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two items; i have an add-on card for my usb connection to my computer, probably
about 2 years old. Is there a utility to tell which version it supports?

2. most of the external hard drives list 2.0 usb, will it still work in a 1.1
system, just slower or not at all?

thanks

"AndyPaul" <> wrote in message
news:...
> two items; i have an add-on card for my usb connection to my computer,
probably
> about 2 years old. Is there a utility to tell which version it supports?

No utility that I am aware of other than those that read the same device
info that you can get from the device manager. First of all, you need to
have SP1 installed if you are using WinXP. That gives USB 2.0 support to
WinXP, and manufacturers drivers will not likely be necessary. Without SP1,
any USB 2.0 controller you may have will only be running at USB 1.1 speeds.
If running win98 etc. then you need drivers from the card manufacturer for
USB 2.0 support. If you check your windows device manager, and look at the
USB controllers listed at the bottom, one of them should say something like
"USB Enhanced Host controller" or "EHCI Universal Serial Bus controller".
(you are looking for the word "enhanced") If you have nothing but "USB open
host controller" listed, then you probably don't have USB 2.0, or the
drivers aren't correct. Another way to tell is to connect a USB 2.0 device.
If you get a warning (in WinXP) about connecting a high speed USB device to
a low speed controller, that is a red flag that you may not have USB 2.0
controllers.

>
> 2. most of the external hard drives list 2.0 usb, will it still work in a
1.1
> system, just slower or not at all?

It will most likely work, but at substantially reduced performance. Most USB
2.0 external storage devices are backward compatible with USB 1.1 speed. In
any case, if your computer lacks USB 2.0, then I HIGHLY recommend a Belkin
USB 2.0 card. They use the NEC USB controller chip which is probably the
most widely compatible one out there. Avoid VIA and ALI-based controller
cards like the plague. They have had some really big problems with not
operating at USB 2.0 speeds or having problems with USB devices in general.
Believe me. If you have an external CD or Harddrive, then you really do want
a good USB 2.0 controller. It's performance will seem like it is an
internal drive. At USB 1.1 speeds, copying large amounts of data takes much
much longer.

yes it will work, just at a slower speed. i just bought a new 2.0 card for mine

Buy a 2.0 controller card because with 1.1 it will be hella slow. You should
buy an internal hard drive.
"GT Grand Prix 00" <> wrote in message
news:...
> yes it will work, just at a slower speed. i just bought a new 2.0 card for
mine