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How can I tell if I have USB 2.0?

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If an "Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" is present does that mean that ALL USB connections on the PC and shown under Device Manager are USB 2.0?

Thanks

Posted by: Simon at October 1, 2005 6:18 AM

It means that the USB on your PC supports 2.0. You can still, of course, plug in 1.x USB hubs which would only support 1.x, and 1.x devices.

Posted by: Leo at October 1, 2005 10:28 AM

I think Simon is asking the same question I was going to ask. If you have say 4 USB ports in your computer, and you have the "Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller" showing in your Device Manager, does that mean that ALL 4 USB ports support 2.0? Or is it maybe only one of them? How can you tell which port does?

Other than that clarification, thanks for this article! First google hit off the bat answers my question. Cheers.

Posted by: Murdoch at October 3, 2005 7:56 AM

While it's certainly *possible* for a computer to have different types of USB ports, I don't know of any that do. Typically when the manifacturer makes the switch to 2.0, there's no reason for there to also be a 1.x USB port.

So I would assume that all USB ports on the computer are the same.

Posted by: Leo at October 3, 2005 9:28 AM

Thank you! Very helpful.
Now, if I don't have USB 2.0, is there a way to upgrade to that? (I, too, want to buy an Ipod Nano that is only supported by USB 2.0).

Posted by: Carla at October 9, 2005 8:38 AM

For a desktop PC. sure. You can buy a USB 2.0 add-in card - they're not expensive.

Not as sure about laptops - I believe there are USB 2.0 pcmcia cards available.

Posted by: Leo at October 9, 2005 1:37 PM

I have purchased the Belkin Hi Speed USB 2.0 DVD creator and can't make it work. It only shows b/w, stripes and 'jumping' frames. Doesn't matter what software I use. I'm thinking that it hasn't been plugged into a USB 2.0 port. However, whilst my Device manager states that I do have an Enhanced USB port, I haven't been able to make it work despite trying all USB ports on my workstation, on my laptop and on a Dell slim line computer on our network. Is it likely that I don't have a USB 2.0 port after all on any computer. We build my workstation ourselves, the Dell is 3 years old and the laptop is a Dell Inspiron I bought late 2004.

Posted by: vivian at October 19, 2005 2:13 AM

thanks so much for showing me how to check to see if i have USB 2.0. I did as you said and see the following:

Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C2
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C4
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

OK, so my question is this: Only one of the listed controllers says "enhanced", does that mean that only one of my usb ports is 2.0 and if so how can i find out which one. A related question; I actually have 4 USB ports on my computer, why are only 3 showing up, or do these listings not corelate directly to each individual USB port?

Thanks for your help,
Gautam

Posted by: Gautam at October 23, 2005 10:41 PM

I don't believe it's a one to one mapping. It's more a reflection of how the drivers are structured to provide support for both 2.0 and 1.0, and other things that I can't begin to guess at.

As I said in the article, if it lists enhanced, and all of your ports are built in to the machine, I believe that they are all 2.0.

Posted by: Leo A. Notenboom at October 27, 2005 8:43 AM

I found your article very informative. It jogged the memory cells in my head. I do have one question about the USB ports. What announces to the Device manager that you have USB 2.0? Is this stored in the BIOS or in WINXP itself? The reason I ask is that with all the updated drivers, I have a Logitech Fusion camera and a MAXTOR One touch external USB hard drive that will not work on my PC. However, they will work on my wife's 2 computers that has just about the same motherboard. MSI NEO2-F (mine), MSI NEO4 (hers). Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Posted by: James at October 29, 2005 10:54 AM
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