How to detect if a USB port is 3.0 or 2.0?
To check whether the USB device itself is USB 2.0 or 3.0, use USB Device Tree Viewer (on a computer). Then disconnect all your USB devices on the computer, and reconnect the USB in question. You'll see it appear on the sidebar on the left. Click it. On the right, scroll down about 1/4 of the page. In the section 'Connection Information', look at the Device Bus speed. These are what you should be looking for:
USB 2: Device Bus Speed : 0x02 (High-Speed)
USB 3: Device Bus Speed : 0x03 (Super-Speed)
Another way:
- Open the Charms Bar by dragging the cursor to top right of the screen or by pressing Win + C.
- Select Settings and then Change PC settings.
- Select the Devices under PC settings application.
As mdpc said, the device you plug the USB device into should have different signs or colours to show if the actual ports are USB 2 or 3:
USB 2:
USB 3 (the sign on the left image says 'SS' and the usb sign. SS = SuperSpeed as said above):
There are many more methods here. Check Microsoft's website for info on the different signs you can see.
Sometimes, if you plug the USB3.0 device too slowly, it is recognized as 2.0.
Why ? Because the 3.0 line of pins is in a second row so if the protocol handshake is finished before your device is fully plugged in, it will never get USB3.0 speed.
This is particulary annoying when using USB keys like the Extrem series from sandisk as the plug is on springs and is frequently diving too slowly into the port. If you own this specific model, be carefull to not touch or press the retractor button while inserting it. If you touch it, the USB plug will be on springs. If you don't touch the button at all, the USB plug will insert correctly.
I understand that the USB standard indicates that the USB 3 port will have a blue color plastic tab inside the plugin.