Extremly slow external hard drive (write speed)

[Dhmios Abarth]

Hello! I have a WD Elements 1TB usb 3.0 external HDD. I ran a test with CrystalDiskMark and the reading speed was around 80mb/s, but the write speed was ONLY 4-5 mb/s... I've scan it for errors and defrag it, but nothing seems to help it write faster... What should I do?

 

[ronintexas]

Are other USB ports in use - or is it on a hub? Have you tried other USB ports? Have you tried it on another computer?

It sounds like a defective drive - but to save time - I would make sure it isn't the USB cable (it must be USB 3.0), the USB port, the USB hub (if applicable) or the computer.

 

[Dhmios Abarth]

Yes I have tried it on my other usb 3.0 port (I own a laptop which has originally two usb 3.0 ports and one 2.0) and also tried it on a usb 2.0 port and on another pc, but the reading speed is at 5 mb/s... I don't think that the cable is defective because I have 85mb/s read spead which satisfies me... I have also plugged in another HDD (very old) which has a 2.0 cable and its writing speed is 20mb/s... So I guess there are no problems with my laptops ports, right...???

 

[ronintexas]

I would rule out the laptop USB ports - it would have to be either the cable or the drive. If the cable came with the drive - I would get an RMA on the drive....

 

[Dhmios Abarth]

I ll borrow a 3.0 cable tomorrow and I ll check the speeds again... Meanwhile I downloaded the "Western Digitals data lifeguard" diagnostic program and found my HDD failed the "Smart Status"... To be more precise the "Reallocated Sector Count" failed the test... Is this something I should be worried about?

 

[ronintexas]

I would RMA the unit. Anytime you fail the SMART Status - you have a hardware problem.