Computer help: Uninstalling USB Ports
Uninstalling USB Ports
by rghtuner - 9/28/08 9:11 AMI was using a TomTom in a front USB Port but that device will no longer be used on this computer ( Acer T690 ) I'd like to un install that USB and use a flash card on that USB Port through the device manager but I can't figure out how their numbered or find a schematic. The best I can tell their labeled
27C8 - 27C9 - 27CA - 27CB - 27CC
I've looked under Device Manager to try to recognize the driver and etc but wasn't sucessfull -
Is their a standard order or a way I can detect the correct usb port for the front panel so I can uninstall it. I've already removed the software.
You don't need to
by Jimmy Greystone - 9/28/08 9:33 AM In reply to: Uninstalling USB Ports by rghtunerYou don't need to if I'm understanding what you want to do correctly. USB ports don't need to be "uninstalled", you can attach any number of devices you want to a single port (one at a time naturally) without need of taking any special action.
Just remember that the "U" in USB stands for "Universal".
What about the drivers and conflicts ?
by rghtuner - 9/28/08 11:37 AM In reply to: You don't need to by Jimmy GreystoneWhat about the drivers associated with the USB - Don't they need to be uninstalled to keep from creating conflicts ? Their the reason I usually uninstall the device -
No
by Jimmy Greystone - 9/28/08 1:43 PM In reply to: What about the drivers and conflicts ? by rghtunerNo, not unless you're installing a nearly identical device. Honestly though, video cards are about the only example I can think of where you really want to be sure you remove the old set before installing a new set from another brand.
But drivers are not pegged to a specific USB port, and you don't ever need to deal with the generic USB drivers.
The computer has no concept of USB ports. It cannot tell the difference between you plugging some GPS unit into a front port, side port, rear port, top port, some USB hub... None of this makes any difference to the computer. Internally, you have one or two USB controller chips that processes the signals from all of those ports, and THAT is what your computer thinks of as USB. The computer only cares about the input it's getting from that controller chip, and that chip then handles all the specifics about routing the data to the proper port.
This is an example of device independence, which is the generally accepted Right Way(tm) to handle computer-hardware interaction. The operating system simply sends and receives data to the device. It doesn't know or care what that data is, it just assumes the device will know how to deal with it. This creates a very nicely compartmentalized ecosystem, where the computer is more of a data broker than anything else. As an example, the operating system doesn't care about the make or model of a modem you may have attached, it just sends data to the serial port and expects the modem to be able to properly process that data. Most Unix and Unix like operating systems operate in this way. Windows, however, does not. Microsoft does not do this with Windows so that they can implement all of their anti-piracy measures. Windows Activation, for example, could not work, as it currently exists, without rather detailed information about the system. The drawback is you get all kinds of driver conflict issues and hardware makers have to spend huge amounts of money on a money losing prospect like driver writing.
Anyway... Computer science lecture aside, you can mix and match USB ports all you like, and generally speaking you don't need to remove drivers for an old device. It won't attach itself to a specific port and then render that port useless for anything else. You may want to remove the driver to prevent conflicts with other devices of a similar nature, but it's unnecessary as far as reclaiming use of that USB port goes.
| Forum legend: | |
 |
Locked thread |
 |
Moderator |
 |
CNET staff |
 |
Samsung staff |
 |
Norton Authorized Support team |
 |
AVG staff |
 |
Windows Outreach team |
 |
Dell staff |
 |
Intel staff |
