USB 2.0 Update

I have a secondary desktop that I use for general purpose stuff like browsing, etc.., and I just finished reformatting and updating all the drivers and such.

My question is this. I have USB 2.0 capabilities according to my BIOS, but when I checked my Device Manager it only shows USB, not USB 2.0. Is there a driver or something that I need to install to upgrade to 2.0 or another route I need to take to get there? It isn't a big deal as the only USB I use on this com is my mouse/keyboard and my wireless adapter, and when I plug it in it says I should upgrade to 2.0.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Generally, CONTROL PANEL >SYSTEM > DEVICE MANAGER will only show drivers as "USB". Unless the PC is ancient (one that shipped with Windows 98 or ME as the OEM version), you should be getting USB 2.0 speeds.

 

I just plugged in a thumb drive and it said the same thing. It is an older comp that I built myself, but I'm running XP and my MB does support 2.0, and I even updateded the MB with a USB driver update that SP3 apparently missed. Not sure what to do. like I said, not a huge deal, but something I'd liketo figure out for future reference.

 

What kind of transfer speed are you getting on the flash drive?

Keep in mind that USB 2.0 has a theoretical max. upload speed of 480MB/s (USB 1.0/1.1 is 11MB/s). In reality, it's much, much slower. As a reference, a 7200RPM external hard drive on my tech bench PC (an AMD triple core built about 6 months ago) is lucky to hit a peak transfer speed of 28MB/s. Flash drives are even worse. Depending on the quality of the flash drive, I've put up with sustained speeds as low as 500KB/s.

Keeping this in mind, if the speed issues persist, you can always stick a USB 2.0 expansion card in an open PCI slot that will add 3-4 extra ports.

Hope this helps.

 

It would help to know the motherboard model number. If old, it may only support USB 1.x.

That is a solution but it seems to me since USB 3.0 is the latest standard, and it is backwards compatible with earlier versions, it would be better to get a USB 3.0 expansion card. In this way, should you decide to get a USB 3.0 device, such as an external drive enclosure, you can support it to its full potential.

 

Simple question, are you using the port in the back of the computer? some case manufactors dont have usb2.0 ports on the front of the case instead limited those ports to usb1 spec speeds.

 

The only concern on this is that all the USB 3.0 cards I've seen require a PCI-e (short) expansion card slot.

If the OP has an older PC that only has PCI (long) slots for expansion, it might be a choice of a USB 2.0 card or nothing. If considering a USB 3.0 card, open the side case of the PC first and be sure your board has an expansion card slot that will support it.

 

They certainly are not everywhere. You have to look for them. Here are a couple.

StarTech 2 Port 3.0 PCI Card

Koutech 2 Port 3.0 PCI Card

 

Thanks for the tip. I stand corrected.