Anyway, if you have more then one of the same USB-devices, the ID's of them might get mixed up additional when you plug them in a different order, at least this is what I would expect.
Yes, if you have two or more of the exactly the same devices, windows identifies the first one (re)plugged in as device 1 (or the lowest device number that was assigned to that device type during first install). Since this happens each time you re-plug the devices, you have to make sure you plug them in the same order you installed them if you want to keep them in the same order.
Example: You have two of the same model USB gamepads, one that you hacked into a control panel. You install the hacked gamepad, then the non-hacked one. As long as you don't unplug them, the hacked pad will control player 1, the other player 2. If you unplug both, however, and replug the non-hacked one first and then the hacked second, the non-hacked will now be player 1, and the hacked player 2.
(If, however, the brand, make, or model of the gamepads are different, windows can tell, and the player to gamepad won't change.)
This is true for all USB devices (joystick, mouse, ect) when the computer is on; I'm not sure about what happens if the replug happens with the computer is off.
Heard & read this from a wide varity of sources, it never happened to me though. (I did this too in the earlier days, where I worked as a computer technican)
Wether there is a risk or not, I see absolutely no point why there is a need for swapping it, so better be on the safe side. Disconnecting after the interface is the way to go, so windows don't has to apply any changes at all.
Never hurt my computer by plugging/unplugging the ps/2 with the computer on, but the the reason people and manufactures give this warning is because the ps/2 "standard" does not include protecting the motherboard or ps/2 device if the device is plugged or unplugged while the computer is on. Almost all MBs and devices do pretect
themselves against a plug/unplug of a ps/2 device, but since the ps/2 standard does not mention it, the manufactures want to cover their as---, err, moneybooks from complaints of dead computers do to unpluging ps/2 devices with the computer on.
Just like you, I have not had problems with plugging or unplugging a ps/2 keyboard or mouse with the computer on, but some weird combination of ps/2 device and motherboard could result in a fried MB or device since the manufactures don't have a comon standard to rely that the others will follow.
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Topic: USB vs ps\2 style interface (Read 4014 times)
