USB hub question....

[radfringe]

my computer only has two USB ports. I have one of the ports hooked up with a USB hub (expands usb to 4 ports)and the other one is in use for a cd-rw drive

I have a 5 different perhiperals hooked into all of the available USB ports - so all the ports are now being used

I want to get an external hard drive - but I need another USB port
can I add another 4-port hub to the computer and not risk "screwing" up my computer? I need the hard drive to be external because I need to transport data/software to/from work

(swapping the USB connections to change peripherals is not an option)

[ET Awful]

1. Yes you can. Each USB port on the computer can actually

control much more than you have installed. Each USB root hub (meaning the main controller on your computer, some PC's have 2 or more) can control 128 USB devices.

http://docsrv.caldera.com:507/en/man/html.HW/usb.HW.html

[radfringe]

2. THANKS!

that's good news - because I can't afford to replace a computer if I :nuke: it with USB ports...

[ET Awful]

3. If it's a desktop, you could always spend about $30 and add another

USB card if you have an open slot.

[Salviati]

4. You may want to check your computers USB ports...

to see if they're USB1 or USB2. USB2 is much (much) faster, and while it may not make a differance for your other perhipherals, it's a huge deal for a hard drive. I had gotten a hard drive mp3 player, and the transfer speed on my computer was just unbearably slow until I got a USB2 card to put into it.