Can i make my USB 1.0 "forward compatible"?

By willywilson
in Hardware Hangout

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willywilson

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Gday, my problem is this. I need to get a new printer, my old one is pretty much dead. Ive got a fiarly old computer 5 yrs old to be in fact (windows ME). I have USB 1.0 (maybe 1.1 but i don't think so), and nearly all the printer's nowadays seem to be 2.0 compatible. My problem is this - i do not wish to go out there and buy a new whatever it is device so my USB ports are all 2.0. I was wondering if there is a way where i jus plug a device into my USB port 1.0 and connect the printer into the other end of the device and it would work? So can my USB 1.0 port be made "forward compatible"? Could a USB hub do this for eg.

Grand Master

+John. Subscriber¹

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In all honesty, it's not that hard to go out to your local computer retailer, get a USB 2.0 PCI card and install. Would be good experience for you. However, if I were you in this case, i'd go out and buy a whole new machine.

Agreed. it'll cost less than $20/?10 I'd say for a USB 2.0 PCI Card...Although the buying a new system idea does seem a good one(Y))

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tkyoshi

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You do know that most printers say USB 2.0 Compatible, meaning that they don't work at 2.0 speeds but they are compatible with all USB versions.

Most of them still continue to work at USB 1 speeds, upgrading to USB 2 won't really make the printer print any faster (unless your computer is super super slow, then you should really be upgrading it as adding 2.0 ports won't speed it up anyway).

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dragon2611

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All USB ports are backwards compatable, meaning that you can plug any version of USB into your PC.

im not sure if thats the case actually, ive had a couple of devices that actually required the extra bandwith of USB2 to work (example tv tuner)

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Chaos-X

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kinda figures one of these geek squad people will say go out and buy a pci card and buy a whole new machine :laugh: :laugh: and let me guess buy it at Best Buy rite? lol

Uh, if hes still working on a computer that old, you can get a whole new machine for like 300-400$...itd be easier, and more cost effective to upgrade the entire machine...

Grand Master

jimbo11883

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Which printer do you want to buy? Look at the product's specifications. There should be information in there as to what USB speeds it can run at. If you have 1.0/1.1, you should be ok, most modern USB-connected printers support the full range of USB specifications.

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