I'm not sure how hard or easy this question would be to answer.  
I want to know if my mother board has usb 2.0.  It's a pentium four,
and I'm not sure if that is a standard for all P4's.  If it isn't I'll
provide more details and give a $5 tipp addition if it's going to take
some work.
I want to buy an external cd burner, using the usb ports.  But it
would be too slow if my motherboard has the old usb standards.

Hi there,

This is unfortunately a two-step process.

Step 1
------

We need to know the make and model of your motherboard. If you bought
the PC new, you probably have a manual or some paperwork that mentions
it. Otherwise, go to this website and download Belarc Advisor - Free
Personal PC Audit:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

(If you don't want to download a program, go here for a more laborious
method - http://www.motherboards.org/moboidtools.html )

It will run automatically and give you details of your system in a
browser window. I just tested it and it is safe to use.

In the details look for "Main Circuit Board" and let me know what it
says.

Step 2
------

It should be a simple matter for me to find the specs of motherboard
when you tell me which it is.


It seems ridiculous that you can't find this out from the Control
Panel. I guess this is partially due to the original Windows XP (and
any prior version of Windows) not having USB 2.0 support.


Looking forward to part 2 of the investigation,
robertskelton-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by summerz-ga on 17 May 2003 05:12 PDT

Hope this is the right method of answering here.
Unfortunitly I not using the machine at the moment...just someone
elses computer on the internet.
I've lost the manuals, but know it's a gigabyte GTA something
something with dual bios, and onboard sound card, brought new in
August 2001 when 1.8Ghz where the greatest.
I've looked in control panel and it just says (under device manager)
standard usb, which I suspect it will for usb 1.x or 2.0.
If you want I can run that program, on my machine...and get back to
you within a week (can't get on during weekdays, when I'm on my
machine).  But thanxs for your help so far...I'll get back to you,
with more info..and sup five more your way, with the answer (which I'm
sure I can still tip, until question is closed)

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 17 May 2003 05:33 PDT

If your motherboard is that old, then you won't have USB 2.0:

"Also, if your USB device is directly connected to your computer and
the computer was manufactured before March 2002, you are most likely
running on a USB 1.1 interface"
http://www.plextor.com/english/support/faqs/HW00006.htm

"USB 2.0 PCs began shipping in early 2002."
http://www.csgnetwork.com/usb20qa.html

Well, now I have an excuse to upgrade.  Thanks robertskelton, I'll
delay buying that Cd-rw, till I have a motherboard that has Usb 2.0.