USB drive only 1 MB/s rate? Why?

[Tony]

I bought a seagate external 120gig USB hard drive. It
took 70 minutes to copy a 4gig file from drive C: to the
external drive. Why?

I have windows 2000 (version 5 build 2195; Service Pack 4)
on my DELL Latitude laptop.

1) How do I know if I have USB 1.1 or USB 2? And if I
have Service Pack 4 then don't I have USB 2 for sure? Or
is there a physical hardware difference between USB 1.1
and USB 2 besides the software/drive upgrades?

2) No matter what, shouldn't I be getting a minimum of 12
MB/s transfer rate even with USB 1.1? What can I do to
check on (and upgrade/configure) software/drivers/config
settings and get a better transfer rate to the external
drive?

Thanks much.

 

[Rick]

I bought a seagate external 120gig USB hard drive. It
took 70 minutes to copy a 4gig file from drive C: to the
external drive. Why?

I have windows 2000 (version 5 build 2195; Service Pack 4)
on my DELL Latitude laptop.

1) How do I know if I have USB 1.1 or USB 2? And if I
have Service Pack 4 then don't I have USB 2 for sure? Or
is there a physical hardware difference between USB 1.1
and USB 2 besides the software/drive upgrades?

2) No matter what, shouldn't I be getting a minimum of 12
MB/s transfer rate even with USB 1.1? What can I do to
check on (and upgrade/configure) software/drivers/config
settings and get a better transfer rate to the external
drive?

USB 1.1 is 12 megaBITS/second, not megabytes.

Check the specs for your laptop, to see whether its USB
port is 1.1 or 2.0.

The USB controller entry in Device Manager will tell you
which driver is installed. If the word "enhanced" is in the
controller name, it's USB 2.0. Otherwise, if it simply says
"universal host controller" or "open host controller" it's
USB 1.1.

Rick

 

[techno]

I bought a seagate external 120gig USB hard drive. It
took 70 minutes to copy a 4gig file from drive C: to the
external drive. Why?

I have windows 2000 (version 5 build 2195; Service Pack 4)
on my DELL Latitude laptop.

Does the laptop manual say it's USB 2.0?

1) How do I know if I have USB 1.1 or USB 2?

My hardware says "USB 2.0 Root Hub" in the Device Manager.

And if I have Service Pack 4 then don't I have USB 2 for sure?

No. Win2000sp4 will use it if it can find it, else it plays dumb.

Or is there a physical hardware difference between USB 1.1
and USB 2 besides the software/drive upgrades?

Yes. Your Hardware must support it AND the manufacturers USB 2.0
software needs to be installed before Win2000sp4 will recognize it.

2) No matter what, shouldn't I be getting a minimum of 12
MB/s transfer rate even with USB 1.1? What can I do to
check on (and upgrade/configure) software/drivers/config
settings and get a better transfer rate to the external
drive?

In a desktop or tower computer it's simply a matter of adding a
card that supports USB 2.0. But on a laptop, you are probably out
of luck.

 

[Tony]

OK thanks Rick. It doesn't say enhanced. It just
says "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" and then under
there are 3 entries:
"Intel(R) 82801CA/CAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2482"
"USB Mass Storage Device" (which is the Seagate drive)
"USB Root Hub"

So it looks like it is USB 1.1 then. But even so, my
questions now are:

1) Can I upgrade to USB 2.0 via software/drivers only or
is it a hardware upgrade that would be needed as well?

2) Even with USB 1.1 shouldn't I be able to achieve 12
MB/s transfer rate? If so, then why am I getting only 1
MB/s ?

-Tony

 

[Rick]

OK thanks Rick. It doesn't say enhanced. It just
says "Universal Serial Bus Controllers" and then under
there are 3 entries:
"Intel(R) 82801CA/CAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2482"
"USB Mass Storage Device" (which is the Seagate drive)
"USB Root Hub"

So it looks like it is USB 1.1 then. But even so, my
questions now are:

1) Can I upgrade to USB 2.0 via software/drivers only or
is it a hardware upgrade that would be needed as well?

The latter. As another response said, on a desktop you could
just go out and buy a USB 2.0 adapter. One does not have
that option on a laptop.

2) Even with USB 1.1 shouldn't I be able to achieve 12
MB/s transfer rate? If so, then why am I getting only 1
MB/s ?

As I mentioned, USB 1.1 has a maximum transfer rate of 12
megabits per second, not 12 megabytes. It works out to
1.5MB/s, less controller overhead. Just over 1MB/s is
about right for USB 1.1.

Rick

 

[Tony]

OK, I finally get it now. Was thinking Megabytes not
bits. But apparently we do have the option to go out and
buy PCMCIA cards that are 2 port USB 2.0 now for laptops.
I just found that IOGEAR and others make them. About
$40. Problem solved. Thanks. -Tony

 

[Rick]

OK, I finally get it now. Was thinking Megabytes not
bits. But apparently we do have the option to go out and
buy PCMCIA cards that are 2 port USB 2.0 now for laptops.
I just found that IOGEAR and others make them. About
$40. Problem solved. Thanks. -Tony

Great idea! I forgot about PCMCIA.

Glad you got it sorted.

Rick