Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 is a significantly faster version of USB 1.1. Determining which you have is not at all obvious. But it is fairly easy.
I'm thinking of purchasing a USB device, but it requires USB 2.0. I can't find anywhere on my machine that tells me whether or not I have this. How can I tell if I have USB 2.0?
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USB (for Universal Serial Bus) 2.0 is a significantly faster version of USB 1.1. Some devices can be quite speed intensive, and hence manufacturers are starting to require the faster connection. Most new machines come with USB 2.0 already built in. But what about an older machine? How do you tell?
It's easy, just not at all obvious.
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The tidbit of information you're looking for is buried in the device manager:
- Right-click My Computer
- Click on Properties
- Click on the Hardware tab
- Click on the Device Manager button
- Scroll down as needed until you see Universal Serial Bus Controllers
- Expand that by clicking on the boxed plus sign in front of Universal Serial Bus Controllers
At this point you should see something like this:
Note the highlighted line: "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller". While the exact text may vary, the key is the word "Enhanced".
If it's "Enhanced", it's USB 2.0. If it's not, then it's USB 1.x.
Now, wasn't that obvious?
Important: on most machines the presence of "Enhanced", even only once (which it typically is), means that all USB ports are USB 2.0 ports. Typically a machine will have only one type of port and this tells you which kind they all are.
The one exception to this scenario is a machine with USB 1.1 ports that has a USB 2.0 expansion card added. In this case I know of no way to tell which is which, other than simply knowing you added a USB 2.0 card to a machine with built-in 1.1 ports. Obviously in a case like this, the built-in ports are 1.1, and the added expansion card ports are 2.0.
Article C2405 - August 17, 2005 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
August 16, 2012 1:21 PM
@Morry
I think the easiest way to tell what your USB ports are is too look at the website of computer's manufacturer, and find a diagram of your computer. Or maybe you still have the info that came when you bought it. Then just remember which one is which!
January 30, 2013 12:48 PM
Thanks. I'm on my way to adding a pci usb 2.0 expansion card, did a little research and ended on your blog. Great article.
February 2, 2013 12:11 AM
Leo! I have a question! My pc has USB 2.0. I double checked in Device Managers. THEN WHY am I getting pop ups telling me that I'm using a "Generic USB" and need to unplug...and plug into my USB 2.0 Port??? You say if one port is 2.0 then all ports on the pc are 2.0. So this pop up msg. makes no sense...if what your saying is true. Correct?
March 17, 2013 5:12 AM
Interesting, this article helped me finding out if an old computer had usb 2.0 ports
March 23, 2013 10:54 AM
I bookmarked this quite some time ago because I was dealing with computers during that transition time between USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.
Now that we have USB 3.0 out there, perhaps you should update the article to include that information.
Here's a start: The plastic piece within a USB 2.0 socket is white, whereas the plastic piece within a USB 3.0 socket is blue. At least, that's what the standard says.