USB question

[undyingking]

Does anyone know how to tell whether a Windows 98 installation includes USB support or not?*

I have a vague memory that USB support was included in W98 SE and also in SP2, does that sound right? But should there be an easily-spottable item relating to it in the control panel, or the system properties tab, or something like that?

(This is for a relative's PC at some distance from here, as you probably guessed.)

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* There are no prizes for saying "Plug in a USB device and see if it detects it," because the PC in question has no USB ports.

Comments

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

Hmm, not sure. All my Win98 PCs support USB, right from my Gateway which was pre- Win98SE (and probably pre- SP2). But I'm not sure if that was "true" support or something that was bolted on. l33t windoze pedants might say that USB support was "bolted on" in '98 but was native in '98SE, but the experience for the end user was the same.

In any case, the USB controller should be visible in the System/Harware Profile (or whatever) if configured correctly. If not, it will have one of those yellow dots and an exclamation mark.

I must ask, why are you bothered if the PC has no USB ports?

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Because I have a USB-port-on-an-expansion-card which I'm planning to send to the relative in question, but I'd like to know in advance whether or not their Windows will have to be updated before it can be recognized.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

should be visible in the System/Harware Profile

Excellent, yes, that should do it, thanks!

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure it did. I had a Sony Vaio with win98 and that used USB devices quite happily.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, but I remember that my first W98 PC didn't support USB until I installed (IIRC) SP2 -- so I'm hoping there's an easy way to distinguish.

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

Hrrm... now I think about it further, my Vaio might have had 98 SE which bibliogirl suggests did have USB support.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Win98 SE supports USB (for some value of "supports" -- it almost invariably requires the installation of drivers for the USB item concerned on first use). No idea on the easily-spottable stuff, but if you get really desperate, drop me a mail and I will fire up my aged laptop and poke around on its control panel for you.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

I've no idea which version of Win98 my Mum has, but it needs drivers for everything installed (Much to my disappointment when I tried to bring stuff over on a USB key, and it couldn't see it.)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Hmm, hopefully the new device my mum (for it is she) wants to install comes with a CD...

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

All versions of 98 had _some_ support of USB, it's just each version supported more and more things. I wouldn't trust anything short of 98SE to work with a random bit of USB hardware however.

NB Be very careful with USB expansion cards: I got Jacki's old machine a USB PCI card that ate 3 IRQs and wasn't very good at sharing them. With the result that the machine would freeze every day or two.

[smiorgan.livejournal.com]

I had the same experience. Machine would lock up when trying to add or remove any kind of mass storage. It was a crappy VIA card.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

This is one I used to use myself, and didn't have any problems with, so fingers crossed it'll be OK for my mum too. If it doesn't work, I'll have to set her up a wireless network and router, which I can see being a very painful procedure when undertaken solely by remote instruction of naive user.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

98 OEM SE2 had USB support as its big feature, but is very short on drivers. Before that, it sometimes worked, but was not part of the core architecture, and therefore all drivers are one-offs.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Excellent, that clarifies it, thanks!