I'm more used to using Windows 98, but have recently been given a PC with Windows 
ME installed. I'm a novice as far as Win ME is concerned.

In one significant respect Win ME differs from Win 98, in that it has better support 
for USB, at least in theory. The problem is that the only USB peripherals I can now 
buy (for a Y2K model PC) are all USB 2.0, but the Win ME machine only supports USB 
1.1 of course.

I'm trying to install a USB 2.0 external hard drive, as a backup for the machine's 
80 GB internal hard disk. But the data transfer rate is depressingly slow across 
a USB 1.1 connection. Take about a fortnight to back up 80 GB at this rate! It's 
not really a practical solution.

I was hoping to install a USB 2.0 PCI card, to provide some "on chip" USB 2.0 support. 
The motherboard in the PC has only its native USB 1.1 chip (Intel 82801AA USB Universal 
Host Controller).

But I don't know how to get Win ME to recognise USB 2.0 (as I've never had any success 
using USB with Win 98). What's the trick?

If it needs a new driver file, is it possible to buy a PCI card that comes with the 
necessary driver(s) for Windows ME?

Can anyone recommend a suitable PCI card, that's currently available? Or outline 
any obvious snags with the approach I'm taking? Many thanks.

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: Upgrading WinME to use USB 2.0 Thursday, January 25, 2007 at 6:39 pm Posted by Steve (19681 messages posted) I don't remember the Brand PCI USB 2 card I bought (a Cheap one), but it came with a Driver CD, and the card installed with no problems. Been using it a couple years now. I would just make sure the card you buy has a Driver CD, they are really for Win ME, and 98, because XP with a current SP pack doesn't need added USB 2 drivers. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Upgrading WinME to use USB 2.0 Friday, January 26, 2007 at 1:04 am Posted by dougdeep (14 messages posted) Add-in PCI USB cards are usually built around a single large integrated circuit. While there are a lot of brands of cards available, there are only a few manufacturers making the ICs. The chips from NEC seem to give good results (they have for me). Cards based on ALI products seem to generate a lot of raspberries from users in various forums but they're cheap and are often found in "store brand" cards. Fortunately, a lot of these cards are in see-through packaging and you can check before you buy. Go to the web site www.usbman.com for an astounding amount of information about USB2.0, drivers and troubleshooting. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Upgrading WinME to use USB 2.0 Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 8:15 am Posted by DNA (552 messages posted) I've installed USB 2.0 PCI cards in Windows 98SE/2000/ME computers, and I also recommend cards with the NEC USB 2.0 chipset. I've never had a problem with NEC-chipset cards. My Athlon 1.1 has an integrated NEC USB 2.0 chipset. Ironically, when the motherboard was new (Dec. 2001) I had USB 2.0 speed in Windows 98, but not in XP, because the MB's supplied USB 2.0 driver for XP didn't work. I did finally have USB 2.0 speed in XP when XP Service Pack 1 came out, and solved this whole problem! -------------------------------------------------------------- Athlon 1.1 - 768 MB RAM = 98SE & XP Home Athlon 3000+ 64 - 1024 MB RAM = 98SE (@768 MB RAM) & XP Pro IBM ThinkPad PIII 900 - 384 MB RAM = 98SE & XP Pro SP2 Windows 2000 Server in the basement [Reply or follow-up to this message] Thank you Saturday, January 27, 2007 at 1:40 pm Posted by Ed (603 messages posted) Thank you very much Steve, dougdeep and DNA. I'll take your advice and get one with the NEC chipset, and also take a look at www.usbman.com Ed [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows Me Discussion Forum