Parallel to USB converters 2

[Stella740pl]

Hello all,

I have an older laptop, Compaq Pressario with Win98 and no USB port. In fact, there are no many ways to get info out of this machine at all. It has only CD reader, not burner, a faulty floppy drive, and a slow dial-up connection to the Internet. Occasionally, I use a direct cable connection to my XP desktop to transfer information.

This machine still could be used once in a while in my household, for school projects if nothing else, if there was a reliable way to get the info out of it (not only print out). I would like to be able to save the files on USB flash drive, but, as I said, it has no USB port.

Do you think I can find and use some Parallel-to-USB converter that will take the USB drive? Do you have any idea of the cost? Would I need some special drivers in order for it to work on Win98?

I would appreciate your sharing the info with me.

Stella

 

[Frank4d]

I have not seen such a device. However, if you have an open PCI slot you can install a USB card. Link >

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ubcategory=73&Description=usb+adapter&Ntk=all

These cards should work with Windows 98SE without special drivers. If you have the original Windows 98, check to make sure drivers are available.

 

[Stella740pl]

Oh. Thanks for the idea. That's something to think about.

The only slot it has is taken by NETGEAR 32 bit CardBus Notebook Adapter 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet FA511.

Is it the PCI kind of slot?

If so, I think I can just pull it out, since dial-up Internet access is not the first priority for this machine.

And yes, I think I have the original Win98 there.

Thanks again.

Stella.

 

[satrow]

As this query is about a laptop,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833315030

may be more suited. One buyer reports using it on a Pentium 1 laptop; it's said to have drivers for Win98 (not just 98SE) upwards so it should fit the bill.

 

[Stella740pl]

Thank you.
You are right, it looks like it should fit the bill.

Stella.

 

[KenB]

Stella,
Be careful with PCMCIA cards, the one you are looking at is a Cardbus or Type 2 card (32 bit device), some older Laptops only support Type 1 (16 bit device) PCMCIA cards. Check your spec's before you order.
I remember seeing a thread about this in the last several months but can't find it right now.

HTH
Ken

 

[Stella740pl]

Ken, thanks for the warning, I wasn't sure about it before.

But, as you can see above, the card I currently have in the slot apparently is a 32 bit CardBus NIC, and it works (for dial-up Internet connection, that is), so I guess, it should be OK with USB card, too.

At least I hope so.

 

[franklin97355]

Do you have a fast internet connection on the desktop? If so it might be worth it to get a switch and connect both to the internet or at least to each other.

The answer is "42"

 

[Stella740pl]

Franklin,

Yes, I do have DSL for the desktop, and I've already tried several times, in several different ways, to connect them through the hub included in the DSL modem. It appears that DSL doesn't recognize the laptop's NIC card - it says that this machine doesn't have one. But that same card used to work fine when it was connected to an older, Win95 desktop.

(At one point, I used the Win98 laptop as a proxy server to get Win95 with a broken modem into the Internet through a dial-up.)

I know a network would have been a good solution - but I've already tried, and I don't want to spend any more time and effort on that. I've achieved a direct cable connection through parallel ports to transfer the info from laptop to the new desktop, and I don't need to do it often. (I don't remember if I tried to connect them directly - I think I did, and what happened. But I am done with that.)

But if my daughter could work on it once in a while to use some software that cannot be installed on her Mac laptop (and I believe, that software would work fine with Win98 - got to check, though), and be able to copy the projects on her USB stick and take to school (without occupying the desktop for ages), it would be nice. Other than that, it has some nice games installed that might be suitable for my younger son.

Stella

 

[dglienna]

I've got an old laptop with a broken screen, running W98. I tried just about every way to get the 2g drive copied over, and have decided that I'll need to put the drive into a desktop with one or two HD Laptop adapters. That way, I could copy to another lap drive, or a temporary desktop drive.

I did that copying a 60g to an 80g drive. 3 partitions resized and copied.

-David
2006 Microsoft Most Valueable Professional (MVP)
2006 Dell Certified System Professional (CSP)