Portable flash drives are the most popular compact storage media today. Optical disks have almost gone out of mass use, and external hard drives and SSD drives are still not able to compete with flash drives in size and reliability. Flash drives are small, convenient and hold quite a lot of information, but there is one point - the write speed to a flash drive is significantly lower than the write speed to the same SSD or HDD. In addition, after a long time of use, the flash drive becomes a little slower. Is it possible to somehow speed up the flash drive so that it writes at least a little faster? Yes, there are several ways you can increase the write speed to a flash drive.
Speed up by improving performance
Open the properties window of the flash drive, and in the tab Equipment Select the name of your flash drive from the list of devices. Then click on the button Properties.
After that, in the drive properties window that opens, go to the tab Policy and set the switch to the item Optimal performance.
Please note that after applying this parameter, caching of entries for the flash drive will be activated. Therefore, when disconnecting the drive, you must use “safe removal”, otherwise you risk losing files on the flash drive.
Speed up with formatting
Another simple way to speed up a flash drive a little is to format it in a different file system. To do this, in the context menu of the flash drive, select Format, and in the formatting settings window, specify NTFS as the file system.
Before you start formatting, there are two more important points to consider. Firstly, formatting must be done completely, that is, you need to uncheck the box Quick (clear table of contents). And secondly, to achieve better results, you can also choose the cluster size. If you plan to write mainly large files to the flash drive, then select the maximum cluster size; if you write a lot of small files, then set the cluster size to small accordingly.
Controller speed setting
The third method is more complex, as it involves working with BIOS settings. To implement it, you need to go to the BIOS interface and find the section responsible for USB settings. Typically this section is called USB Configuration. After this, you need to find in this section an item called USB Controller Mode and set it to FullSpeed or HiSpeed.
Due to the fact that these methods involve making some changes to the file system of the drive or to the BIOS and flash drive settings, they may not be suitable for everyone. If your first priority is the stable and reliable performance of the flash drive, as well as the safety of the data on it, it is better to leave all the settings as they are. But when you are faced with the task of speeding up a flash drive by any means, the above tips will come in handy.
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Over the past few years, flash storage media have become very popular and are used by us literally every day, due to their advantages over disk storage media. It is hardly possible to overestimate the usefulness of flash media, because you can quickly write or read information on it, it does not take up much space in a briefcase or bag, and the price segment is pleasantly pleasing.
Despite all the positive aspects, sometimes situations occur when you cannot read the data due to the flash drive or computer itself. After all, at the most important moment, you may lose access to stored files, and in order to quickly return everything to normal, you need to have certain knowledge. In this article we will analyze all possible problem situations and find ways to solve why the computer does not see the flash drive.
The most common problems why the computer does not see the flash drive:
The flash drive itself does not work
This is the worst situation for a person whose documents are stored on a flash drive, because it is almost impossible to bring it back to life. A flash drive can be damaged by mechanical impact on the device chip or its controller, by shorting an electrical circuit, or by damaging the contacts on the USB board. This is what a flash drive looks like after the electrical circuit is closed or moisture gets inside the drive.
It is quite easy to determine whether this happened to your drive. The very first thing you need to do is check the flash drive for mechanical damage, chips, cracks, etc. If it is completely broken, you can look for a replacement at a computer peripherals store. If you doubt its inoperability, you can check it using a practical method.
Connect the flash drive to the USB connector of the computer, if the LED on it lights up and you hear a sound on the computer that is typical for connecting a new device, then everything is in order, it makes sense to look for the problem further. If this does not happen, the flash drive is most likely no longer suitable for use.
You can try to take the flash drive to a service center, where the technician will try to resolder the contacts or replace the controller, but this will be very expensive, and this action will only be justified if you have important documents stored on it. If no fatal malfunction was detected and the flash drive shows signs of life, try the methods to restore its functionality, which will be described below.
The USB port on the front panel of the computer is de-energized
This problem is very common among desktop PC users. Most computer owners are accustomed to inserting a flash drive into the front USB ports, because it is fast and convenient.
But there is a situation when, during PC assembly, for some reason the front panel is not connected to the power system; usually this happens due to the forgetfulness of the computer technician. Accordingly, your flash drive will not be displayed, despite its full serviceability.
This problem can be solved in two ways. If you urgently need to use information on removable media, you can connect it to the back panel of your computer. The front connectors will still remain inoperative, but you will have access to documents. Such manipulations cannot be called a full-fledged solution, so let’s consider the second option.
Method No. 2 involves connecting the power cable on the motherboard to the front panel of the computer. Depending on the computer case model, the connection connectors may differ. But don’t be afraid, they all have markings and you won’t be able to connect the wrong connector due to design features. The most common wire types are “VCC”, “D-”, “D+” and “GND”. Moreover, the color markings of the cable and the connector on the motherboard are the same, but it is better to keep a guide by the inscriptions.
The first step is to gain access to the motherboard; to do this, unscrew the mounting bolts on the case and remove the cover. Find the cable that leads to the front panel and find the same connector on the motherboard. In the image below you can see what the connector should look like.
It is not recommended to make the connection yourself; it is better to call a specialist. If you connect the cable and connector incorrectly, you can burn these contacts and even devices. If you decide to connect front USB connectors, then it is better to tell us the model of your case and motherboard, and we will tell you how to do it correctly and explain what the connector and cable look like.
The USB port on the computer is faulty or disabled
Sometimes the problem of unreadability of information on removable media is not related to the problem of the flash drive itself, but to the connector into which it is connected. A certain USB port may not be working, and this condition can be caused by simple damage to the connector contacts. Then not only the flash drive, but also other USB devices will not work in this port.
You can solve this problem by arming yourself with a regular soldering iron and minimal knowledge of circuit design. If you don’t have such knowledge, skills and equipment, then it can be fixed at the nearest service center for a low fee.
However, if no response to connecting a USB device is observed on all connectors, then the problem may lie deeper. Ports can be disabled in BIOS settings.
In order to connect ports in the BIOS menu, you need to get there initially. To enter the BIOS in the first seconds of booting the computer, you need to press the corresponding key on the keyboard, which is responsible for calling up the menu. Most often, the default key is F2 or Del, but depending on the motherboard brand and BIOS version, it may be different. It is indicated in the first image that pops up when loading.
After you have entered the BIOS itself, we need to go through the following route: “”.
Find the line “USB Controller”, so that you are allowed to use the ports, the value opposite should be “Enabled”.
Once you have enabled the USB ports on your computer, press the F10 key. This will save your settings and exit the BIOS.
The USB flash drive connector is dirty
A flash drive is a mobile information storage device and is therefore often carried in pockets, briefcases or as a keychain. Due to such operating conditions, dust and small debris may accumulate in the connector. This does not happen often, but it can cause the flash drive to malfunction. Dust and small debris accumulate on the contact and prevent connection from the contacts in the port on the computer. Such a flash drive may not only not be displayed at all, but also freeze, transfer or read information slowly and may not be detected the first time.
To clean the USB connector of a flash drive, arm yourself with a match and a cotton swab. Using a match, remove all debris from the connector, and then moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and wipe the contacts of the flash drive. This way you will rid it of debris and oxidation.
Virus infection
Nowadays, the issue of storage device security is becoming more and more urgent, because viruses are in full force. You can visit your usual social networking site on the Internet and get infected, not to mention downloading files from unverified sources.
Modern computer viruses can also reproduce, no matter how strange it may sound. They infect files located on your flash drive or computer hard drive, and their number grows exponentially.
Very often, the problem of a flash drive not working is infection with viruses. The drive is detected by the system, you can hear the characteristic sound of connecting the device to the system, but when you try to read the information, you will see the message “” or “ Application not found».
Before solving this problem, you should install anti-virus software on your computer and conduct a full diagnostic of the files. To access the data on the drive, we need to delete the file with the virus and scan it. To do this, go to the “Start” menu and enter the following phrase “” in the search line.
Click on the found element with the left mouse button. You will see an open window called “Folder Options”, here you need to do the following:
- Uncheck the " Hide protected system files»
- Check the box ""
After this, be sure to press the “Apply” button and only after that “Ok”, otherwise the changes will not take effect. It should look like this.
After that, go to “My Computer” and go to the folder of the drive itself. There you will see the “Autorun” file, you need to delete it, and check the flash drive for viruses with one of the free antiviruses; the Dr.WEB Cure It utility can do this perfectly.
Now you can fully use the flash drive and no problems should arise. If nothing has changed, then the problem lies in the lack of drivers; we’ll look at it below.
Drivers failing or using outdated drivers
A very common problem is when the computer does not want to display the flash drive due to outdated drivers or their system failure. The failure may occur due to a power surge or unexpected shutdown of the operating system. Or older computer models may not work with drives with a capacity of 32 GB or more. One thing can be said, the problem can only be solved by updating the drivers.
The first thing you need to do is go to "". You can do this in several ways, for example, through “My Computer" or find this section in the system search, which is what we will do.
We go to this menu, after which we connect the flash drive to the computer, after which we open the “USB controllers” subtab. Select the line " Memory device", right-click to open the system menu and click “Delete".
Such manipulations allow you to remove the drivers installed on the system for your storage device. As soon as you remove it, feel free to remove the flash drive from your computer and connect it again. Then the driver for the flash drive will be installed again and the problem will be solved.
If the problem is not solved, you may need to update the drivers for all USB chipsets; this is quite easy to do. You can use the special disk that came with the motherboard; all the necessary drivers are recorded on it. If you don’t have it, download the DriverPack program, it will automatically select all the drivers for which there is an update and carry out this procedure after your agreement.
Moreover, most users have doubts about the correctness of their actions when they learn about the different USB formats. Don't be scared!
Drivers for USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 are installed according to the same principle. And the only difference between the ports is the maximum speed of reading and writing information.
File system errors
The computer may also not recognize your flash device due to file system errors. Let’s check if this is true, go to “”, how to do this was described above. Now you need to open the subtab " Disk devices“If you see your flash drive there, it means it is working, and the file system does not perceive it as it should, and, accordingly, does not display it in Explorer. In my case, the flash drive was displayed, which means it is working.
To fix this problem, you must format your flash drive, but this action has several nuances, so we will consider this process in the next paragraph of the article.
If you don’t see your drive there, then the problem lies in the malfunction of the flash drive itself, which means either the controller is burned out or the contact has become unsoldered. Specialists at service centers can try to bring it back to life. However, this is an expensive exercise; it’s easier to buy a new one, of course, if important information was not recorded on the faulty one and you need to restore the data on the flash drive.
File system conflict
Quite often, the contents of a flash drive are not displayed due to a conflict between the file systems on the computer and the removable media itself. For example, if the computer operates on the NTFS file system and the flash drive uses FAT32, a conflict situation cannot be ruled out. Moreover, this problem is common not only in Windows, but also in Mac OS. For example, if you format a flash drive on your Mac device to ExFAT or the standard MacBook file system, the flash drive is unlikely to be readable on Windows devices.
The very first thing you need to do is find a computer that uses a different file system, open the flash drive and save the information that is important to you, because after formatting it will be lost.
To solve this problem, we need to carry out the process of formatting the flash drive. First you need to find out what file system is used on your computer. Go to “My computer”, right-click on the hard drive, open the submenu and select “Properties” in it.
In the window that opens, you will see information about the free and used amount of disk space, and also find out what file system is used. In my case, the NTFS system is used.
After you know the file system of the computer, we need to format the flash drive into the same system. To do this, right-click on the flash drive and open the “Format” tab.
In the tab that opens, select the file system into which we will format, check the box next to the “Fast” attribute and click “Start”.
A few words about why we use the “Fast” attribute. Firstly, formatting a flash drive will happen much faster. But there is another side to the coin. If there were any documents on the flash drive, then only with quick formatting will you be able to recover this data using special utilities. If you do not check the box, then the information that was on the flash drive will be lost forever.
The flash drive is not formatted
A fairly common problem is when you insert a flash drive into your computer (usually a new flash drive and its first use), and the operating system gives you a warning that states that the removable drive needs to be formatted before use. And if the flash drive has been used before and there is data written on it, then there is no way to access it. Moreover, the volume of the flash drive becomes 0, i.e. as if there was nothing there at all, not even a storage device.
If you have already used a flash drive and this is not the first time you have connected it, then try connecting it to another computer, perhaps the problem will go away and you will be able to save the data. But in any case, the flash drive must be formatted. How to do this was discussed in detail in the “File system conflict” section.
But I want to draw your attention to two points. To avoid problems with the file system (FS) after formatting, find out what FS is used on the computer and install the same one for the drive. And secondly, if the flash drive had the information you needed, then be sure to use the “Quick” attribute, so the flash drive will be formatted only according to the table of contents, and the lost information can be returned using special utilities.
There is a problem with the partition or the flash drive is automatically assigned a busy letter
There are situations when the operating system does not correctly detect your removable media. Everything seems to be fine, the device connection is displayed and a flash drive icon appears in the tray, but there is no way to use it for its intended purpose.
The problem may be that the system has not assigned the partition a letter under which the removable drive will appear, or it has assigned it, but this letter is already occupied, and this results in an address conflict.
The solution to this problem will be to force the assignment of the partition letter that we choose; everything happens manually. So let's get started.
First of all, you need to hold down the key combination “Win + R", a window will open in front of you with the name “Run".
In the line we need to enter a simple command diskmgmt.msc, which will take us to the disk and storage management section.
In the storage media manager that opens, we need to identify our USB device. This can be done simply, disconnect the flash drive and connect it again, the partition that first disappears and then appears is what we need.
In my case, the flash drive is a drive with the name “20151114_17”, you can also identify it by a special icon. Now you need to right-click on it and select “Change letter” in the menu that opens.
Now another additional window will open in front of us, a smaller one. In it you need to click on the button “Change” and “Ok”.
Now another auxiliary window will open, where you must select any letter of the English alphabet, and after clicking on the “Ok” button, the letter will be assigned to the section.
It is worth paying attention to one important point! When choosing a letter to assign to a partition of your flash drive, look at which letters are already in use by the system. This is very important, because we may not fix the problem, but leave it. This will happen if, for example, you designate a flash drive partition with the letter “D”, which is already assigned to the local disk.
Malfunction of the power supply or excessive current overload of the USB portal
This problem is very common these days. The fact is that the computer may simply not see the flash drive due to a faulty power supply. Let's look at it in order, the power supply consumes electrical energy from the network, and then converts and distributes it to all nodes of the computer. It has a power limit, for example, a 400W power supply will not be able to give you 600W. This means that the consumption of the entire system must be balanced.
This problem may appear if you have recently replaced some important component in the system, let it be the processor. Now it consumes much more energy compared to the past, which means it simply doesn’t reach somewhere, and in this case, that “somewhere” is the computer’s USB network. Accordingly, the energy consumption parameter must be calculated in advance, and if such a situation has already occurred, you will have to replace the power supply with a more powerful one.
Moreover, the problem may lie in a malfunction of the power supply; it may produce much less power potential than stated, and than it produced before. You will not be able to solve this problem, since you risk the performance of the entire computer. The only solution is to replace the power supply.
There is one more feature to this question. Recently, USB devices for computers have become very common, let’s say the following devices are now powered: a mat for warming a cup, a desk lamp, a wireless mouse, a removable hard drive, and in addition, a smartphone is also charging. And you want to connect a flash drive, but bad luck, the computer sees it. The fact is that there was an overcurrent on the USB ports. Those. All your devices already consume the maximum amount of current and you will not be able to connect another one. Therefore, to use a flash drive, you need to disconnect several devices from the computer’s USB ports and then the problem will disappear.
If the computer does not see the flash drive in Windows XP
There are many reasons why a flash drive may not be detected in Windows XP. Moreover, the problem may lie in the operating system itself, or in a faulty flash drive, or even in the computer hardware.
If the problem is related to the operating system, then it can only be eliminated by making additional changes in the settings; this is best done manually, despite the abundance of special utilities that can help in this matter.
However, if the drive itself is faulty, then the only thing you can do is try to save the data recorded on it. And after that, purchase a new and more reliable device.
If your computer cannot detect the flash drive, it notifies the user with the following signals:
- Your flash drive is inserted and you try to access the data on it, the message “Insert disk” pops up.
- The system notifies you that the drive must be formatted for further use.
- Errors appear about the impossibility of gaining access to data.
- The system may freeze as soon as you plug the USB flash drive into the computer's USB port.
In this section, we will look at all the most common reasons for the non-functionality of a flash drive in Windows XP and give practical recommendations for solving them. Carefully read the description of the problem, if it is not similar to yours or its solution did not help you, move on to the next point until the problem goes away. The first thing you need to do is try to determine whether the flash drive is working. This is indicated by a light indicator located on it. If you connect the drive and it blinks or lights up, then the flash drive is working and the problem lies either in the system or hardware of the computer.
Try changing the port into which you connect the flash drive or even the computer; perhaps only the port or the entire system is faulty, but on another PC the flash drive will work properly. For example, if, when connecting a flash drive to a port, you observe a complete system freeze, this means that this port is faulty and it is better not to use it.
If you are using USB hubs or extenders and the flash drive is not displayed, perhaps the problem lies in the device itself, and not the flash drive. If this turns out to be the case, you can take the hub to a service center or try to repair it yourself. To do this you will need a soldering iron, solder and a little experience, because most often you just need to solder one or two contacts and everything will work as expected.
Perhaps the problem lies in the lack of electric current in the USB port system. To check this, you need to disconnect all USB devices on the computer (camera, printer, lamp, etc.), leaving only the keyboard and mouse. If after such manipulations the flash drive appears in the system and you can access it, then the problem lies in a weak power supply. This problem can only be solved by replacing the power supply with a more powerful one, but using a USB hub with its own power source will help delay the purchase of a power supply.
However, if the problem is not resolved after disconnecting all other devices, the problem may still be related to the lack of power from the power supply and an outdated USB port. In other words, on older laptops you will not be able to open a flash drive with a capacity of 36 GB or larger. There is no way to solve the problem; you can only buy a more modern laptop or computer.
A very common situation occurs when the user connects a flash drive to the front port of the PC, but the system does not see it. This means that the ports are not connected to the power supply on the motherboard, or too little power is allocated to them. You can connect the front panel yourself using the instructions located above in the section of the same name.
Can't see the flash drive due to Windows XP errors. Troubleshooting
The flash drive may also not be detected due to operating system errors. For example, Windows XP SP2 lacks updates and software packages that ensure the normal operation of USB devices. Moreover, it is possible that only several USB devices can work in one port.
The solution to this issue will be to update the system to SP3 and install the necessary updates. Even a new user can do this, since we only need a couple of clicks, and the system will automatically download, install and launch the update. So, let's get started, we can move in two ways - this is an official download from Windows Update or installing SP3 from a disk or flash drive. The first step is to check which package you already have installed.
Click on the “My Computer” icon with the right mouse button and select “Properties”. The following window will open in front of you, where information about your system will be indicated.
To install SP3, we need to allow the operating system to search and update the computer system. To do this, just go from the Control Panel to Windows Update.
As soon as you do this, the system will begin searching for updates, after which it will offer you to update everything at once or select only the ones you need. If you don't understand what update changes what, then it's better to let the system update completely.
After downloading all the updates, the operating system will require you to restart your computer to apply the new settings. Click “Ok” and wait patiently. That's all, now you can connect the flash drive and use it.
If you decide to choose the updates that should be installed, and not download them all automatically, then here is a guideline that will help improve the system's perception of USB drives.
Driver conflicts in Windows XP
There is also the problem of driver conflict. The fact is that some outdated drivers can cause errors at the system level, moreover, they can prevent the normal operation of new drivers. A striking example of such a problem is a situation when a user inserts a flash drive into a computer, tries to access the data on it, and the system immediately displays an error message asking to insert the disk. Or, the system simply freezes, and even assigning an existing letter to a flash drive partition is possible.
The reason for such errors is as follows. Let's say you have two flash drives, you connected one of them to the system. In automatic mode, all necessary drivers for this device are immediately installed. You have made the necessary manipulations to write or read files and removed the drive. After that, you insert a second flash drive, which is completely working, and one of the above errors pops up. This means that the system is trying to use the already installed driver from the first flash drive to launch the second, but they are not compatible.
Reinstalling Windows XP drivers for USB devices
This problem can be easily resolved in several ways. Reinstalling drivers automatically or manually. Let's look at a little theory: a driver from one USB device can be mistakenly used by the system to launch another USB device. To eliminate these problems, we need to first remove all existing drivers for USB drives, and then reinstall them.
Such a problem may display the message “USB device not recognized,” or unexplained processes occur at the system level that block access to data or cause the system to freeze.
Remove via DriveCleanup
You can effectively remove all existing drivers for USB devices using the DriveCleanup utility. Its advantage is that it searches the entire system for installed drivers and only then removes them.
First of all, turn off the computer and disconnect all USB devices from it in order to avoid conflict situations while the program is running. Turn on the PC, go to the official website of the program and download the executable file. The utility is compatible with any version of Windows, including different bitmaps. When downloading, pay attention to the file version.
Automatic installation
You have removed all drivers from your computer. In order for a device to function normally, the operating system must have drivers for it. The automatic driver installation process is incredibly simple, you just need to plug the USB flash drive into the USB port, after which the installation will begin immediately. A window will pop up that will display the installation progress; on some systems this may occur in a mode invisible to the user. Within one to two minutes, the installation will be completed and you will be able to use the device.
Manual installation
Manual installation means installing drivers not directly from the storage medium itself. We can also install drivers for a flash drive from third-party Internet resources, but to avoid conflict situations, we will install drivers for a flash drive using another computer.
So, we take our problematic flash drive and insert it into another computer, where it is recognized. A prerequisite for this process is that the versions of Windows on both computers match. We use the system search and find two files.
We transfer them to the problem computer by any means, be it sending by mail or using other removable media. You need to place these files in a folder with the same path that was on the first computer and confirm the replacement when the corresponding window pops up. We reboot the computer and enjoy its performance with FLASH disks.
We looked at only the most common reasons why a flash drive is not visible on the computer. In fact, there are many more of them. Moreover, there are problems that are expressed by other system messages, and their solution is already described in the paragraphs of the article.
The “Insert disk” message appears even if the flash drive is already connected to the USB port
This system error occurs if drivers overlap each other and interfere with the normal functioning of USB devices. In order to fix this error, you need to remove all drivers for USB devices and install them again. This process is described step by step in this article.
Message about the need to format the disk
This message appears if you are using a flash drive for the first time or if it has experienced a system failure. In addition to the message, you can make sure that it is not suitable for use, because it does not display either free space or occupied space. The solution to this issue is described in detail in paragraphs 8 and 9.
Data error message
This problem occurs in 3 cases. This is a driver conflict, a file system conflict, and a failure of the flash drive itself. It can be solved by reinstalling the drivers; if that doesn’t help, then do a quick format to preserve the ability to recover data on the flash drive. Step-by-step instructions are above.
Complete system freeze immediately after connecting the flash drive to the computer
This issue has already been discussed in the article, but I would like to point out that this error can occur for two reasons:
- Driver conflict.
- Faulty port.
It’s easy to check what problem you have, insert the flash drive into another port, if the freeze continues, it means there’s a problem with the drivers. Instructions and tips for reinstalling them were given as part of this article.
Why does the computer not see the flash drive when the indicator on it is lit?
The contact on the flash drive, which is responsible for transmitting information, may be damaged. A driver conflict and the assignment of a busy letter to a partition cannot be ruled out. If the problem does not go away after connecting the flash drive to another computer, try checking the availability of the partition. If everything is fine here, then reinstall the drivers and the flash drive will work.
Error 43 / Error 43
This error immediately stops reading information from a removable device, which means we won’t be able to immediately access the data. There are several problems that can cause Error 43.
- Malfunction of the device itself is the first of them. Check on another computer to see if this situation happens again.
- Driver conflict - solution described above.
- Updating the hardware configuration - simply roll back the driver version in the Task Manager.
conclusions
We have reviewed in detail the reasons that may prevent a computer from reading a flash drive and the information on it. The described solutions with step-by-step instructions will definitely help you get rid of this problem. An unreadable flash drive can be a death sentence only if the flash drive is faulty. In other situations, this is an easily reversible process. If you have any questions or couldn’t find a solution to your problem in the article, leave a comment and we’ll try to clarify the situation together.
How to solve the problem with slow data copying to a flash drive?
Let's look at the common causes of this problem and talk about ways to solve it.
1. Flash drive performance
If everything is in order with the computer, the culprit of the slow process of transferring files to the flash drive is, accordingly, the latter. Budget flash drives, as a rule, cannot boast of impressive data writing speed. And a speed of 5-7 Mb/s with a USB 2.0 connection interface can be common for them. You can test the data writing speed of a flash drive using Windows programs for testing the speed of hard drives, in particular, using the popular CrystalDiskMark utility. You should not expect more speed from the flash drive tests than it will show in reality.
2. Computer USB ports
A USB 3.0 flash drive purchased with the expectation of faster data recording will work exactly the same as a USB 2.0 flash drive, only if this interface is supported by the computer, and USB 3.0 is not. The flash drive will limit the speed of the port. To get the performance of a USB 3.0 interface when copying data, your computer's USB ports must be equipped with it. The same applies to the situation when a USB 3.0 or 2.0 drive is connected to a USB 1.0 port. Windows, as a rule, immediately informs you that a flash drive is connected to a low-speed USB 1.0 port with a system notification: they say that this device can work faster if it is connected to a USB 2.0 port.
If data is slowly copied to a flash drive that is connected to the USB port on the front panel of the PC case, you can test its speed when connected to the USB ports of the motherboard at the back of the case. It may be that the front panel of the case has USB 2.0 or 1.0 ports, while the motherboard ports provide USB 3.0 or 2.0 interfaces.
Just like USB ports, which limit the speed of data writing, USB extenders can limit the speed of copying files. If a USB extender provides a USB 2.0 interface, its maximum bandwidth will limit the speed of the USB 3.0 interface of the flash drive and the computer’s USB port.
3. Weak computer hardware
On older or budget computer models, slow data writing to a flash drive may be due to weak hardware, in particular, a small amount of RAM or a slow hard drive. In this case, only upgrading your computer will help.
4. Drivers
Slow copying of data to a flash drive may be a consequence of incorrectly installed USB drivers. In this case, you can either update the motherboard drivers or reinstall the USB controller drivers. You can update motherboard drivers manually by downloading the necessary installers from the official website of the board or laptop, or you can entrust this task to special programs - driver installation managers. These include: DriverMax, Auslogics Driver Updater, SlimDrivers, Advanced Driver Updater, etc.
To reinstall USB controller drivers, open the Windows Device Manager, expand the “USB Controllers” branch and use the “Delete” option in the context menu of each device in the list to remove its driver.
USB controller drivers will be installed automatically.
5. BIOS settings
In some cases, the slow speed of writing data to a flash drive may be a consequence of limiting the speed of USB ports in the BIOS settings. Such a limitation should usually be looked for in the “Advanced” section of the BIOS advanced settings. If the “USB 2.0 Controller Mode” parameter is set to “Low-speed”, it needs to be changed to “Hi-speed”.
6. How to speed up writing data to a flash drive using software
If the cause of the problem lies in the low data writing speed of the flash drive itself, unfortunately, it will not be possible to significantly speed up the process of copying files to it. Even if we have a powerful computer. Using software, the file writing speed can be increased only slightly.
If you need to copy several small files to a flash drive, it is better to combine them into one archive file. And place this archive file on the flash drive. One hefty file will be copied faster than a lot of small ones. By the way, when copying small files, even high-performance USB drives can “sag.”
You can slightly speed up the transfer of files to a flash drive using special programs that gain some performance over standard Windows copying tools due to their own data copying algorithms. One of these is WinMend File Copy, it can be downloaded for free from the creators’ website www.winmend.com/file-copy.
WinMend File Copy has a Russian-language interface, supports batch copying of files, setting up a buffer, as well as resuming data transfer from the point where it was broken.
