USB 2.0 cables
 

You don't need a special USB cable to reach 2.0 speeds, right.

I don't think you do.

No, you don't need a special cable. As long as your motherboard supports USB 2.0 you will be in good shape. Or if your motherboard doesn't support it, you could get a USB 2.0 PCI card that would.

However you need Windows XP with i don't know which Service Pack or Hotfix to properly take advantage of USB2 speeds. (Microsoft was supporting Fireware cause of some anti-macintosh crap I think, thats why they added USB2 support so late)

Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or later, supports USB 2.0.

Just make sure the cable sports the Hi-Speed logo and doesn't exceed 16 feet (5 meters) in length and you should be fine. The actual transfer speeds you'll be getting depend on the electrical quality and insulation of the cable.

http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/1830/iconusb23pb.gif

If the cable has decent shielding, and ferrites (cylindrical lumps near one end of the cable that reduce electrical interference), it's going to be a decent cable. You don't get ferrites on everything, but they help if you're attaching sensitive equipment (scanner, printer, digital camera etc).