Power outage and the "Better performance" USB removal policy question

Nova43

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Jan 28, 2016
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Hi. I want to improve the file transfer speeds on my external hard drive and I was told to change the USB removal policy property from the default to the "better performance" option which requires you to remove the usb device through the "safely remove usb drive" option before pulling out the drive. I was also told that the drive could get corrupted if it is not removed safely. My question is this: if this option is chosen and if the computer turns off suddenly in a power outage, then would that corrupt the external drive since it was not removed safely? Thanks.
 
Better Performance Policy
All that happens is Windows defers file transfers till your PC is not busy doing something else (a process called write caching), which is why it's important to let Windows know before you unplug it.

I always use the default "Quick Removal" setting (no write caching) as data loss is much less likely and you can unplug the drive anytime when it's not busy without using the "safely remove device" procedure. Much safer in my opinion, as on the "Better Performance" setting you might just unplug the drive without thinking, which could cause data loss or corruption.

To improve file transfer speed to/from external drive it's better option to use USB 3.0 drive connected to a USB 3.0 port where possible, and regularly defrag the data on the drive.