Upgrading USB possible?

I have a 2002 Dell Dimension 2200 with (I assume) USB 1.1 ports. Whenever something is plugged in to a USB port, we get the "this device can perform faster" balloon, and when I clicked it to search for high speed USB ports, there are none, therefore I'm assuming we have 1.1. We run the printer, external hard drive, 1 gig ipod, and the various cameras off it with no issues. However, my oldest daughter wants an 80 gig ipod. I'm betting we will need 2.0 ports, yes? If not to function at ALL, then to make it transfer data quicker?

So is this a simple matter of buying a 2.0 controller and installing it? I heard I was stuck with 1.1 because it's limited to what the motherboard can do.

Please enlighten the non-geek!

 

If you buy a pci usb2.0 card then you can easily use 2.0. But there is no way to upgrade an already existing usb port.

 

So then this would be supplemental to the existing 1.1 ports, right? I'm okay with that. I'm assuming it's much like when I had a SCSI (?) card added to run my zip drive?

 

Yes thats correct.

 

Have you looked at this thread?

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=118071

 

I stopped at WalMart on the way home and bought a USB 2.0 controller and installed it with no issues EXCEPT my cd drive is crapping out, so in order to use the driver cd (which I may or may not have even NEEDED), I had to rob the cd drive out of a donor 2000 Gateway that was out in the garage.

Anyway, I was just simply blown away by how friggin' FAST that 2.0 is! I'd grab a random music folder (50-60 megs) off the 120 gig external and drag it to the desktop, and it was like, Ka-WHAM, it's there!

So I'm USB happy. Now I do have to replace the Gateway cd drive as it's not a burner. No biggie, I just need to get on it...

 

Something you might think about, the IPod draws a lot of current, and all those other gadgets add up. Buy yourself a cheap USB2.0 active hub (with an external power supply) and your comptuer will thank you.