Chapter Four
"USB with Windows 95"

Introduction

Bottom line: the more recent versions of Windows, 98SE on up, offer increasingly better interfaces with USB than Windows 95 can offer. On the surface, upgrading seems the natural choice for most. But if you're looking to use Windows 95 as the OS, and you also have a USB device that specifically mentions Windows 95 as a basic requirement, then this article is for you.

The executable, "USB Ready", will give you an indicator of what more you might need to do in order to have USB up and running in your system.

2) Most USB devices on the market right now will only work with Windows 98 and up.

The device itself will tell you whether or not it can interface with the USB conponents that Windows 95 can offer. It will be on the box, usually in small print, listed among the system requirements. If it only mentions Windows 98, for example, then you are not going to be able to use that device unless you also have Windows 98 or higher running on your computer.

If your new device will work with the Windows95 USB interface, then all there is left is to install the necessary software.

There are two executables that will successfully update Windows 95 to accept USB connections - "USBSUPP.EXE" (created in April of 1997 with a version number of 4.03.1214), and "USBUPD2.EXE" (which brings the version number up to 1215). For those not fortunate enough to have the Windows 95C CD-ROM which contains those two executables, they can also be found on-line at the "USB-Man" website linked in the above paragraph.

Avoid using the first version of the USB patch offered by Microsoft (created on October of 1996 and carries the version number of 4.03.1212). It causes more problems than it creates, and should not be used. If you have installed this on your system, remove it by navigating to the "Add/Remove Programs" applett in Control Panel, and then install the newer versions linked in the previous paragraph.

There's a couple of final tweaks, and this involves replacing a few specific "SYS" files. The problems delineated in Windows Knowledge Base files Q181499 (a system freeze when plugging in a USB device while Windows is running) and Q189284 (a system hang when entering suspend mode while in standby) are solved by updating the following:

• OPENHCI.SYS to version 4.03.1217 (dated 2/17/98 - see "Addenda" below for more details)
• USBHUB.SYS to version 4.03.1218 (dated 11/18/98)
• UHCD.SYS to 4.03.1218 (dated 11/18/98)

Once all of these files are in place, you are set to activate the hardware component in the BIOS (or install the PCI card if that is your option) and have Windows install the drivers at boot-up. The trick here will be to direct the Install New Hardware wizard to the files that are already installed in "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" - there is a bug in the installer that requires the computer to be directed to the "SYSTEM" folder manually, rather than it looking there automatically. (see Microsoft article Q192193 for specific info about that.)

That's the good news. The bad news is that this executable can only be "run" on certain Compaq computers, specifically laptop models Armada E500, E700, M300, M700, or V300 series running Windows95. People who have those models can read these instructions (thanks to Emmanuel Piring for confirming that and providing the read-me link). The rest of us, who are running homemade systems (or brands other than Compaq), have to extract that file manually and move it to the "windows\system" folder. As the steps involved in that are fairly complex, involving two separate programs to unpack the archive, I took the liberty of extracting the file and putting it in a ZIP archive that can be downloaded here. You'll note that the date on the file is 10/13/2000 but the version number (4.03.1217) is correct.

I've installed it on my Windows95 system with no problems - first boot the system up with the USB bus disabled in the BIOS, then navigate to the "windows\system" folder and find "OPENHCI.SYS". Rename the existing file to "OPENHCI.OLD" and then copy the new version from the ZIP file I've supplied to the "windows\system" folder. You then reboot, after re-enabling the BIOS setting for the USB bus. Anyone having problems with this can delete the new "OPENHCI.SYS", rename "OPENHCI.OLD" to "OPENHCI.SYS", and have their old functionality back.