I have two USB 2.0 ports on the front of my Dell E521 and four on the back. The two front ones are open. The back ones have my mouse, keyboard, printer and a 4-port USB 2.0 hub connected. The hub has my UPS, flatbed scanner, and film scanner connected, leaving one port open.

A couple of times when using the front ports to load an mp3 player or move files from a storage device or mp3 player to another mp3 player, I've had a message pop up that transfer would be faster if I used USB 2.0 instead of USB 1.0. What's that about? All the ports are 2.0 already. Today I was copying almost 8 gigs of songs from one mp3 player to another one and the message popped up again, so disconnected a couple of devices from the rear ports and used those instead to continue the transfer. However, "time remaining" wasn't any different, but no more messages popped up again either.

Here is what I device manager shows with nothing connected to the front ports:

http://i.imgur.com/hS5AO.jpg

Apparently, if it says "enhanced" it's supposed to be USB 2.0. Is that what I have and are all the ports 2.0? Is there a speed test I can run to check them?

When it happen, where you using the hub or a direct connection to the usb port ?

The players were connected directly to the 2 ports on the front of the computer.

are you sure that they dont share a cable that internaly connected to your motherboard ? Try with the port in the back to test, those are directly connected to your motherboard and dont share their bandwith.

I've had a message pop up that transfer would be faster if I used USB 2.0 instead of USB 1.0. What's that about

Sounds like one of the devices (not the port) are usb 1.0 devices.

No, both mp3 players are USB 2.0. (The only USB 1.x device I have is my camera, which can take an hour to download if there's any movies on it, so I use a card reader instead.)

I've been Googling this problem and it's not uncommon, but I haven't seen any brilliant explanations.

Coincidentally, I just saw an ad pop up below my posting about getting new USB 2.0 drivers. I have to "download DriverFinder™." and install it. Has anyone tried this? I don't want to waste a lot of time and clutter up my system only to find out I have to buy something.

I wouldn't. I don't think any of those popup ads have any association with this site.

I have the exact occurence with front USB ports on an HP. I thinkt he front really are USB1 but this is an older desktop. May have been a moneysaver at the time if they assumed one would only plug a keyboard or mouse in those.

From what I understand, all USB ports on a computer should be the same type. Peripherals that are permanently connected, such as keyboard, mouse, printer and scanner would go on the back, where they are out of the way, while the front ports would be used for temporary stuff, like thumb drives, mp3 players, etc. If your MB has a USB 2.0 controller, then all the ports are USB 2.0. Could it be that the ports ob the front are branched farther out from the controller and thus slower?

Try opening the case and trace the wire from the front of the case to the USB header on the motherboard. Plug it into a different header (watch the pin layout, one is blocked out to ensure it goes on right) and see if that changes anything.
A single USB header can power two USB2.0 ports at full speed, so that's not the issue.

You can also rule out software by trying a linux live cd. If linux can access it as 2.0 then it's a windows problem. You should be able to plug in the two devices to transfer files without issue.

It could also be that they installed a hub in the front to split one header to more ports/devices - e.g. card reader + usb ports from one header (typically two would be required for USB2.0 speeds on all). But you'd still be using at most two ports, which should be fine. Unless that hub is rated USB1.1

I've also seen this message with USB 2.0 devices. It could just be a bug in Windows causing spurious messages. It could be a device driver or device registration issue. (I wouldn't click on a pop up ad though. You may want to find out what is causing the pop up ads and uninstall or disable it.) Uninstalling the MP3 device and rebooting the PC may help. Moving the front USB port cable to another USB set of pins on the motherboard may fix the issue. If the MP3 player has device drivers, installing updated versions from the maker's web site could help.

(I wouldn't click on a pop up ad though. You may want to find out what is causing the pop up ads and uninstall or disable it.)

I didn't mean a "pop-up" from elsewhere, but an ad from this board that pops up triggered by the thread context, like this one:

http://i.imgur.com/sVMoK.jpg

I didn't download what they're selling because I'm not buying. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. :rolleyes:

@oldyellr
I have give you an explanation.

@oldyellr
I have give you an explanation.
Yeah, what you said is similar to what I was guessing, that maybe the front ports are more distant branches of the "tree", seeing as they are not directly on the MB like the rear ports. I'll look into it next time I clean out the dust bunnies.

I doubt that pop up is from this site, though it's possible. It's more likely that it's from a browser add-on that was installed by a third party. It's probably tracking or scanning the web sites you visit and sending them back to an ad server. Even worse, it could be logging your key strokes. I would do a malware scan and disable or uninstall any third party tool bars.

The front USB ports are not "distant." They are typically connected directly to the motherboard. Windows can sometimes register hardware incorrectly or the registration can become corrupt when different hardware is plugged into a USB port. That's most likely the issue. The solution is usually to clear all hardware registration entries on the USB ports and update any hardware drivers. Hidden hardware entries also need to be cleared. Using a different USB port or header can also work since that registers the device as a new piece of hardware. Using a different USB cable may also help.

I doubt that pop up is from this site...A bit OT, but just as an FYI, the ads that appear on this site do (often) reflect the topic of a particular thread. You can see this all the time. There are no pop-ups, only ads.

The front USB ports are not "distant." They are typically connected directly to the motherboard. Windows can sometimes register hardware incorrectly or the registration can become corrupt when different hardware is plugged into a USB port. That's most likely the issue.
Does the order in which the ports appear in device manager mean anything? I see what appears to be the front two ports at the bottom.

http://i.imgur.com/hS5AO.jpg

The order it is based on alphabetical order

My point is not that the front port are distant.
I said that they sometine share a cable and bandwith.

So if you tranfert from front port A to front port B you may be using only
a motherboard USB2.0 port and then having bandwith drop.