USB 3.0 to USB 2.0

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

--
Thank you,
Jo-Anne

On 8/16/2015 4:03 PM, The Other Guy wrote:
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:56:37 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Absolutely, they'll work fine that way.

On the other hand, you might find some USB2 devices cause trouble when
plugged into USB3 ports. My HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color printer kept
causing the blue screen of death in Windows 7 until I moved its
connection from a USB3 port to a USB2 port.


--
David E. Ross

Why do we tolerate political leaders who
spend more time belittling hungry children
than they do trying to fix the problem of
hunger? http://mazon.org/

On 8/16/2015 6:31 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
On 8/16/2015 4:03 PM, The Other Guy wrote:
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:56:37 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Absolutely, they'll work fine that way.

On the other hand, you might find some USB2 devices cause trouble when
plugged into USB3 ports. My HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color printer kept
causing the blue screen of death in Windows 7 until I moved its
connection from a USB3 port to a USB2 port.


Thank you, David. Now that I think about it, my HP LaserJet Pro 4100 is
plugged into a USB 3.0 port with a USB 2.0 plug, and thank heavens it
works. As far as I can tell, my Dell Precision M4800 has four USB 3.0
ports and one "eSATA/USB 2.0 connector." I haven't figured out quite
what that is, although I assume it's meant for external hard drives. I
guess that means that in theory I can plug my old USB 2.0 external hard
drives into that port, although they probably (maybe?) would work
plugged into the USB 3.0 ports too.

--
Jo-Anne

On 8/16/2015 6:03 PM, The Other Guy wrote:
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:56:37 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Absolutely, they'll work fine that way.




Thank you.

--
Jo-Anne

En el artículo , Jo-Anne Jo-
escribió:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer?

Yes, no problem USB-wise.

Be aware though that if your external drives are bigger than 2TB,
Windows XP 32-bit won't see them as they use a newer partition table
format (GPT) that XP 32-bit doesn't understand. XP 64-bit should be OK.

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP, press the Windows key and
the Break key together. A system information window will pop up, and in
there it'll tell you which you have.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

Mike Tomlinson wrote:

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP

.... then I'll give you a 1000:1 it's 32

En el artículo , Andy
Burns escribió:
Mike Tomlinson wrote:

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP

... then I'll give you a 1000:1 it's 32

Yeah, agreed, but if I hadn't covered it some pedant would have wandered
along...

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

On 17/08/2015 00:31, David E. Ross wrote:
On 8/16/2015 4:03 PM, The Other Guy wrote:
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:56:37 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Absolutely, they'll work fine that way.

On the other hand, you might find some USB2 devices cause trouble when
plugged into USB3 ports. My HP LaserJet Pro 200 Color printer kept
causing the blue screen of death in Windows 7 until I moved its
connection from a USB3 port to a USB2 port.



Probably not the fact that's it was a USB3 port, just the fact that it
had some kind of marginal fault or driver bug. Sometimes a better USB
lead can fix this kind of thing without changing ports.

--

Brian Gregory (in the UK).
To email me please remove all the letter vee from my email address.

Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artículo , Andy
Burns escribió:
Mike Tomlinson wrote:

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP
... then I'll give you a 1000:1 it's 32

Yeah, agreed, but if I hadn't covered it some pedant would have wandered
along...


There are tables here with the details.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

Paul

On 8/17/2015 1:21 AM, Charlie+ wrote:
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:56:37 -0500, Jo-Anne wrote
as underneath :

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Youll have no trouble if you use a bulky USB3 lead but if you try to use
a normal micro USB lead (which you would think would definitely work)
then that wont work unless you have one with the earth shroud connected
right through to the plug/socket earths. Apple leads and some Sony phone
leads have this but most cheap USBmicro USB leads dont have this extra
through connection. When they mention backwards compatability of USB3
this is never mentioned anywhere! I had to measure the lead connections
to find out why some leads would work with SSD drives and some would
not! C+


Thank you for the info, Charlie. I think I know what you mean by a bulky
USB3 lead, but I'll just have to try what I have and see if it works.

--
Jo-Anne

On 8/17/2015 2:20 AM, Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el artículo , Jo-Anne Jo-
escribió:

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer?

Yes, no problem USB-wise.

Be aware though that if your external drives are bigger than 2TB,
Windows XP 32-bit won't see them as they use a newer partition table
format (GPT) that XP 32-bit doesn't understand. XP 64-bit should be OK.

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP, press the Windows key and
the Break key together. A system information window will pop up, and in
there it'll tell you which you have.


Thank you, Mike. My XP computer is definitely 32-bit, and my new
external drives are 2TB--so they should work.

--
Jo-Anne

In article , says...

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Hi

Have a look at the power-consumption of your USB 3.0 drive.
USB 2.0 delivers only 0.5 A.

If less. Take an USB 3.0 hub with external power supply (about 20$)

regards
Reinhard

On 8/17/2015 11:53 AM, Reinhard Skarbal wrote:
In article , says...

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Hi

Have a look at the power-consumption of your USB 3.0 drive.
USB 2.0 delivers only 0.5 A.

If less. Take an USB 3.0 hub with external power supply (about 20$)

regards
Reinhard


Thank you, Reinhard. I think I'll first try to use it as is. (I had USB
2.0 hub with an external power supply that I tried using with my WinXP
computer, which had very few USB ports. However, it wouldn't work for
most of my USB devices, so I finally gave up on it.)

--
Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
On 8/17/2015 11:53 AM, Reinhard Skarbal wrote:
In article , says...

I bought USB 3.0 external hard drives for my Windows 7 computer. If I
copy files onto them, can I then plug them into my older XP computer
with USB 2.0 ports and copy the files to that computer? I've read that
the USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible, but I wanted to make
sure this will work.

Hi

Have a look at the power-consumption of your USB 3.0 drive.
USB 2.0 delivers only 0.5 A.

If less. Take an USB 3.0 hub with external power supply (about 20$)

regards
Reinhard


Thank you, Reinhard. I think I'll first try to use it as is. (I had USB
2.0 hub with an external power supply that I tried using with my WinXP
computer, which had very few USB ports. However, it wouldn't work for
most of my USB devices, so I finally gave up on it.)


The hard drive inside the Passport 2TB, is a unit whose
model number lacks "specs". On a review site, the hard
drive label says "5V @ 0.75A". But that's not good
enough for power planning. You need the four or five
line table of values, to decide what is sufficient.

The 2.5" drive inside the Passport has four platters
and is something like 15mm tall. It won't fit in a
laptop bay. It consists of four 500GB platters.

On regular 2.5" drives, the spinup is 5V @ 1A and
the running value is 5 @ 250mA or so. The hard part
is getting those drives to spin up on USB2. Once they're
spinning, they will continue to spin.

So I think Reinhard's concern is valid, and if
the drive won't spin for you, that's a possible
explanation. USB has "nominal" power limits, and
also has "fuse protected" power limits. It would
be the value of "fuse protection" in this case,
that prevents spinup. So even if USB2 supports
500mA for a high power device, a drive with 1A
spinup can still get the power needed, before the
Polyfuse pops open. But depending on what
the spinup current is for that 15mm drive
(no spec available), the USB2 might be overloaded
by it, and need a "Hydra" or "Y" USB cable
plugging into two USB2 ports in different stacks.

The powering schemes come in two forms. The Y cable.

Computer USBa ---+
|
USBb ---+---- USB on drive

Or, if the enclosure has a barrel connector for power
input, you can buy a separate cable just for the barrel.

Computer USBa -------- Drive USB data input

USBb -------- Drive barrel power input (+5V)

When drive enclosures have the barrel power input
for 5V, you can use this cable while connected to a
second USB2 port, to add to the power delivered over
the regular data cable path. There are at least fifteen
different barrel connector lengths and diameters, and
it's better to try to buy this at a well-equipped computer
store. So the staff can verify it's the right one. For
example, at Radio Shack (not a computer store), they
have a display item with 15 different connectors strapped
to it, and customers can try them to discover the correct
type. Measuring the barrel part with a ruler, is a lot
harder to do correctly. I've made mistakes that way,
and bought the wrong adapter.

http://www.startech.com/Cables/USB-2...2m~USB2TYPEM2M

USB3 has a higher nominal current rating. As we assume
WDC did their homework.

Paul

On Mon, 17 Aug 2015 09:44:31 +0100, Mike Tomlinson
wrote:

En el artículo , Andy
Burns escribió:
Mike Tomlinson wrote:

If you don't know the 'bitness' of your XP

... then I'll give you a 1000:1 it's 32

Yeah, agreed, but if I hadn't covered it some pedant would have wandered
along...

Thanks, but now I have nothing to do. :-)

--

Char Jackson