old lap top has low speed usb ports...can i get an adapter?

[joko]

some of the things that i plug into it wont work because the speeds are too slow for the item...what can i do about it, without spending loads of money?

thansk

[gaspanic]

take it to PC world for a clean up I think its in the region of £20-£30 aslong as you dont have any incrimnating stuff you should be ok

[NazNomad]

Yeah, a clean up at PC World will drastically improve the speed of your USB ports ...

w
t
f
?

[gaspanic]

go F**K yourself naz. Its clearley a software issue or do you already know? whats your diagnosis?

[NazNomad]

My diagnosis is that you're a prat.

[gaspanic]

Do one.

[NazNomad]

<sigh>

[gaspanic]

ha, ha ha ha ha

[joko]

a clean up??

how is it 'clearly' a software problem??

how are old usb ports anything to do with software??

the items i am plugging in are designed for 2.0...the ports are 1.0.. the laptop has no highspeed ports...

how will software alter that??

(nb...at the moment the machine is totally clean - its has just been reset to factory settings with xp installed...)

[jd_here]

Download and run the free version of CCleaner

[Answerprancer]

My diagnosis is also that Gaspanic is a prat fo being foul mouthed and aggrssive for no good reason.
Joko - if you buy a PCMCIA USB 2 cardbus (about £15) which will slot into the side of your laptop (unless it's a VERY old one) that should speed up the use of any USB devices a bit - it will also give you more ports (2 or 4).
To get full USB 2 speed, I believe you have to use an additional power supply though.

[gaspanic]

oh look its anwserprancer so they let you out early did they? wondered where you'd been

funny how you love to act big over the internet...wanna do that in person?

[Answerprancer]

LOL cyber "come and have a go if you fink you're ard enuff"
Bugger off - silly little boy.

[ChuckFickens]

Well at least one person actually gave a pretty decent answer to the question!

There is a slim chance that it's just a driver issue (unlikely though!) but seeing as it's a fresh install worth checking, so what is the make and model of the computer?

But it's far more likely it is just a old computer, in which case If it's a laptop then, as AP says, a cardbus (PCMCIA) USB card.

http://www.amazon.co....ds=pcmcia+usb&x=0&y=0

If it's a desktop then a PCI USB card.

http://www.amazon.co....i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apci+usb

[joko]

thanks chuck and AP...

its an dell latitude...it is old...it has a floppy drive!

but it works brilliantly other than this.

my friend has just installed a fresh copy of XP on it...and only managed to get online yesterday with it...but it didnt mention any updates etc...?

how woul i kno which drivers i need?

[Answerprancer]

My laptop is also an old Dell Latitude (C600) so this is what I had to do too.
I also put some more RAM into it - you might want to check if it has the maximum it can take (mine was 512M if I remember rightly) and if not, see if you can sort that out - especially if you're trying to run XP on it.

[ChuckFickens]

AP, a C600 can definitely take more than 512mb (regardless of what the specs say), I had one of them myself with 2GB in it and it worked fine. a lot of the time the maximum memory amount quoted in specs is based on the largest size RAM chips available at the time of manufacture rather than any limit on the machine.

Joko.

the drivers will be available from dells website, you can either goto the link below and find the drivers yourself by inputting the service tag (it's on a sticker on the bottom of the laptop) or just post the service tag and I'm sure one of us will link to the drivers for you.

http://support.euro.d...&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

[Answerprancer]

Ooh ! thanks for that gem of info CF - the thing's as slow as a snail compared to my 4-gig RAMmed 2.5 ghz desktop, I'd assumed I was stuck with it like that.

While we're on the subject of old Dell laptops, do you know if there is anything I can do to stop the horrible whining/mouse noises that come through the headphone socket ?
(I use it to broadcast music) I've tried adding an external soundcard, this one:
http://www.maplin.co....edia-sound-card-97120
and it hasn't made much difference. I disabled the touchpad, that made no difference other than solving the problem of the 'run-away cursor'.

[scotman]

I had to upgrade this PC as it came with USB 1.1 and eventually I ended up with items that wouldn't work with 1.1, or could work faster with USB2.0. I fitted a card as others have suggested so now I have some slow ones and some fast ones with items plugged into whichever they require. Cards should not be that expensive.