How to Solve Slow USB Transfer Speed and Boost USB Performance in Windows 10/8/7

• Reading Duration: 3-5 minutes.
• Applies to: Enhance USB transfer speed, resolve issues with slow USB transfer, and accelerate USB transfer.

"Does anyone know how to increase USB transfer speed? I attempted to transfer files from my computer to a USB drive, and it took two hours, getting stuck at 99% complete with only 5 seconds remaining. How can I make the file transfer process faster?"

"USB transfer speed slow" is a common issue that users may encounter. To solve this problem, we have compiled 6 methods for Windows 10/8/7 users to try and instantly boost their USB transfer speed:

Overview of Slow USB Transfer Speed (Causes & Symptoms) A slow USB transfer speed can be a frustrating experience, especially when you're trying to move large files or backup important data. This issue may arise due to various factors, and recognizing the symptoms can help in troubleshooting. Here's an overview of the common causes and symptoms of slow USB transfer speeds: 1. **Outdated Drivers**: One of the primary reasons for slow USB transfer rates is outdated or corrupted device drivers. This can lead to inefficient communication between your computer and the USB device. 2. **USB Version Compatibility**: Using a USB 2.0 device with a USB 3.0 or higher port, or vice versa, can result in slower-than-expected speeds. Ensure that both your device and port are compatible. 3. **Hardware Limitations**: The speed of your USB drive itself can be a bottleneck. Low-quality or older USB drives have lower maximum transfer rates compared to newer, high-speed models. 4. **Fragmentation**: If the files on your USB drive are fragmented, it can take longer to access and transfer them, causing a slowdown. 5. **Background Processes**: Running resource-intensive applications or background processes on your computer can compete for bandwidth, slowing down USB transfers. 6. **Malware or Viruses**: Malicious software can negatively impact system performance, including USB transfer speeds. 7. **Overloaded USB Hub**: Connecting multiple devices through a USB hub can limit the available bandwidth, especially if the hub doesn't have its own power source. 8. **Power Supply Issues**: Some USB devices require additional power, which might not be adequately provided by the USB port. This can lead to slower performance. Symptoms of slow USB transfer speed include: - Lengthy file transfer times - Frequent pauses or stalls during the transfer process - Files taking longer to read or write - Inconsistent transfer speeds - The computer freezing or becoming unresponsive during transfers To address these issues, try updating your USB drivers, checking compatibility, scanning for malware, or using a powered USB hub. In some cases, replacing the USB drive or upgrading your computer's hardware may be necessary.

Typically, the USB transfer speed slows down when you encounter one of the following issues:

1. Unstable power supply in the USB port. 2. Bad sectors on the USB drive cause slower performance. 3. The USB file system slows down when transferring large files. 4. The USB port is outdated and incompatible with a newer USB device. 5. The USB drive becomes full, resulting in slowed file transfer speeds.

So, how do you tell if your USB transfer speed is normal or slow? Let's find out:

Ideally, USB 3.0 has a minimum transfer speed of 400MB per second, while USB 2.0 is 35MB per second.

If your USB fits any of the descriptions above, such as being stuck while transferring files or not reaching its average speed, then your USB has a slow data transfer rate.

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How to Boost USB Transfer Speed in Windows 10/8/7 (6 Solutions)

Applies to: Speed up USB transfer in Windows 10, resolve inconsistent USB transfer speed issues, enhance USB-C transfer speed, and address slow USB 3.0 performance.

To boost the file transfer speed on your USB, try the tips outlined below sequentially. You'll successfully enhance the USB transfer speed on Windows 10/8/7.

Method 1: Change USB Port, Connect Your USB to Rear Port (for Desktops Only)

Like most users, you might frequently use the front USB ports on your desktop computer to transfer files. However, after prolonged usage, the power supply to these front ports can become unstable, which in turn leads to a decrease in transfer speed.

To instantly boost your USB transfer speed, plug your USB flash drive into one of the rear ports on your computer. These ports are directly soldered onto your computer's motherboard, offering a more stable power supply to your USB device.

Here are the steps to connect a USB to the rear port and enhance USB file transfer speed: 1. **Shut Down or Restart Your Computer**: Before making any hardware changes, ensure your computer is turned off or in restart mode to avoid any potential conflicts. 2. **Locate the Rear USB Ports**: Most computers have USB ports both at the front and rear of the case. The rear ports are typically located on the backside of the desktop computer. Stand behind the computer and identify the USB ports, which usually have a rectangular shape with four pins inside. 3. **Unplug Any Existing USB Devices**: If there are any USB devices currently connected to your computer, safely remove them by right-clicking their icons in the "Device Manager" or using the "Safely Remove Hardware" option from the system tray. 4. **Plug in the USB Device to the Rear Port**: Take the USB device you want to transfer files with and plug it into one of the rear USB ports. Make sure it clicks securely into place. 5. **Boot Up Your Computer**: Turn on your computer or continue with the restart process. The operating system will automatically detect the newly connected USB device. 6. **Enable USB 3.0 (if applicable)**: If your computer has USB 3.0 ports, ensure they are enabled in the BIOS settings for faster data transfer speeds. To access BIOS, restart your computer and press the appropriate key (usually F2, F10, or Del) during the boot-up process. 7. **Check Transfer Settings**: In your operating system, verify that the USB transfer mode is set to "Maximum Speed." This can be found in the device properties within the "Device Manager." 8. **Transfer Files**: Now that your USB device is connected to the rear port and configured for optimal speed, initiate the file transfer. Large files should transfer more quickly compared to using a front USB port, as rear ports often provide better data throughput. Remember, the actual speed improvement may vary depending on your specific hardware and the quality of your USB cable.

Step 1. Cancel the transfer process first.

Step 2. Right-click on the USB drive in the taskbar and select "Eject."

Step 3. Unplug the USB drive and reconnect it to the computer's back (rear) USB port.

After doing so, try transferring your files again and see if the transfer speed increases. Connecting your USB or external drive to the rear port can also help resolve issues such as "please insert a disk into removable disk", "external hard drive light blinking but not working", etc.

If you find that inconvenient, you can use a USB hub that also speeds up your USB transfer.

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Method 2: Recover Data, Format to Repair Soft Bad Sectors, and Speed Up USB

Sometimes, your USB flash drive might experience slowed file reading and writing due to a certain number of soft bad sectors on the drive. The optimal solution is to recover your files from the USB and then format it to fix these bad sectors, thereby enhancing its speed.

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#1. Recover and Extract All Files from the USB

Reliable disk recovery software - Data Recovery Wizard can thoroughly scan your USB and retrieve all data from the USB flash drive or USB external disk with its quick and advanced scanning modes.

To enhance the speed of file transfer on your USB, please follow these steps to retrieve existing files and any lost data from your USB first:

Step 1. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard tool. Select the drive where you lost your files and initiate the scanning process. This software enables you to retrieve lost data from various devices, including HDD, SSD, USB drive, SD card, pen drive, camera, and so on.

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Step 2. Browse the complete scan results. You can select the file type you need by clicking on the file type filter. The data recovery software supports over 1000 file types, including photos, videos, documents, emails, audio files, and many more.

Step 3. Select the files you wish to preview. Click "Recover" and choose a storage location to save the retrieved data.

Remember to save the recovered data to another secure location on your computer.

#2. Formatting to Repair Bad Sectors and Boost USB Speed

Once you have the data, you can directly format the USB flash drive to achieve a faster transfer speed. Here are the steps to format the USB device to fix soft bad sectors and enhance its speed: 1. **Backup Data**: Before formatting, ensure that you have safely transferred all important files and data from the USB drive to another location, as formatting will erase everything. 2. **Connect the USB Drive**: Plug the USB drive into your computer's USB port. 3. **Open File Explorer**: Click on the "File Explorer" icon on your taskbar or press the Windows key + E on your keyboard. 4. **Locate the USB Drive**: In the left pane of File Explorer, under "This PC" or "Computer," find and right-click on the USB drive, usually labeled with a drive letter like "E:", "F:", etc. 5. **Format the USB Drive**: From the context menu, select "Format." 6. **Format Settings**: - In the "Format" window, choose the following options: - File system: Select "NTFS" for better performance and compatibility with most devices. - Allocation unit size: Keep the default (usually "4096 bytes" or "4KB"). - Volume label: You can optionally give a new name to your USB drive. - Quick Format: Check this box to perform a quick format, which is usually sufficient for fixing soft bad sectors. 7. **Start Formatting**: Click on the "Start" button. A warning message will appear, reminding you that formatting will delete all data. Confirm your action by clicking "OK" or "Format." 8. **Wait for Completion**: The formatting process will begin, and it may take a few minutes, depending on the size of the USB drive. Do not remove the USB drive during this process. 9. **Verify the Speed**: After formatting, transfer some large files to the USB drive to check if the speed has improved. Remember, while formatting might help improve the speed and fix soft bad sectors, it won't necessarily resolve hardware issues. If the USB drive continues to have problems, it might be time to replace it.

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• Step 1: Connect the USB to your PC and open "This PC" (or "My Computer").
• Step 2: Locate the USB drive, right-click on it, and select "Format."
• Step 3: Set the File System as "NTFS," click "Start," check "Quick Format," and then click "OK" to format the USB drive.

Close the formatting window when the process is complete. After this, you'll have a faster USB flash drive for transferring files. You can save files back to your USB.

Method 3: Convert USB File System from FAT32 to NTFS

Most USB flash drives are formatted as FAT32 due to its broad compatibility. However, in terms of file transfer speed, particularly for moving large files exceeding 4GB, NTFS performs more efficiently.

Thus, if your USB drive is currently FAT32, you can convert FAT32 to NTFS to boost your USB transfer speed.

Follow the steps below to immediately convert your USB from FAT32 to NTFS using the CMD command line: 1. Connect your USB drive to your Windows 10 computer. 2. Press the Windows key + X on your keyboard, then select "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Windows PowerShell (Admin)" from the menu. This will open the Command Prompt with administrator privileges. 3. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command, replacing "X:" with the actual letter assigned to your USB drive: ``` convert X: /fs:ntfs ``` 4. Press Enter. The conversion process will begin, and the command prompt will display the progress and any messages related to the operation. 5. Wait for the conversion to complete. Do not remove the USB drive during this process. 6. Once the conversion is finished, you can safely eject the USB drive and use it with the new NTFS file system. Please note that converting a FAT32 drive to NTFS will not delete any data, but it's always a good idea to backup important files before making any changes to a storage device.

• Step 1: Click on "Start" and enter cmd.
• Step 2: Right-click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".
• Step 3: Type convert E: /fs:ntfs and press "Enter". (Replace E: with the letter of your USB drive's drive letter.)

Method 4: Optimize USB Performance

By optimizing the performance of your USB flash drive, you can potentially increase its transfer speed. Follow these steps: 1. **Check Drive Properties:** Right-click on the USB drive in File Explorer and select "Properties." 2. **Enter Device Manager:** In the Properties window, click on the "Hardware" tab, then "Device Manager." 3. **Locate USB Drive:** In Device Manager, expand the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" category and find your USB drive. 4. **Update Drivers:** If there are any updates available for the USB controller, right-click it and select "Update Driver Software." 5. **Enable USB Selective Suspend:** In Device Manager, find "USB Root Hub" under "Universal Serial Bus controllers." Right-click and choose "Properties." In the Power Management tab, uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power." 6. **Format the Drive:** Right-click the USB drive and select "Format." Choose "NTFS" as the file system for better performance (FAT32 is slower). Set allocation unit size to "Default" and check "Quick Format." 7. **Defragment the Drive:** If the drive contains a significant amount of data, defragment it to optimize file organization. Right-click the USB drive, select "Properties," then "Tools" and click "Defragment and Optimize Drives." Follow the prompts to complete the process. 8. **Disable Write-Cache Buffer Flushing:** In the USB drive's Properties window, go to the "Policies" tab. Choose "Better Performance" and uncheck "Enable write caching on the device." Remember that the actual speed improvement depends on your hardware and the quality of the USB drive. High-speed USB 3.0 or 3.1 drives will generally perform better than older USB 2.0 models.

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• Step 1: Right-click on the "Windows" icon and select "Device Manager."
• Step 2: In Device Manager, expand "Disk drives," locate your USB device, right-click on it, and choose "Properties."
• Step 3: Navigate to the "Policies" tab, check the box for "Better performance," then click "OK" to confirm optimizing and enhancing your USB transfer speed.

After that, you can reboot your computer, and then you should be able to use your USB drive and achieve a faster transfer speed.

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Method 5: Update the USB Drive Driver or Its Chipset Drivers

If you're looking to resolve the issue of "USB transfer speed being slow," you can attempt to update your USB driver or the chipset driver. There's a utility that can assist you with this. You can utilize DriverHandy to update your USB drive driver. This tool offers daily scans for outdated drivers and can automatically help you upgrade to the latest versions, efficiently preventing problems with your computer that may arise from outdated or missing drivers.

Follow the guide to give it a try:

Step 1. Launch the tool DriverHandy and click "Scan."

Step 2. Locate your USB driver and click "Update."

Method 6: Enable USB 3.0 Drive in BIOS

Usually, the USB 3.0 port is enabled by default. If you possess a USB 3.0 or 3.1 drive but are experiencing slow USB transfer speeds, you should verify and ensure that USB 3.0 is enabled in the BIOS:

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1. Step 1: Restart your computer and press F2 or Del keys to enter BIOS.
2. Step 2: In BIOS, use the left and right arrow keys to select the "Advanced" tab.
3. Step 3: Use the up and down arrow keys to choose "USB Configuration" and press "Enter".
4. Step 4: If "USB 3.0 (or 2.0) Support" is disabled, use the arrow keys to select it and press "Enter".
5. Step 5: In the Options window, select "Enabled" and press "Enter".
6. Step 6: Press "F10" to save the changes and exit BIOS.

Wait for your computer to boot into Windows as usual, and you can reconnect your USB for file transferring again. If the USB Quick Boot option was previously disabled, enabling it will significantly speed up your USB transfer process.

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Currently, most users utilize the USB 3.0 port, which has a maximum transfer speed of 400 MB per second. If your computer's USB port is outdated (like USB 1.1) and your USB device is of a higher standard, such as USB 3.1 or above, it significantly reduces the USB's speed. Upgrading to a newer computer is a sensible option in this case.

When your USB transfer speed is slow, the most efficient ways to enhance the transfer speed are through Methods 1, 2, and 4. Additionally, if you're still using USB 2.0, upgrading to USB 3.0 would be an excellent choice for a significant speed boost.

Regardless of which solution you choose to fix the slow USB transfer rate issue, it's crucial to back up your USB files first. In case of any lost data on your USB drive, the tool Data Recovery Wizard is always available to assist you.

People Also Ask: Why is USB Transfer Speed Slow?

Some of you might be more concerned about boosting USB transfer speeds. Browse through the questions below to find the answers:

1. Why does the USB transfer speed vary?

As mentioned earlier, the USB transfer speed can be influenced by various factors. Here are the reasons why the USB transfer speed might fluctuate:

1. The read/write speed varies between the computer and the USB.
2. The size of the transferred files differs, with smaller files sharing more quickly.
3. Difference between the computer's USB port and your USB type (a USB 2.0 port can slow down the transfer rate of a USB 3.0 flash drive).

2. Does the USB cable affect transfer speed?

The transfer speed of a USB is significantly influenced by the following factors:

1. USB type - USB 3.1/3.0/2.0
2. Computer's read/write speed and hard disk speed.
3. CPU speed.

3. How long does it take to transfer a 1GB file on a USB 2.0 and a USB 3.0 drive?

Consequently, the transfer speed of a 1GB file to a USB 2.0 device is significantly slower than transferring it to a USB 3.0 device.

1. Transfer 1GB files to USB 3.0 - 18 seconds;
2. Transfer 1GB files to USB 2.0 - 3 minutes 18 seconds.