04/28/2008 Miscellaneous

Most desktop and laptop computers sold after 2002 are USB 2.0 enabled. USB 2.0 enabled means that the computer has one or more USB-enhanced host controllers. To determine if your computer running the Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating system has a USB-enhanced host controller, follow these steps:

1. Start Device Manager. To do so, click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type devmgmt.msc, and then click OK.



2. In the Device Manager window, expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers node. Look for a host controller with the word "Enhanced" in the title. If you find one, your system has USB 2.0 capable ports and has the necessary host controller drivers.



3. If you do not find an enhanced host controller in step 2, expand the Other Devices section. Look for Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller. If you find this item, your system has USB 2.0 capable ports, but you need to install drivers for this host controller. If you do not find this item, your system does not have any USB 2.0 ports.



What is USB?

Short for Universal Serial Bus, an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps. A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, and keyboards. USB also supports Plug-and-Play installation and hot plugging.

Starting in 1996, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new machines. It wasn't until the release of the best-selling iMac in 1998 that USB became widespread. It is expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports.

What is USB 2.0?

Also referred to as Hi-Speed USB, USB 2.0 is an external bus that supports data rates up to 480Mbps. USB 2.0 is an extension of USB 1.1. USB 2.0 is fully compatible with USB 1.1 and uses the same cables and connectors.

Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent, Microsoft, NEC and Philips jointly led the initiative to develop a higher data transfer rate than the 1.1 specification to meet the bandwidth demands of developing technologies. The USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000.