I'm finding that file transfer speeds to my external USB drives has become very slow. Just now it took 5 minutes to move a 170mb file from my desktop to one of my USB drives, and I think that's really slow! What might be causing the slowdown?
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USB external disks slow file transfers
- Thread starter gomtu
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How much empty disk space does it have? Is it a USB/USB 3.0/FireWire800/Thunderbolt drive? How old (the drive, not you)? Does it make funny noises?
The 4 WD USB drives are less than a year old and all of them less than half full. No noises at all coming from them, and they are USB 2.0 to the best of my knowledge.
I have begun to wonder if perhaps the problem might be the 7 port USB hub I have them plugged into. Might that be an issue?
"I have begun to wonder if perhaps the problem might be the 7 port USB hub I have them plugged into. Might that be an issue?"
That's very possible.
Is it possible to connect the "slow drive" in question _directly_ to the Mac?
If so, try doing that. Do the transfer speeds improve?
That's very possible.
Is it possible to connect the "slow drive" in question _directly_ to the Mac?
If so, try doing that. Do the transfer speeds improve?
Well I will try that, as soon as I figure out which is the slow drive, there are four of them on it, but I'll give it a shot two by two. It could be the drive I was moving the file to, or the one I was moving it from.
To take fishrman's suggestion a step further, I recommend post it notes. As you are testing the file transfers, put a post it note on each one after you have tested it with the results especially if they are all alike. I find myself too often getting to the end and realizing I couldn't remember which one is which.... Just my .02 worth.