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Slow data transfer rate - external hard drive

Just got a 1TB external hard drive. Tried to copy some files across to this external hard drive however the data transfer rate is extremely slow. It took 7 hours (after leaving the computer on) to transfer 7GB of data which is ridiculously slow.

Checked with common errors on manufacturer's website (Samsung), and it says having a USB1.1 connection will make it slower. However I have USB2.0 ports on my computer as recommended.

Any ideas what could be causing the very slow data transfer rate of 1.5mb/s ? :mad:
Could it be faulty? :o

Regards.
«1

Comments

  • gaming_guy
    gaming_guy Posts: 6,128 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 1 June 2012 pm30 2:24PM
    ...........
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
    edited 25 December 2010 pm31 10:10PM
    Is there a lot of other stuff going on over USB at the same time? Are you using a hub? Try to isolate the problem by removing all other USB stuff and plugging it straight into the back of the PC. Then try a different cable. And a reboot. At least we can eliminate the things it isn't that way!

    Edit - is it one huge file of 7GB or 7GB of little files? What is the external drive formatted as?
  • Hi. 7GB of little files.

    Tried it in my sister's laptop. Copying of approx 5gb took 10 mins. The file system used on the external hard drive is FAT32 however on my computer the format is NTFS.

    Would this make a difference in terms of copying?
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
    Should be ok, I just wanted to check as FAT32 has a filesize limit of 4GB, hence the questions!

    Looks like the drive itself is functioning ok if it was able to do 5GB in 10 mins on another machine - did you try the different USB ports yet?
  • Yes I have lots of USB ports. Trying them all including the ones at the back. Same issue on desktop is speed of data transfer.

    speed average 5-600kb/s
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
    Hmmm most odd - certainly sounds like a problem on your machine. And a reboot doesn't solve it either? Can you try booting to a linux live cd (only do this if you understand what I mean by this, I can't explain the whole process and concept before this phone battery runs out) and checking speeds on that?
  • Have e-mailed manufacturer (Samsung) about this issue.

    Shall think about this over a sleep as it has been a long day! Thanks for your help paddyrg!!
  • paddyrg
    paddyrg Posts: 13,543 Forumite
    Wish I had been more useful - I hope one of the other techie types here has some more ideas for you, but at the moment it sounds to me like a hardware glitch on your PC, and I am out of my area when it comes to hardware internals :-(

    Good luck getting it sorted!
  • Make sure the cable is USB2 capable as well. Some older cables cause the speed to drop to 1.1 speeds.
  • o_c99
    o_c99 Posts: 53 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I'm not convinced it is the cable as it is brand new and it worked fine in a laptop.

    However I shall have another go at trying to figure out the problem.

    Many thanks for your help!!
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