Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 11:21 PM

Most of the PC cards I've seen have been PCI cards. If you don't have a PCI slot you may be able to find a card for an older kind. A USB card may need a "BUS Enabled" slot, and lots of PCs with a half dozen or so PCI slots only have a couple that are BUS enabled. The "System Requirements" info for the specific device you might get would be your best guide, used of course with the User Manual for your machine.

I haven't heard of any particular problems with Win98 and USB2, but haven't had a Win98 machine up for quite a while. Again, any card you get to plug into your machine should give you a list of requirements and compatible hardware/software. Nothing specific shows up in the generic:

General USB Troubleshooting in Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me: KB article 263218.

The article contains links to about 50 additional KB articles about specific problems you might encounter with USB. About 14 of them are specific to Win98SE, with about twice that many specific to WinME. Too many to research second hand, but you may be able to spot something with your own firsthand knowledge of your system. Most of the linked articles appear to deal with problems with specific devices you might connect to your USB port, rather than with problems in setup of the machine itself.

If you have more specific concerns, you can go to:

Advanced Search for the Microsft English Knowledge Base.

I'd suggest selecting Windows 98 as the "Product," if that's what you've got, and something simple like "USB" for what to search for. Generally, down at the bottom, check the first three "where to search items." In rare cases you may need to go into the TechNet and MSDN (Designer Network) but these deal more with programming problems and server management than with user information.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 05:55 PM

My five year old computer had USB 2 and firewire on it, and came with WinME, switched out for Win2000Pro. Both worked fine.

I have a Belkin 4-port USB 2 hub (external, that plugs in) that is left over from replacing the things stolen in a burglary last spring (that computer is gone). The day will come when we need this, but not yet. It would be plugged into a regular USB 2 plug, and the power to it boosts the operation for everything you would plug into it.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: Joe Offer
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 03:51 PM

What operating systems work with USB 2.0? Do you have to have Windows XP or Mac OSX? Do you have to have a PCI bus on your motherboard?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 02:40 PM

if i remember right

my belkin USB2 card has 4 external ports for the back of the computer,
and one internal port to run a lead to a port on the front of the case
if required [and a front slot is available]

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 01:57 PM

I've seen advertising recently for a USB card that has several ports directly on the backplate. I believe one was 6 slots. Essentially this means that the card is also a hub. If it's just a matter of getting a few connections, it might be worth looking for a card with more than the usual couple of connectors; but of course the sockets will all be on the back of the computer.

If access to connect/disconned things is important, any card that gets you one or more USB-2 connections, and an external hub that you can put "out front" may be more convenient.

Once you have a USB-2 card in the machine, five to eight port external hubs in my local retail market aren't much more expensive than a single USB-2 rated cable to plug a new device into it.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: GUEST,Paranoid Android
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 12:52 PM

Thanks all. That pussyfooting girl from Yokohama sure looks good.
I'll get the USB card and try it from there

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: Dave Earl
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 11:51 AM

I put a usb2 card into a Win98 machine and loaded the software that came with it.

Sad to say I could never get it to work and I have subsquently heard that there is a problem with usb 2 and Win98.

I ended up reinstalling the usb1 card that contues to work as well as ever but newer peripherals may only be usb2 compliant.

As it happens I also run an XP machine on my network which does have usb2 on board so I am happy ebough with my setup.

Dave Earl

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 11:37 AM

Geez. At least it wasn't a porn site, but what the hell is that?

Look at the back of your computer. In where you plug in your modem and other devices, do you see any of these expansion slot covers? If you do, then you have room to add something, whether a hard drive or a USB hub or any number of other things.

Get yourself an internal USB adapter card (looks something like this), open your computer, and in an operation that looks kind of like this, install it in your computer and be sure the shiny brass side is seated securely. You have to push on it enough to feel it "click" into place.

It isn't that hard to get under the hood in your computer, but work in a low static environment, discharge any static before you touch the computer (touch something metal around you that isn't near the computer) and don't stand on carpet when you're doing it. DON'T TOUCH ANY OF THE CONTACTS while you're working--good rule of thumb any time you work in your computer.

There are lots of helpful sites online, and when you buy this thing you can probably ask a tech at the store if they have any pointers for you. This is as not much more complicated than changing a lightbulb.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: GUEST,Fullerton
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 10:50 AM

This may be the solution

Subject: RE: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 10:48 AM

you'll need to install a USB2 card [eg.. Belkin]
into a spare slot in your computer

Subject: Tech: USB ports expanding/upgrading
From: GUEST,Paranoid Android
Date: 10 Dec 05 - 10:28 AM

My PC "uses" USB 1.0 and I want to upgrade it to USB 2.0 and xpand the
number of ports by using an external USB connection. A product that seems ideal for me is the D-Link DUB-H4 USB 2.0 Port Hub which is described as "a high speed universal serial bus 2.0 4-port hub with backward compatability to USB 1.0 and 1.1"
Can I interpret the above as indicating that my PC will operate on
USB 2.0 or must I install other hardware to upgrade it?