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USB 1gb 2.0 flash drive - how fast should it be?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by jdover, 2004/07/16.

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  1. 2004/07/16
    jdover Lifetime Subscription

    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    I just bought a Kingmax USB 1gb 2.0 flash drive and copied my My Documents folder containing 584 files with a total size of 534mb.

    My computer has a 1.7 Centrino chip so is fast.

    It took over 20 minutes. Is this to be expected?
     
    jdover,
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  2. 2004/07/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    USB designations are very confusing - quote from Computer Shopper Sept 2004 edition ....

    "Normal USB - also called USB 1.1 or, more confusingly, USB 2.0 Full Speed is the slower running at 1.5 Mb/s. The fast version is called USB Hi-Speed, but is cimmonly known as USB 2.0, and runs at up to 60 Mb/s. On flash drives, though, even the USB Hi-Speed never reaches the throughput because the memory itself is considerably slower. "

    By memory I guess they mean the solid state card - in digital cameras the CF cards are of varying speeds.

    Your transfer rate looks rather slow - for one of the reasons given above - the drive is basically USB 1.1 or the memory used is slow.

    In the Shopper Thumb Drives Labs test write speeds varied from 785 Kb/s (Belkin 64 Mb USB) to 6690 Kb/s (Kingston USB 1 GB Hi-Speed). Your write rate equates to 445 KB/s if my maths is correct.
     
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  4. 2004/07/16
    jdover Lifetime Subscription

    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks.

    The spec details say that access times are;

    usb 1.1 read 900kb sec write 600kb sec and
    usb2.0 read 8mb sec, write 6mb sec


    Is there a way to check the speed accurately to see which method is being used by my computer and/or the usb flash drive?
     
    jdover,
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  5. 2004/07/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Not that I know of easily.

    The Centrino CPU is fairly recent so the odds are that your laptop is USB Hi-Speed (true USB 2.0). MS seem to refer to this as 'enhanced'

    To check if you have USB2 drivers loaded download Everest. This will tell you more about your laptop than you thought possible!

    In the LH pane expand Operating System and click on System Drivers. In the RH pane scroll down to 'u'. If you have USB 2 there sholud be a driver or two there marked USB 2

    If your USB ports are of the low speed variety USB 1.1 and your drive is USB 2 or Hi-Speed the transfer rate is limited to that of the port - USB 1.1
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2004/07/16
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    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks again. Looks like I have it.

    Driver Name Driver Description File Name Version Type State
    Update Microcode Update Driver update.sys 5.1.2600.0 Kernel Driver Running
    usbccgp Microsoft USB Generic Parent Driver usbccgp.sys 5.1.2600.1243 Kernel Driver Stopped
    usbehci Microsoft USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller Miniport Driver usbehci.sys 5.1.2600.1243 Kernel Driver Running
    usbhub Microsoft USB Standard Hub Driver usbhub.sys 5.1.2600.1243 Kernel Driver Running
    usbprint Microsoft USB PRINTER Class usbprint.sys 5.1.2600.1106 Kernel Driver Stopped
    usbscan USB Scanner Driver usbscan.sys 5.1.2600.1106 Kernel Driver Running
    usbser MOTOROLA Modem Driver usbser.sys 5.1.2600.0 Kernel Driver Stopped
    USBSTOR USB Mass Storage Driver USBSTOR.SYS 5.1.2600.1106 Kernel Driver Running
    usbuhci Microsoft USB Universal Host Controller Miniport Driver usbuhci.sys 5.1.2600.1243 Kernel Driver Running
     
    jdover,
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  7. 2004/07/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Agreed - I have the same drivers loaded/running and my mobo is definitely USB 2.0 (fast)

    Out of interest I transfered a 105 Mb file to my 128 Mb Crucial Gizmo (Samsung under the cover I think). It took 1' 55" which equates to 913 Kb/s
     
    PeteC,
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  8. 2004/07/16
    jdover Lifetime Subscription

    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    Well, I didn't really time my transfer accurately but I'll run another and do so. In fact at the moment I'm connecting through a port replicator usb port (Inspiron 8600) so it might be a 1.1 port. I'll do both as a test.
     
    jdover,
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  9. 2004/07/16
    jdover Lifetime Subscription

    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    3' 40" for 1240 files total 273mb but one file of 105mb only 0' 20 ". Can't complain at that. And it cost only £98 + VAT from Expansys yesterday which makes it cheaper than the ones reviewed in Computer Shopper which arrived today naturally!
     
    jdover,
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  10. 2004/07/16
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    One satisfied customer then ? :D
     
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  11. 2004/07/16
    jdover Lifetime Subscription

    jdover Inactive Thread Starter

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    Indeed and thanks again for your help.
     
    jdover,
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