BIOS Considerations on a USB 1.1 to 2 Card Upgrade 2

[RexxSysProg]

Re Discussion thread750-1125541 -

Are there any BIOS concerns about installing a PCI USB 1.1 -> 2.0 upgrade card (e.g. Belkin 2.0 PCI card)to replace my USB 1.1? Im running on a Dell GX110 with the latest BIOS upgrade (A09) with Windows 2K.

 

[goombawaho]

I would just plug and play and see what happens. You're not trying to boot off the new USB device are you? Some older machines don't allow booting off USB. Other than that, you should be ok.

One thing I did experience on an older W2K PC. Adding a 4-in-1 card reader caused POST time to go up to about 1 minute. I believe it was looking at the USB devices during boot time because if you unplugged the reader, normal booting returned. It was annoying, but cause no problems once booted.

 

[cdogg]

Yes, there are BIOS concerns when on all computers built before the Pentium-II era. However since then, USB has become a standard integrated component and shouldn't be an issue when it comes to compatibility.

The main thing to consider when using a USB 2.0 card is the operating system. In this case, you have Windows 2000 so you should be fine. Just make sure you get a driver CD with the card, or that you can find it online. There are a lot of rogue manufacturers of USB 2.0 cards with poor support and nothing online.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[RexxSysProg]

Thank you goombawaho and cdogg. I am not looking to startup from a USB device so that won't be an issue. I believe in the other thread that I referenced it said that Win 2K did not need drivers as it had everything it needed. But I expect that as Belkin is a reliable vendor, its card would come with a driver.

By the way, I expect that PC speed is not an issue. I'm running on a Pentium II 733 ghz.

 

[cdogg]

Sorry, cross out the when in the first line

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[cdogg]

Also, Windows 2000 unlike Windows XP has a much smaller driver base. I've found myself over the years doing a lot of driver installs even for generic devices like USB flash drives. But yeah, Belkin is definitely a good brand to go with for reliable support.