usb 2.0

[3223]

hi i have about a 5 year old comp. i think i have usb 1.1 but i want to find out if i have 1.1 or 2.0. how do i do this? if i have 1.1 i want to get either usb 2.0 or firewire (or both if possible). which is faster? what are the differences? also can you guys give me some newegg links to what i would need to upgrade to usb 2.0 and/or firewire? also how would i install it (physically) thanks

[lynx]

If your computer is 5 years old, you do not have USB 2.0, since it was not available 5 years ago.

In terms of speed, firewire (IEEE 1394) is faster than USB 1.x, and USB 2.0 is faster than firewire. USB2.0 is backwards compatible with USB 1.x, but firewire is not compatible with either. Firewire was originally all the rage for connecting things like cameras to PCs because of its higher speed, but USB seems to have overtaken it now. If you have a particular product you want to connect check what sort of connection it has, they are not interchangeable.

For USB 2.0 to operate at high speed you need WinXP SP1 or Win2K SP4 as a minimum, otherwise it only runs at USB 1.1 speed.

Here's some lists of available cards:
USB only (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=1871%3A12431&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=73&Submit=Property)
Firewire only (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=1871%3A12432&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=73&Submit=Property)
USB and Firewire (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=1871%3A12433&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=73&Submit=Property)

[Storm]

might i add that there is also firewire 800, which is twice as fast as the original firewire, and nearly twice as fast as USB 2.0

check out http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20040402/ for some more info on firewire advantages........

[vivitron 15]

i got a card which has usb 2 and firewire from ebay a couple of months ago for around £5-£10, which works fine...the guy might still be selling them

[3223]

thanks for the info but i also need to know if i have usb 1.1 or 2.0 and how to install usb 2.0 if i have 1.1. also is there a firewire 800/usb 2.0 card?

[lee551]

i believe it tells you in device manager:

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/8383/usb7th.jpg

[3223]

i believe it tells you in device manager:

http://img319.imageshack.us/img319/8383/usb7th.jpg

it says generic root hub. guess its 1.1. now i just need to know if i should get usb 2.0 or usb 2.0 and firewire. to play xbox live on the xbox 360 do would i need firewire? if i do i might as well buy the usb 2.0 and firewire. also i found out firewire 800 only works on 64 bit slots. how do i know if i have a 64 bit slot? thanks for the help

[3223]

will all the pci to usb 2.0 card fit my comp?

[micolithe]

Yes, because PCI is standard.

[lynx]

If your computer is 5 years old, you do not have USB 2.0, since it was not available 5 years ago.
The very first line of the first reply.

You aren't going to get far if you don't even read that much.

There's not much point in even considering Firewire 800 if the devices that you intend to connect don't support it. There are cards which will support Firewire 800 on a 32 bit bus, but since the 32-bit pci bus can only support 1066Mb/s maximum there won't be much time left for the system to do anything else. I doubt whether a 5 yr old pc would cope. And in any case they are expensive.