new install XP - question/problem

I just did a clean install of 32bit XP - updated with all updates.

I have a question and a problem:

Question: Is there any specific drivers I should install for my system, since it is a 64bit dual-core (Opteron 165, see sig, top machine)? So far I have not installed any drivers except those from the nvidia CD (and updated them), for things like LAN, Sound, etc. I remember the last time I installed XP, I installed this amd64 driver, and also something for dual core if I remember correctly. However, everything seems to be working ok this time around without any special drivers.

Problem: When I plug in a USB device, a message pops up: "You should connect this device to a high-speed USB 2.0 port in order to get fast speeds". I am not sure what this is about. It seems that XP thinks my ports are 1.1 or something, but in Device Manager it says I have 2.0 drivers installed. The USB drivers I installed were found on the Nvidia cd supplied with my mobo (Ultra-D).


ps. Now that XP64 has been out for a while, would you recommend I install that instead of the 32bit I have now?

What drivers you need are no different than any other system. If you are not sure check in device manager and see any device that have a yellow exclamation mark, then install those drivers. Mostly it would be like motherboard chipset, NIC, audio, and video drivers.

Have you don all the Windows updates? USB 2.0 was corrected with one of them after SP2, so that is the first place I would look.

As for x64 vs. XP I will say there is no huge reason to. If you want to look into it very carefully and make sure all of the hardware you need has proper drivers and will work for you. I know most of the issues have been worked out, but there are still a few issues left with software/hardware compatability with x64. If everything you want to use works with it then it is up to you. I don't notice that great of a difference between the two.

I don't believe there is a massive performance advantage to using XP64 simply because most applications are not yet 64bit and as such run under the 32bit emulation layer

if you plan on gaming, you might wanna look at the amd dual core driver patch. Well.. not much of a driver, just a line or 2 it adds to something or other in your system so it plays more nicely with the DC cpu.

Ok.. I'll forget about x64, I had no real plans to run it anyway, XP runs just fine.

What drivers you need are no different than any other system. If you are not sure check in device manager and see any device that have a yellow exclamation mark, then install those drivers. Mostly it would be like motherboard chipset, NIC, audio, and video drivers.

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Everything is installed properly, and there are no yellow marks or anything. The problem is that the message about my ports keeps on popping up if I have anything plugged into any of my USBs.

I have all the critical updates installed from the automatic updates (except WGA of course, which I removed after accidentally installing, but this is not related as the USB problem was present right after the original installation, and still is).

I'll get the updated Nvidia drivers from the site, perhaps its the old drivers on the CD that are the problem, but I doubt it as I never had this problem before, in fact, this is the first time I ever seen this type of message on any XP machine, including all of mine and the numerous installs I have done.

Is there anyway to test a USB port and the speed?


ps. What is Marvel Miniport Driver? This is the only thing in my "add/remove programs" that I can't pinpoint, don't know how it got there, but I suppose it could be important.

Make sure you have SP1 or SP2 installed. Pre SP1 XP software does not reconize 2.0 usb ports and will install them as 1.1. After installing a service pack, go to the device manager and select "update" driver for the usb ports.

I have sp2 installed.

I will do a search for a 2.0 driver specifically for the Ultra-D board and hopefully that fixes it, although I fail to see why the driver on the dfi disk that came with the board wouldn't work, especially since device manager recognizes the ports as USB2.0.

ps. What is Marvel Miniport Driver? This is the only thing in my "add/remove programs" that I can't pinpoint, don't know how it got there, but I suppose it could be important.

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I don't want to start a new thread just to ask this, can anyone answer?

MarveLL is a maker of network chips. A miniport driver is a very very low level hardware accessing driver. So this is a driver for your network card.