3+ Hours to Transfer 13G to a 1TB Seagate Drive??

  • Thread starter Thread starter W. eWatson
  • Start date Start date
W

W. eWatson

I'm making the transfer right now. Maybe I plugged it into a USB 1.0
port? I'd swear I did a 4.6G in well under an hour a week ago. Is there
a way to tell if I'm using 1.0 or 2.0?

BTW, is there a way to pause the xfer?
 
W. eWatson said:
I'm making the transfer right now. Maybe I plugged it into a USB 1.0 port?
I'd swear I did a 4.6G in well under an hour a week ago. Is there a way to
tell if I'm using 1.0 or 2.0?

BTW, is there a way to pause the xfer?
Click to expand...

Open device manager (Start, run, type in devmgmt.msc and press Enter) and go
to Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Look for an entry labeled Standard
Enhanced PCI to USB Controller, or something similar with the word Enhanced.
That would mean you have USB2.0 installed. You may also have 1.0, but not
likely unless it's an older motherboard. If it is, the front of the case
ports are more likely to be 1.0 than the rear ports.
 
SC said:
Open device manager (Start, run, type in devmgmt.msc and press Enter)
and go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Look for an entry labeled
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Controller, or something similar with the
word Enhanced. That would mean you have USB2.0 installed. You may also
have 1.0, but not likely unless it's an older motherboard. If it is, the
front of the case ports are more likely to be 1.0 than the rear ports.
Click to expand...
I have 2.0 installed. I'm pretty sure it's in the back, which where I
have the HD installed. I'll look at the Device Mgr.

It could take months to get my new Win 7 machine set up. Yikes.
 
I have 2.0 installed. I'm pretty sure it's in the back, which where I
have the HD installed. I'll look at the Device Mgr.

It could take months to get my new Win 7 machine set up. Yikes.
Click to expand...

A) Anything good is worth waiting for.

B) This is your punishment for leaving XP.

More likely B.
 
W. eWatson said:
I have 2.0 installed. I'm pretty sure it's in the back, which where I
have the HD installed. I'll look at the Device Mgr.

It could take months to get my new Win 7 machine set up. Yikes.
Click to expand...

It should take roughly 3.6 hours to transfer 13GB at USB1.1 rates.
USB 1.1 manages about 1MB/sec for transfers, compared to 30MB/sec
if you are using USB 2.0. That "Enhanced" entry makes a difference :-)

You can use UVCView to check the current connection rate. The naming
scheme in USB, leaves a bit to be desired.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

# A *low* speed rate of 1.5 Mbit/s (~183 KB/s) is defined by USB 1.0.
It is very similar to "full speed" operation except each bit takes 8 times
as long to transmit. It is intended primarily to save cost in low-bandwidth
human interface devices (HID) such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks.

# The *full* speed rate of 12 Mbit/s (~1.43 MB/s) is the basic USB data rate
defined by USB 1.1. All USB hubs support full speed.

# A *hi-speed* (USB 2.0) rate of 480 Mbit/s (~57 MB/s) was introduced in 2001.
All hi-speed devices are capable of falling back to full-speed operation if
necessary; they are backward compatible. Connectors are identical."

I was using UVCView just yesterday, while running Win2K on the machine, and
noticed the dreaded "full speed" indication on my external USB enclosure. I
used Device Manager to reinstall the USB and finally got it back to "hi-speed".
"Full speed" gives 1MB/sec practical transfer rate. "Hi-speed" gives 30MB/sec.
Storage devices really shouldn't be running in the "low" speed option.

Paul
 
W. eWatson said:
I'm making the transfer right now. Maybe I plugged it into a USB 1.0
port? I'd swear I did a 4.6G in well under an hour a week ago. Is there
a way to tell if I'm using 1.0 or 2.0?

BTW, is there a way to pause the xfer?
Click to expand...

Well,

1 GB = 1073741824 bits, so 13 GB = 13958643712 bits;
3 hours = 10800 seconds

Thus 13 GB in 3 hours = 13958643712/10800 = 1292467 bps = 1.29 Mbps

"The full speed rate of 12 Mbit/s (~1.43 MB/s) is the basic USB data
rate defined by USB 1.1." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb)

So yes, it looks like you're connected using USB 1.1.

Usually, Windows will tell you when you connect a USB 2 capable device
into a USB 1 (or USB 1.1) port with the message, "This device can
perform faster if you connect it to a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port - For a list
of available ports, click here". I suggest you stop the transfer,
unplug your drive, and reconnect it to see if you get the message.
 
Well,

1 GB = 1073741824 bits, so 13 GB = 13958643712 bits;
3 hours = 10800 seconds

Thus 13 GB in 3 hours = 13958643712/10800 = 1292467 bps = 1.29 Mbps

"The full speed rate of 12 Mbit/s (~1.43 MB/s) is the basic USB data
rate defined by USB 1.1." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usb)

So yes, it looks like you're connected using USB 1.1.

Usually, Windows will tell you when you connect a USB 2 capable device
into a USB 1 (or USB 1.1) port with the message, "This device can
perform faster if you connect it to a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port - For a list
of available ports, click here". I suggest you stop the transfer, unplug
your drive, and reconnect it to see if you get the message.
Click to expand...
As I recall the Seagate Agent drive has no way to stop it. No that's
wrong. I had trouble finding the icon on w7, but it's easily accessible
in xp. W7 too, once you've developed some navigational knowledge of it.
 
As I recall the Seagate Agent drive has no way to stop it. No that's
wrong. I had trouble finding the icon on w7, but it's easily accessible
in xp. W7 too, once you've developed some navigational knowledge of it.
Click to expand...

You should check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic
tools. Also, you may need to disconnect the other USB devices while
you are copying. USB power is shared over the entire number of ports.
 
On 2/2/2010 6:37 AM, smlunatick wrote:
....
You should check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic
tools. Also, you may need to disconnect the other USB devices while
you are copying. USB power is shared over the entire number of ports.
Click to expand...
OK, I was on a USB 1.0 port, which surprised me, since I thought the
ports on the USB card in the back of the PC were all 2.0. I guess the
only way I'm going to find out where the 2.0 ports are is to keep
plugging the cable until I find one. The PC is 5-6 years old, and I know
it has a 2.0 port somewhere.
 
On 2/2/2010 6:37 AM, smlunatick wrote:
...
OK, I was on a USB 1.0 port, which surprised me, since I thought the
ports on the USB card in the back of the PC were all 2.0. I guess the
only way I'm going to find out where the 2.0 ports are is to keep
plugging the cable until I find one. The PC is 5-6 years old, and I know
it has a 2.0 port somewhere.
Click to expand...

Well, I think I found 2.0. I have two USB cards. I see in Device Mgr now
show Enhanced PCI to USB Host.

Historically on this PC, I think w/i a year or so of the purchase I
bought a PCI two port card, then years later a four port 2.0. One slot
on the latter was open, so that's where the FreeAgent drive is now.

I just xferred 4.1G across in about 7-8 minutes. That's 25 mins for 13G,
so about 10 times faster. I'm feeling better already. :-)
 
W. eWatson said:
Well, I think I found 2.0. I have two USB cards. I see in Device Mgr now
show Enhanced PCI to USB Host.

Historically on this PC, I think w/i a year or so of the purchase I
bought a PCI two port card, then years later a four port 2.0. One slot
on the latter was open, so that's where the FreeAgent drive is now.

I just xferred 4.1G across in about 7-8 minutes. That's 25 mins for 13G,
so about 10 times faster. I'm feeling better already. :-)
Click to expand...

You can use the free version of HDTune, from hdtune.com, to check
sustained transfer speed on a hard drive. It saves you the trouble
of doing it with a stopwatch, and you can actually complete a test
in seconds (i.e. stop it when you've seen enough graphical data).

http://hdtune.com/files/hdtune_255.exe

Paul
 
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