I got my computer before USB 2.0, and I’ve seen USB 2.0 ports for sale. However, I downloaded something from Intel which was called USB 2.0. My question is, does this simply make sure that my computer supports USB 2.0, or does this mean that I won’t have to shell out any money buying new ports for my computer?
You can’t download hardware, and nobody would be selling USB 2.0 ports if the regular USB ports would work with just new software. Even without any particular knowledge of USB specs, I can say that what you downloaded was for support.
What you downloaded was a chipset driver, offering access to the USB2.0 hardware to Windows. Furthermore, you need at least Windows XP SP1 to be able to use the USB2 ports at full 480mbps speeds.