USB 2.0 was only capable of a theoretical maximum data transfer rate of 480 megabits per second, while USB 3.0 was capable of 5 gigabits per second, or over 10 times faster. At the time not many computers had USB 3.0 ports, and some only had a few alongside USB 2.0 ports. Adata claims this is the most compact external SSD, and with dimensions of 72.7 x 44 x 12.2mm and weighing only 37g excluding the cable, it is smaller and lighter than Samsung's T3 and T5 drives. The transfer speed of a hard drive largely has to do with the type of connector that the hard drive comes with. Newer connection standards have higher transfer speeds. The term 'transfer speed' is technically a little misleading, as it doesn't really dictate exactly how fast a hard drive can transfer files to and from your computer. Burst transfer rate vs. Sustained transfer rate Many hard drive users mistake the 'burst transfer rate' in the table above for what they can expect to see in real-world performance. This leads almost invariably to disappointment when their USB external hard drive does not transfer data at 50 MB/sec or their SATA internal drive at 300 MB/sec.
- External Hard Drive Transfer Rate Comparison Side By Side
- External Hard Drive Transfer Rate Comparison Tool
The hard drive inside a computer is quicker than a standard external hard drive (USB 2.0), so what kind of speeds does eSATA produce? ESATA is rated at 3 Gbps and 6 Gbps. Thunderbolt cables are the newest connection type featured on this list. Originally codenamed 'Light Peak,' Thunderbolt was first a technology that was developed by Intel.
Speed Up External Hard Drives
- Click on the start button, then right-click on Computer and select Manage.
- Click on Device Manager on the side menu.
- Expand Disk drives and locate your external drive from the list.
- Right-click on the drive and select Properties.
- On the Policies tab, select Optimize for performance.
4 Solutions to Increase Transfer Speed of External Hard Drive
Is the external hard drive transfer speed slow? You can learn how to increase the transfer speed of external hard drive with these solutions below:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. Convert FAT32 to NTFS | Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Select a FAT32 partition..Full steps |
Fix 2. Change Default Settings | Open 'Windows File Explorer' and locate your external hard drive..Full steps |
Fix 3. Clean Up Junk Files | Download EaseUS Tools M for free and install it on your computer..Full steps |
Fix 4. Replace the old HDD | Open EaseUS Partition Master. Right-click the disk that you want to copy or clone..Full steps |
Also read:Fix Slow External Hard Drive on Mac.
Problem - How to Increase the Transfer Speed External Hard
'I have a backup that is 140GB. I have an external hard drive that I am trying to copy to (on a USB 3.0 port). The external hard drive is a WD My Passport Ultra. It's saying it will take 2 hours+. Logic pro 10 4 7.
- What am I doing wrong?
- Why is it taking so long?
- How can I speed up?'
Your external USB hard drive works slowly than ever before, especially when your copy or transfer files. How to increase the transfer speed of external hard drive or improve the hard drive transfer speed in Windows 10/8/7? You can try some useful information provided in the previous articles shown below to copy files faster to an external hard drive:
Or try the new solutions presented in this article:
Fix 1. Convert FAT32 to NTFS to Make External Hard Drive Faster
The file system of an external USB hard disk drive will significantly affect the file transfer speed. Compared FAT32 with NTFS, it seems that storage devices with NTFS work faster and more efficiently for file copy and file transfer. To convert FAT32 to NTFS without losing data, download EaseUS free partition software and follow the steps below to change your FAT32 partition to NTFS.
Step 1: Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master on your computer.
Step 2: Select a FAT32 partition, right-click on it and select 'Convert to NTFS'. If you need to convert a storage device such as SD card or USB flash drive to NTFS, insert it into your PC first and repeat the previous operation.
Step 3: Click 'OK' on the pop-up dialog box to continue.
Step 4: Go to the upper left corner, click the 'Execute 1 Operation' button and you will see the operation details. Click 'Apply' and 'Finish' when the process completes.
Fix 2. Change Default Hardware Settings for Better Performance
Aside from changing the file system that could help accelerate the transfer speed of an external storage device, you can also try to modify the default hardware settings on your Windows computer.
Step 1. Open 'Windows File Explorer' and locate your external hard drive. Right-click the external drive icon and choose 'Properties' from the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Choose the 'Hardware' tab, which will display the list of all disks mounted on the particular computer. Select the desired disk you want to improve its transfer performance and click 'Properties' at the bottom of the window.
Step 3. In device properties window select 'Change settings'.
Step 4. A disk window will pop up. Click the 'Policies' tab and select 'Optimize for performance'.
Step 5. Be alert. You must disconnect the device safely. Right-click the tray icon and click 'Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device'.
Fix 3. Clean Up External Hard Drive Junk Files to Speed Up the Drive
The transfer speed could be slow if there are many junk files on the external hard drive. To improve the transfer speed of the external hard drive, you need to clean up junk files. You can use a free tool - EaseUS Tools M to clean up large files easily and quickly.
Step 1. DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for free and install it on your computer.
Step 2. Launch EaseUS Tools M in Windows PC. Select 'Large File Cleanup' on the main screen.
Step 3. Select the drive and click 'Scan' to let the program locate, find all large files on your disk.
Step 4. Identify and select useless large files and click 'Delete' to remove those files from your PC or laptop. A message pops up and tells you this process will permanently delete the files. Click 'Yes' to start the process.
Fix 4. Replace the Old External Hard Drive With a New One
If the hard drive is old, the transfer speed could also be slow. Therefore, you can replace the old hard drive with a new one. If you want to keep the data, you can clone the hard drive with EaseUS partition software. Follow the steps below to replace your external hard drive:
Step 1: Select the source disk.
External Hard Drive Transfer Rate Comparison Side By Side
Open EaseUS Partition Master. Right-click the disk that you want to copy or clone. Then, select 'Clone'.
Step 2: Select the target disk.
Choose the wanted HDD/SSD as your destination and click 'Next' to continue.
Step 3: View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size.
Then click 'Continue' when the program warns it will wipe out all data on the target disk. (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back up it in advance.)
You can select 'Autofit the disk', 'Clone as the source' or 'Edit disk layout' to customize your disk layout. (Select the last one if you want to leave more space for C drive.)
Step 4: Execute the operation.
Click the 'Execute the operation' option and click 'Apply' to start the disk cloning process.
Conclusion
The transfer speed can vary a lot depending on the drive model, file system, and more. These solutions can solve most of the slow transfer speed error. If you still have a problem, you can contact us to get additional help. By the way, EaseUS Partition Master can help you resize a partition and partition a hard drive to manage the disk in a better way. Here's an example of partitioning a hard drive on Windows 10.
How to Transfer Files from PC to External Hard Drive Faster FAQs
Here are some related questions on how to transfer files from pc to external hard drive faster, you can read on if you are interested in them.
How to transfer files from pc to flash drive faster?
To speed up the USB transfer:
- 1. Connect the USB to Rear Port
- 2. Update USB/Chipset Drivers
- 3. Enable USB 3.0 Port
- 4. Optimize the Performance
- 5. Convert FAT32 to NTFS
- 6. Format USB
How long does it take to copy 1TB data over USB 3.0
Around 4.9 hours. For USB 3.0, the maximum if 5GB/s, translating to 625MB/s. So assuming 1TB is, as usual, 1024GB (1048576 MB). It would take 1048576/60=17476.2666667 seconds, or 291.271111111 minutes, around 4.9 hours. Ip camera windows 7.
How to speed up file transfer?
Here's how to speed it up:
External Hard Drive Transfer Rate Comparison Tool
- Check the HDD and external media for corruption
- Disable the Auto-tuning feature
- Turn Off RDC
- Use a different USB port
- Check USB drivers
- Disable Drive Indexing
- Disable the antivirus
- Use the Disk Cleanup utility