with improving how Windows handled USB devices. (I think it had more to do with the OHCI or UHCI standard, which would mean it would effect more than just the USB interface.) Anyway, the update did help make my USB ports behave better, but now the firewire works intermitently. When I turn on my external hard drives, XP would chime that it notices a new hardware plugged in. However, sometimes it would show the hard drive icon in My Computer, and sometimes it would not. And sometimes, even when there is a hard drive icon, when I try to access the contents of the folder, it would hang. Rebooting the computer with the hard drives on, or unplugging-replugging the hard drive, or turning the hard drive off and on rarely help correct this. I read a comment about MS Windows hotfix Q329256 may help with something like this. Unfortunately, it only made it so that that the hard drive icon never shows up (however, Windows still always is aware when the hard drive is plugged in or turned on). Removing Q329256 and System Restore does not fix the evolved problem. BTW, the hard drives do not come with XP drivers, but relies on Windows to supply it

I know this is not a unique problem. Has anyone found a solution to this?