can a usb 3.0 flash drive be used in a laptop with 1.1 usb?

[matermark]

can a usb 3.0 flash drive be used in a laptop with 1.1 usb? I have a Flip camera & when I plug it in it says it can run faster if I have 2.0 USB. What will it say if I plug in a USB 3.0 device?

I'm buying a new laptop w/USB 3.0 and want to transfer files & share some files between both laptops. I'd like to keep my Office PST files on a flash drive and take the flash drive with me and plug it into the other laptop after I turn off the first one (both laptops will never be used at the same time.)

I also want to clone a hard drive from the new laptop to an mSATA SSD but to a bootable USB flash drive to remove the HDD. I was told this must be USB 2.0. I' like to buy both a 2.0 and a 3.0, maybe different sizes, which will be determined after I know. Also, will it matter if FAT32, NTFS and 32/64-bit? Thanks.

 

[Alec Mowat]

I don't think it will work. I've tried USB3.0 HD's on USB1.1 ports and the system couldn't read any data. USB 1.1 is far to slow.

It's probably easier to setup the USB Drive as a network share, and just copy the data over your local network. And a lot faster. Use a homegroup option, or just enable sharing on the drive. The network connection will read/write faster than USB1.1 anyway.

Everything on 64 bit NTFS. USB drive can be FAT32, but NTFS is generally faster.

I'm confused about what you are doing with the HDD. I'm not sure why you want to boot of a USB drive, that's very slow and unreliable.

 

[Shaun o]

Its a usb 3.0 device it will work fine on usb 3.0 ports on a computer at full speed.
If you put it in a 2.0 it still works but at half the speed it can run, send or receive data so it will take longer.
Usb boot 2.0 min speed.

On a usb pen drive over 4Gb it must be formatted to NTFS at least if you format it to Fat 32 you will not be able to see or store data above 4gb windows just ignores the rest of the space because a partition or drive size of a drive in fat 32 format has a limit of 4Gb per drive or partition.
Ntfs format can handle a drive of 16TB formatted.
Not that you can get a 16Tb yet.

 

[Lukeno94]

The real answer is that it depends on the flash drive (and, possibly, the laptop and the installed OS/drivers). I can verify from personal experience that a Kingston DataTraveller R30 32GB USB3.0 stick will work fine on my Sony Vaio PCG-FX 601 laptop, which has USB 1.1 ports. You'll simply have to try it and see - but, of course, you won't be able to transfer files at anything beyond the USB 1.1 limits. Do note, however, that USB 1.1 speeds are painfully slow - you're better off using DVD-RWs to transfer data, or doing so over a networked connection if at all possible; you will literally be waiting for many hours to transfer big files/big quantities of files at USB 1.1 speed.

 

[matermark]

I don't think it will work. I've tried USB3.0 HD's on USB1.1 ports and the system couldn't read any data. USB 1.1 is far to slow.

It's probably easier to setup the USB Drive as a network share, and just copy the data over your local network. And a lot faster. Use a homegroup option, or just enable sharing on the drive. The network connection will read/write faster than USB1.1 anyway.

Everything on 64 bit NTFS. USB drive can be FAT32, but NTFS is generally faster.

I'm confused about what you are doing with the HDD. I'm not sure why you want to boot of a USB drive, that's very slow and unreliable.

Alec, thanks for your reply.

I ended up buying a USB 2.0 32GB flash drive.

As for what I'm doing with the hard drive, I bought a brand new, sealed box Samsung mSATA 250GB drive and am planning on installing it but I was told if I clone it from the HDD, I can't use both in the same laptop unless I wipe it clean. I was hoping to make the USB drive bootable and prepare the mSATA from it. I didn't want to wipe the HDD clean though... I wanted to find a way to use it as it is in case I had to send the laptop in under warranty. Or I would remove it and keep it in a safe place for future warranty needs.

 

[matermark]

Its a usb 3.0 device it will work fine on usb 3.0 ports on a computer at full speed.
If you put it in a 2.0 it still works but at half the speed it can run, send or receive data so it will take longer.
Usb boot 2.0 min speed.

On a usb pen drive over 4Gb it must be formatted to NTFS at least if you format it to Fat 32 you will not be able to see or store data above 4gb windows just ignores the rest of the space because a partition or drive size of a drive in fat 32 format has a limit of 4Gb per drive or partition.
Ntfs format can handle a drive of 16TB formatted.
Not that you can get a 16Tb yet.

I now have the new laptop in question. When I put the usb drive in on this machine and did a properties check on it, it says file system is FAT32 and has 28.8GB. It's been a while since I had it plugged into the OLD laptop, but I think it said the same thing. Should I still format it as NTFS? Is that why it's not showing up as a 32GB, or is that the difference between FAT32 & NTFS?