FAQ, tips and tricks - USB

USB or Universal Serial Bus is a standard connectivity for connecting peripheral devices (Storage devices, printers, scanners, etc) to your computers.

It has been around for a few years now, and USB ports are standard fitted to every new computer.

The advantages of USB :

• Possible to connect 127 devices on one port
• Devices can be attached and removed without restarting the computer, "hot Pluggable".
• The PC recognises each device that is plugged in and automatically loads the appropriate driver.
• USB can supply power to low consumption peripherals (mouse, keyboard,….)
• Plextor CD-writers use more power and therfore have their own powersupply.

Difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0 :

• The most important difference Between USB 1.1 and 2 .0 is the data transfer speed, 12Mbps versus 480Mbps when using the USB 2.0 interface.
• Although we recommend using the USB 2.0 interface for our devices it is also possible to write CD's on USB 1.1 with limited performance. The maximum available writing speed in this case will be 4X and the reading speed will be reduced to 6X.

Do I have USB on my computer? :

Windows 95/98/ME:
Click on the Start button -> Settings -> Control Panel -> system and select "Device manager"
When you see an icon with "Universal Serial Bus Controller" you computer is equipped with USB interface.

Windows 2000/XP:
Click on the Start button -> Settings -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware and select "Device Manager".
When you see an icon with "Universal Serial Bus Controller" you computer is equipped with USB interface.

Most common motherboards have a USB 1.1 interface onboard installed.

More information regarding the USB interface :

http://www.usb.org
http://www.everythingusb.com
http://www.usbman.com

More links and drivers :

Microsoft information
Adaptec products
Adaptec drivers
OrangeMicro products
Drivers for Windows
Drivers for Mac
Belkin products
Drivers for USB2.0 products