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You are here: Experts > Computing/Technology > Focus on PC Support > PC hardware--CPU & Motherboard & RAM > USB 2.0 not working?
Expert: Ricardo Agudelo - 10/27/2009
Question
QUESTION: Hello Mr. Agudelo.
Please see the attached image.
This message pops up periodically, and even though I am computer-savvy enough to have built several computers over the years, I still do not know how to interpret it.
It doesn't say which device is involved--and I have no idea which ports on the back of my computer are NOT USB 2.0 (In fact, they should all be--so I am at a loss why I am getting the message at all.
So--can you tell me what I'm supposed to do?
regards,
Dan
ANSWER: Hi Dan,
Pretty annoying isn't it?
The message only means that either the USB port in the computer and/or the attached device is not version 2.0. The difference means the port should downgrade its speed to version 1.0 or 1.1, that's why it says it may preform faster. The message pops up every time the USB ports are scanned.
Meaningful? Well yes, if you run data intensive transfers (like when you have an external drive for backups). Otherwise, it is just another of those annoying messages that pops up when you have Windows Help Balloons enabled. If you want to get rid of it, you may look at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307729
Usually all ports in the computer are the same version. If the computer is less than 3-4 years old, it is very likely all are V2.0
Ricardo
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your speedy and informative reply--which immediately invites a follow-up question.
It's not that I want to get rid of the message (btw), but it annoys me that some of my peripherals (but which ones?) are running at USB1.0 capacity. (My printer printer, in particular, is sluggish.)
My ASUS P5E mainboard is USB2.0 ready, the facility is enabled in the BIOS, and my USB.2 devices are plugged into leaders that go directly to the USB2.0 headers on the board, so,...
QUESTION: How is it I am getting the message, at all? Could my mainboard's USB function be faulty?
Answer
Probably because the attached device is not V2.0 compliant. I forgot to mention the message pops up also if you have a V1.0 or 1.1 USB hub attached to a port in your computer. Although I had seen some USB ports failing, they are usually V1.0 or 1.1 failing because the devices attached overdrive the power the port is able to supply. In some computers (mostly old IBM Thinkpads), this condition may damage the port driver chip; but I don't think it is the problem, because you are getting information from the port (the message saying it cannot sync at V2.0).
If your computer has V2.0 ports, they are probably working fine. The message should come from the attached device.
How to find which one? Well, Windows does not provide a suitable diagnostics to pinpoint which port may be causing the problem. A way to find out is unplugging the suspected device (probably the printer), and then plug it back in. If the message shows up, you found the offending device.
How to fix it? You will need a new device that is V2.0 compliant, or get rid of the message as mentioned in the previous post. If the offending device is the printer, you are not likely to need the ultra-fast features of V2.0, therefore the suggestion to get rid of the silly message.
Ricardo
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