I have an old Compaq Armada laptop with a USB port but I don't know if it's 2.0 or older. I imagine it's whatever came before 2.0 (1.0?) but I'm wondering if there's a way to detect it. I use Win ME in it because the CPU is old (Pentium 1, I think) and there's only 64MB RAM.

The reason I want to know is because I'm thinking of buying a USB wireless network adapter and it's for a USB 2.0. Will the network adapter work on an older, slower system (like my laptop) with whatever type USB ports were installed back when this machine was made?

Thanks,
Relztrah

A system information utility like Everest (http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en) should tell you what you have. Given the age of what you describe there, it's very likely USB 1.0. A 2.0 device will be backward compatible and work, but at the slower 1.0 speed.

Edit: Maybe to be more precise...but should work at the slower 1.0 speed. In my experience, this has been true.

Considering it is old and has WindowsME it would be USB 1. USB 2 came out after the introduction of XP.
I am guessing a network adapter will work at the slower speed, cannot know whether other 2.0 devices will function though.

If it's really old enough to be a Pentium, and not a Pentium II, then you have the original USB 1.0. I seriously doubt a wireless adapter will work in that case. USB 1.0 was buggy as all hell. If it's a Pentium II, then you have USB 1.1, which has a much better chance of working with a USB 2.0 device.

Open Device Manager, and expand the Universal Serial Bus section. There should be an "Enhanced" USB host controller present if the system has USB 2.0 architecture.
If it says just USB host controller, then it's USB 1.1

Check the driver CD that comes with the wireless adapter, if it has drivers for ME then it should work with both ME and the older USB standard. If you can, borrow a USB flash drive from someone and plug it in, that should give you an error message saying a high speed USB device is plugged into a non-high speed USB controller. That won't cause any problems, it will still work, but will work at the slower USB speed and will also easily confirm what USB version you have. I agree with the earlier evaluations, it's most likely USB 1 or 1.1. With your situation the critical issue is going to be drivers, if the CD has drivers for ME then it should work.


I know a Linksys new from Wally World a month ago will work with ME, I installed one for a customer. Sorry I can't remember the model number of the card, I've slept since then, but it installed and worked perfect, the problem we had on that job was getting a good unobstructed location for both router and wireless card. Ended up with a completely different system and running a wire instead, due to the layout of the building and metal stoves and storage areas between the two we could not get a signal no matter what except by holding the router out in the middle of the walkway....that won't work for a fast food joint...as far as functionality, it worked fine on ME and the older USB version.