How to use USB where it won't go?

February 21, 2006 2:15 PM

How does one connect a USB stick to an old laptop without a USB port? I have an IBM Thinkpad 701C, and even with the port replicator I'd be out of luck. Is there perhaps some way to do this using PCMCIA card?
posted by sholdens12 to computers & internet (12 comments total)

Yes
posted by Good Brain at 2:17 PM on February 21, 2006

What if my computer is running Windows 95? I went to the link and these are great products. But they all say that the minimum requirement is Win98.
posted by sholdens12 at 2:19 PM on February 21, 2006

Does USB even work on Windows 95? (I think it doesn't.)
posted by smackfu at 2:22 PM on February 21, 2006

"Does USB even work on Windows 95?"

Some versions support it, some don't.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:27 PM on February 21, 2006

You need Win98SE or higher for USB flash drives.
posted by Mitheral at 2:27 PM on February 21, 2006

It sounds to me like you have some compatibility problems that might be easier avoided than overcome. Why not attach the USB drive to a computer that will recognize it, and then burn the files to floppies or CDs that your Win95 laptop can recogize? Or transfer the files to the laptop via a network or the internet?

I obviously don't know the details, but it seems like you don't want to spend a bunch of time upgrading the hardware and software of laptop that must be 10 years old...
posted by chudmonkey at 2:36 PM on February 21, 2006

I think in large part I wanted confirmation that I wasn't going to be able to do this. I love my old computer, but it's a pain in the butt to connect it to my broadband connection, no CD drive, and I have no floppy drive attached to my late-model Mac. So it might be a wash. But thanks for all your help.
posted by sholdens12 at 2:46 PM on February 21, 2006

Gotcha. Maybe a friend with a floppy drive can help? USB floppy drives are cheap, too - I picked one up a few months ago for about 10 USD. Or maybe take the USB stick to a internet cafe and use the drives on their machines.

Good luck!
posted by chudmonkey at 2:54 PM on February 21, 2006

Does your port replicator have an Ethernet port? Maybe you could transfer the files from your Mac via Ethernet.
posted by designbot at 3:05 PM on February 21, 2006

I have an old Thinkpad 380ED, however, it does have a CD drive, which makes this sort of playing easier.

I loaded Damn Small Linux on a partition of its hard drive -- it runs nicely (though not especially speedily) and does have support for PCMCIA and USB, though whether or not for a PCMCIA USB card I couldn't say. If you like fiddling about, you could probably get something to work that way, though it may well take more effort than it's really worth.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 3:14 PM on February 21, 2006

Yea, USB floppy drives are pretty cheap and are an excellent solution for situations like these when you have a newer Mac and need to move files between it and an older PC.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 3:38 PM on February 21, 2006

Win95 USB support only existed in Win95b with a suppliment or Win95c. Even then, every single bit of the chain needs specific Win95 drivers. Once Win98 Second Edition hit, most companies dropped USB on Win95 like a hot potato.

A USB floppy drive for your Mac is a good solution.

Or you could install Win98 Second Edition on your Thinkpad. Resource requirements for Win98 are similar enough to Win95 such that you're unlikely to experience any major slow-downs. Then you could pickup pretty much any PCMCIA USB expansion card. You'll still need Win98 drivers for your USB Flash device though, WinME (*shudder*) was the first Windows to include a standard USB Flash driver.
posted by krisjohn at 6:05 PM on February 21, 2006