Slow transfer speeds to USB 2.0 flash drive

Anonymous
2010-07-11T02:29:36+00:00

Hi all,

I know that this topic has appeared once or twice in these forums but there haven't been any resolutions and they've been quiet lately so I started a new one. 

Recently, I migrated from Windows XP to 7 and found this problem. When I try to copy a file (a 1.2GB video) to a usb flash drive that I know is usb 2.0 hi-speed (copying files to it in xp were really fast) it takes over 2 minutes. 7 reports that it is copying at 3-4 MB/sec. When I copy from the flash drive to my computer it copies at about 9-10MB/sec. I've also tried plugging it into the rear ports but that doesn't change the transfer speed at all. I know it isn't something related to the flash stick itself because transferring files to it in xp were a lot faster.

Some random information: Transferring files from one hard drive to another averages at about 60MB/sec (both of the hard drives are SATA II drives). I'm not sure what speed it should be but it doesn't feel drastically slower than on my xp machine. Windows 7 and my device drivers are all up-to-date.

System specs:

Dell optiplex GX620

Pentium 4 3.2GHz

2GB Ram

Windows 7 Professional 32-bit

AVG 9 free edition anti-virus

My setup is almost identical to how it was on my windows xp machine except I have less programs installed so there isn't something new that could have caused problems.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-26T18:22:26+00:00

    Hi Cody,

    Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I can't do any tests of my own on my XP machine because 7 has replaced it but it does feel slower. Perhaps it's just my imagination. I noticed that if I copied that 1 GB file to the flash drive that if I cancel it the computer locks up and will only respond if I pull out the flash drive (can't even disconnect it properly. I have to just pull it out). Is this a bug or just something related to my out-dated chipset drivers?

    I have had this problem for years, after I upgraded from XP -- and I still had the XP system back then to test against -- Windows 7 is easily 10 times slower.   I tried setting the drive policy to "more performance" that didn't do much. 

    Now I just boot from Linux Mint anytime I need to copy a lot of data to a flash drive.  I downloaded the Linux Mint iso, created the boot DVD and booted it up.  Linux Mint sees all the windows drives and the flash drives and you can pretty much copy the same way Windows should.  Since the entire Linux Mint OS is on the DVD, there are no changes to your system.   For copying large amounts of data, rebooting from the Linux Mint DVD doing the copy, and booting back to Windows 7 is much faster than waiting hours and hours for Windows 7 to do the same copy.   Mint has web browsers and other apps available, so you can get to your favorite web sites or even do some other work, while Mint is copying to your flash drive.   Linux Mint boot .iso is free at http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

    Eventually, I hope Microsoft resolves this issue, but its been going on since Vista days, so don't hold your breath.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-11-09T14:50:38+00:00

    Hi ArcAiN6,

    I'm unable to see USB drive in Disk drives folder. I can just see my harddisk under the Disk drives. I'm using Windows 8 on Dell Studio 1558. I have mentioned USB bootable in my Bios, and had used USB in order to install Windows 8. I'm also looking to increase the speed of my USB 2.0, it is high speed, but underperforming.

    Waiting

    Yashveer

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-11-10T18:27:51+00:00

    Hi yashveersalvi

    Is it the port or the drive that is under-performing?

    If it's the drive, what speed is it running at?

    John

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-09-24T10:21:43+00:00

    Help Please.

    I having the same problem with my Kingston 16Gb G2.

    The transfer speed is upto 3MB max.Im using Windows 10 64-bit.

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-05-28T04:03:02+00:00

    share it is much faster than direct USB transfer! LOL **** microsoft is doing

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