Need driver help for Win ME.....?

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to help me..........

I'm trying to update my drivers (modem, usb, sound, COM ports). I've
been to umpteen sites, and can't figure out which drivers are the
right ones for my setup. Microsoft doesn't support my operating system
anymore, so I'm stuck looking for the drivers at various other sites.
There are a *huge* number of possibilities (or so it
seems)...........I just want whichever drivers are the latest, BUT
reliable!!

I'm using: Windows ME
Modem is: PCTEL Platinum V.90
Sound: ESS Allegro PCI Audio (WDM)
USB is: 1.something, not 2.0. Can/should/do I upgrade to 2.0? If
not, where can I get the newest drivers for USB 1.something?

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

My sound drivers haven't given any trouble, but I'd like the current
drivers. My USB and modem drivers, however, are causing big problems.

Can anyone help.......please?! I'd really appreciate it! I've been
sorting through these sites for days now...........the drivers I need
have to be out there somewhere!!

Remember, I'm on Win. ME........(lucky me)

Thanks!

toon

If features are working such as sound you don't need to upgrade drivers.
Sound drivers for example are unlikely to have been updated since around
2000 when Win Me was released.

I just want whichever drivers are the latest

Remember that whilst you may _want_ the latest in most cases you don't
_need_ the latest.

USB drivers. These aren't something that gets updated as such so if you
have usb and it works then all is well. USB 2.0 requires a hardware
upgrade if you currently only have usb 1.0.

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

Unlikely as these will have been installed as part of the operating
system.
--
Mike Maltby




toonpup wrote:

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to help me..........

I'm trying to update my drivers (modem, usb, sound, COM ports). I've
been to umpteen sites, and can't figure out which drivers are the
right ones for my setup. Microsoft doesn't support my operating system
anymore, so I'm stuck looking for the drivers at various other sites.
There are a *huge* number of possibilities (or so it
seems)...........I just want whichever drivers are the latest, BUT
reliable!!

I'm using: Windows ME
Modem is: PCTEL Platinum V.90
Sound: ESS Allegro PCI Audio (WDM)
USB is: 1.something, not 2.0. Can/should/do I upgrade to 2.0? If
not, where can I get the newest drivers for USB 1.something?

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

My sound drivers haven't given any trouble, but I'd like the current
drivers. My USB and modem drivers, however, are causing big problems.

Can anyone help.......please?! I'd really appreciate it! I've been
sorting through these sites for days now...........the drivers I need
have to be out there somewhere!!

Remember, I'm on Win. ME........(lucky me)

Thanks!

toon

As Mike says.....if it is working, don't fart with it. The last time I
tried to update a video driver (and this was because I was having a video
issue and thought this might correct it), I ended up losing my video
altogether! VGA sucks, by-the-way, that's what I was left with.
Fortunately, I had a trusty backup. If you just HAVE to change something,
be sure you have the appropriate backups on hand!!

The manufacturer's website is usually the best place to look for appropriate
drivers. From experience, stay away from drivers of unknown origin,
regardless of the hype.
Heirloom, old and the latest ain't always the best
(take Vista for instance)

"Mike M" wrote in message
...
If features are working such as sound you don't need to upgrade drivers.
Sound drivers for example are unlikely to have been updated since around
2000 when Win Me was released.

I just want whichever drivers are the latest

Remember that whilst you may _want_ the latest in most cases you don't
_need_ the latest.

USB drivers. These aren't something that gets updated as such so if you
have usb and it works then all is well. USB 2.0 requires a hardware
upgrade if you currently only have usb 1.0.

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

Unlikely as these will have been installed as part of the operating
system.
--
Mike Maltby




toonpup wrote:

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to help me..........

I'm trying to update my drivers (modem, usb, sound, COM ports). I've
been to umpteen sites, and can't figure out which drivers are the
right ones for my setup. Microsoft doesn't support my operating system
anymore, so I'm stuck looking for the drivers at various other sites.
There are a *huge* number of possibilities (or so it
seems)...........I just want whichever drivers are the latest, BUT
reliable!!

I'm using: Windows ME
Modem is: PCTEL Platinum V.90
Sound: ESS Allegro PCI Audio (WDM)
USB is: 1.something, not 2.0. Can/should/do I upgrade to 2.0? If
not, where can I get the newest drivers for USB 1.something?

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

My sound drivers haven't given any trouble, but I'd like the current
drivers. My USB and modem drivers, however, are causing big problems.

Can anyone help.......please?! I'd really appreciate it! I've been
sorting through these sites for days now...........the drivers I need
have to be out there somewhere!!

Remember, I'm on Win. ME........(lucky me)

Thanks!

toon

"toonpup" wrote in message ...
Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to help me..........
I'm trying to update my drivers (modem, usb, sound, COM ports). I've
been to umpteen sites, and can't figure out which drivers are the
right ones for my setup. Microsoft doesn't support my operating system
anymore, so I'm stuck looking for the drivers at various other sites.
There are a *huge* number of possibilities (or so it
seems)...........I just want whichever drivers are the latest, BUT
reliable!!
I'm using: Windows ME
Modem is: PCTEL Platinum V.90
Sound: ESS Allegro PCI Audio (WDM)
USB is: 1.something, not 2.0. Can/should/do I upgrade to 2.0? If
not, where can I get the newest drivers for USB 1.something?
(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)
My sound drivers haven't given any trouble, but I'd like the current
drivers. My USB and modem drivers, however, are causing big problems.
snip

Sounds like a resource conflict. Right-click "My Computer", select
"Properties", "Device Manager", then expand "Modem" and "USB
Controllers". Double-click the modem and the USB host controller,
click on the "Resource" tab and see if anything is in the "Conflicting
device list". If so, uncheck "Use Automatic Settings" and see if you
can change the resource causing the problem. If this doesn't help,
try the following for a modem driver.

http://www.modemsite.com/56k/pctel.asp

If the USB is integrated into the motherboard, you will probably
have to get the drivers from the motherboard or USB chip
manufacturer.

http://www.usbman.com/Drivers%20and%20Patches.htm

Ben

You have left some needed info out as you may have already understood by
other replies.

Is the audio onboard, which it can be and still designated PCI? Or is it an
add-in card?

Is the system supposed to have USB 2.0 because that is hardware dependent
and needs designing into MOBO? Or are you using an add-in card to upgrade?

And too, the same with the modem as some MOBO's had the modem built in. Is
this a separate card?

To approach the root of the issue, is this a store bought system? Or is this
a MOBO you installed yourself? Go to whichevers site and download the latest
from there. If the system manufacturer used a commonly available MOBO, and
you know the specific MOBO, you may be able to get updates from the MOBO
maker. If the system manufacturer did not do some customization that might
lead to havoc. And if you are the tinkerer type, you might be able to find
chipset specific drivers, but be warned they may not work in your system. On
the other hand they may produce a feature that was disabled by the MOBO or
system manufacturer.
"Do you feel lucky,___?"

And getting the latest is not always the greatest. Some manurfacturers have
drivers that cover a wide range of products. One such, VIA, had a
recommendation that you only update to a certain point, depending upon
chipset you had. Going newer might actually slow your system. (code bloat?)

But the reverse seems to be true for video drivers, to some degree anyway.
ATI for one had the practice of trying to squeeze every last drop of speed
out of a chip with updated drivers. The speed was to satisfy gamers mostly,
but updates were to fix other issues as well, which you may not have.

And that modem. There several manufacturers that used the PC Tel chipset.
And some of them included lousy drivers on the install CD. You might find an
advantage to download a driver from PC Tel on this one. Sometimes the only
difference between a card that sold with or without speaker phone feature
was the driver. Chip that had it available had HSP as part of part number.
My experience with PCTel modems is they were some of the most trouble some
hardware to get the best driver under WME. I forget but think it might have
been VXD drivers that cause an issue with WME. That is I end up with broken
sleep/hibernate functions and computer will not come out of sleep. Unless
you specifically have need of modem it might be best to uninstall if you
have such issues.

Good Luck
Norman


"toonpup" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone here would be willing to help me..........

I'm trying to update my drivers (modem, usb, sound, COM ports). I've
been to umpteen sites, and can't figure out which drivers are the
right ones for my setup. Microsoft doesn't support my operating system
anymore, so I'm stuck looking for the drivers at various other sites.
There are a *huge* number of possibilities (or so it
seems)...........I just want whichever drivers are the latest, BUT
reliable!!

I'm using: Windows ME
Modem is: PCTEL Platinum V.90
Sound: ESS Allegro PCI Audio (WDM)
USB is: 1.something, not 2.0. Can/should/do I upgrade to 2.0? If
not, where can I get the newest drivers for USB 1.something?

(I probably need COM port driver(s) too)

My sound drivers haven't given any trouble, but I'd like the current
drivers. My USB and modem drivers, however, are causing big problems.

Can anyone help.......please?! I'd really appreciate it! I've been
sorting through these sites for days now...........the drivers I need
have to be out there somewhere!!

Remember, I'm on Win. ME........(lucky me)

Thanks!

toon

Much thanks to everyone (Mike, Heirloom, Ben, Norman) for responding.

Norman.........on board audio.

USB on board, and 1.0, as far as I know.

Modem is separate card.

Store bought system.

Comp. is a Compaq Presario 5008US. (Windows ME)


BTW, I have already updated video drivers, when I upgraded to Direct X
9 (a year or so ago). I've had no problem at all with the vid. drivers

PCtel........they don't carry the drivers anymore......their, uh,
company profile has changed.......?

My problem with USB is that *NO* MP3 player will be
recognized......but game controllers work fine.

Modem............has slowed down DRASTICALLY.......can hardly use
internet anymore.............unless I have a LOT of time.

Does any of this help? If you have any more suggestions............

Thanks again, guys!!


toon

Oh, and.............I'd be happy to stay with USB 1.0 if I have
to.......I just want the newest drivers for 1.0!!

toon

toonpup wrote:

Oh, and.............I'd be happy to stay with USB 1.0 if I have
to.......I just want the newest drivers for 1.0!!

As I mentioned previously, USB drivers are rarely if ever updated. Win Me
includes built-in USB 1.0/1.1 drivers and there was never any need for
these to be updated - they just worked! If you have a problem with a
particular usb device what does the device manager tell you about the
device? When you add the device do you see any error message about a
missing file?
--
Mike Maltby

"toonpup" wrote in message ...
Much thanks to everyone (Mike, Heirloom, Ben, Norman) for responding.
Norman.........on board audio.
USB on board, and 1.0, as far as I know.
Modem is separate card.
Store bought system.
Comp. is a Compaq Presario 5008US. (Windows ME)
BTW, I have already updated video drivers, when I upgraded to Direct X
9 (a year or so ago). I've had no problem at all with the vid. drivers
PCtel........they don't carry the drivers anymore......their, uh,
company profile has changed.......?
My problem with USB is that *NO* MP3 player will be
recognized......but game controllers work fine.
Modem............has slowed down DRASTICALLY.......can hardly use
internet anymore.............unless I have a LOT of time.
Does any of this help? If you have any more suggestions............

See http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/s...29 19&lang=en

You might try the "Compaq Diagnostic for Windows" for the USB problem.

Ben

As Mike pointed out, WME has the drivers for USB 1.0 & 1.1.
And as pointed out, check device manager.
But also do it in safe mode and look for extra devices and remove them. I
have personally experienced just changing ports where a particular device is
plugged ending up with another completed set of devices for that particular
item. You can remove everything USB, reboot normally and everything will be
reinstalled at a base level and then as devices are plugged they will be
reinstalled. I try to always use the same port when plugging an item because
of what I have seen with it being installed multiple times in safe mode.

I would try to get the latest drivers from Compaq and also a listing of that
MOBO spec to see if you have USB 2. USB 2 drivers are usually MOBO specific.
Also you might check in BIOS to see if USB 2 is listed, it might be turned
off. There may also be other settings in BIOS for USB. And while at Compaq's
site, look for a BIOS upgrade. Hopefully they will also have a list of what
the upgrade is intended for so you can determine if you need it. Beware that
doing a BIOS upgrade can be dangerous to your machine. Hopefully you have a
UPS to eliminate the possibility of power interuption. And you may have to
reinstall WME after the upgrade. Especially if ACPI was altered via upgrade.

And, some USB devices come with a set of device specific drivers to make the
proper connection between the root hub and the device itself. It is very
important that you follow the manufacturer procedure, maybe in a readme on
the root of the disk. Sometimes you plug the device first, other you install
drivers first.

On the modem, these software modems are pretty cheap and easily damaged,
especially by a surge. I would try to install the WME drivers from the
original disk. And then do a little line troubleshooting. First check for
alternate numbers for your ISP and the closest long distance number. If you
find the long distance number works, your ISP's hardware (modem banks)
provider is likely the fault. If there is no difference in the speed, it
does not mean there is not a problem on your local line. Either way, good
luck on getting that fixed.
It seems that you would best stick with Compaq drivers.
Except for add-ins.
And, once upon a time, I had found at MS site the recommendation that after
installing audio and/or video drivers, the latest DX be reinstalled.

If you do not have on board USB2, your machine is definitely getting quite
old. And thus CPU speed relatively slow. Some security suites (firewall,
antivirus, etc.) can definitely bog it down, especially when downloading, if
it is actively scanning everything as it comes. You could try turning them
off as a check.

Since the internet is quite dangerous these days, you might try a different
security package, but definitely not turn off totally.
If your machine is quite old, you might want to relegate it as a second
machine on a local net and as a backup to a main machine.

Norman


"toonpup" wrote in message
...
Oh, and.............I'd be happy to stay with USB 1.0 if I have
to.......I just want the newest drivers for 1.0!!

toon