USB on Windows 95

[TeacherTim2]

Hi all. Question for you:

My school uses Windows 95 on virtually all its machines, but they all have USB ports on the back. They are not old machines (PIII 750 or so) but the school district doesn't have a big IT department, and they know how to network Win95, so that's what they use.

My question is this: I want to put a USB printer on this Win95 machine...is it possible? I know I used to be able to run my USB ZIP drive on Win95, and was wondering if it would be the same process. If so, what file(s) do I need to download, and from where?

Thanks for your help!

TeacherTim

 

[stevewm]

You'll need to have Win95 OEM Serivce release 2 or higher (commonly known as Win95b or Win95 OSR2) and have the USB Support patch applied. (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95)


If these are OEM systems (you bought them preassembled with OS already installed) They should already have had Win95b or higher and the USB Supprt patch installed. To verify this open the Add/Remove Programs control panel. If you see something about USB Support then your good to go

 

[ViRGE]

Even if you install the USB patch, the odds are good the device won't work, or at least not correctly. Most device makers skipped writing USB drivers for Win95, so it's rare when you find a USB device that works fully under Win95. Win98 was considered the first "true" USB aware OS, so it's something you'll want to keep in mind. That said, give it a shot with Win95, it might very well work.

 

[amdskip]

Wow, thats amazing they are using windows 95 but I guess it would be a huge expense to upgrade them all. I'm guessing it won't work either but there is some hope.

 

[Peter]

Well Windows 95B and C support USB _controllers_, but they have ZERO drivers for USB _devices_, not even generic device class drivers for things like storage, human interface, input media ... and of course, no device maker goes to the length of writing such a driver - that's up to the operating system.

In other words, the feature looks as if it's there but it's actually completely useless. M$ marketing liked it though :/
regards, Peter