By Stephen Bucaro

Most motherboards now come with sound, video, and even networking built-in. But a modem is not usually built-in to a motherboard. This is because modem technology has been changing very rapidly. It is preferable to have modem on an expansion card.

Most modem manuals assume that Plug and Play will automatically install modem correctly, but this is rarely case. Use four steps described below to properly install a modem.

Step 1. Download latest driver from manufacturer's Web site.

Most modems come with an Installation CD. The problem with this is that CD contains drivers for eight different operating systems and it usually tries to install wrong one. Even if it does install correct driver, its usually not latest version. Also, CD usually comes with several non-essential programs (AOL etc.) that modem company earns commission on when you install them.

I admit, its difficult to download a driver before you install modem. You may be replacing an old modem, or you may have another computer, or a friend with a computer with access to Web.

Preferably, do this before you purchase new modem. That way you can see what kind of driver and technical support is available for modem before you shell out cash.

Step 2. If you are replacing a modem, remove old modem.

First physically open case and remove old modem. Then start computer and remove modem in Control Panel. If system is Windows 2000 you will have to login as Administrator. Open Modems utility, select name of modem on General tab. Then click on Remove button.

Step 3. Install new modem.

First physically install new modem. If system is Windows 2000 you will have to login as Administrator. Plug and Play may install new modem for you, that means it found an old driver on your system and used that to install modem. Or it may start "Add New Hardware Wizard". Click on Cancel button.

By Stephen Bucaro

Ports are connectors provided on a computer to comunicate with peripheral devices such as modems and printers. The RS232 serial port introduced in 1969 could transfer data at a speed of 20 Kbps (kilobytes per second). The parallel port introduced in 1981 could transfer data at a speed of 150 Kbps. Later improvements increased speed of parallel port to 4 Mbps (megabits per second). Serial ports and parallel ports are frequently subject to resource conflicts.

In 1996 Universal Serial Bus (USB) was developed to replace serial and parallel ports. Today, USB port is used to connect scanners, digital cameras, and external storage devices like CD-RW drives. USB 1.1 can transfer data at a speed of 12 Mbps. USB 2.0, introduced in 2000, can transfer data at a speed of 480 Mbps.

Besides much higher speed, a main feature of USB is that you can plug and unplug devices without restarting computer. The controller will sense device and reconfigure. Installing a USB device is as simple as plugging it into a USB port.

Another feature of USB is that a single controller can support up to 127 devices simultaneously. A USB device can provide a port for another device, allowing you to "daisy chain" devices together, or you can use a stand alone hub. USB uses a single IRQ, I/O address range, and DMA controller to poll devices for data.