USB 3.0 External Hard Drive, extremely slow transfer

[Chris Tomlinson]

I have an external usb 3.0 hard drive case that I've placed a 1TB 2.5" sata hard drive inside. It reads just fine but transferring does horrible. I have it plugged into the USB 3.0 port and I'm using a blue USB 3.0 wire. When I transfer files roughly a mixture of all sorts of sizes that total in around 109 GBs, it starts out at 20 mb/s then quickly drops to 335 kb/s and then sits at zero then bumps up to 335 kb/s again and repeats. I've tried going into device manger and clicking on better performance but it does the same thing.
I ran crystaldiskinfo and here's what I get.

Spoiler

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskInfo 5.6.2 Shizuku Edition (C) 2008-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OS : Windows 8 [6.2 Build 9200] (x64)
Date : 2013/08/20 1:53:01

-- Controller Map ----------------------------------------------------------
+ AMD SATA Controller [ATA]
- ST500LT0 12-9WS142 SATA Disk Device
- MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ8D1
- Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller [SCSI]
+ AVSKS2UW IDE Controller [SCSI]
- XSZ 9QNGXIVK SCSI CdRom Device

-- Disk List ---------------------------------------------------------------
(1) ST500LT012-9WS142 : 500.1 GB [0/0/0, pd1] - st
(2) SAMSUNG HM100UI : 1000.2 GB [1/0/0, sa1]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) ST500LT012-9WS142
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Model : ST500LT012-9WS142
Firmware : 0001LVM1
Serial Number : S0V6VCC4
Disk Size : 500.1 GB (7.9/137.4/500.1/500.1)
Buffer Size : 16384 KB
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 976773168
Rotation Rate : 5400 RPM
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 4
Transfer Mode : SATA/300
Power On Hours : 78 hours
Power On Count : 27 count
Temparature : 44 C (111 F)
Health Status : Good
Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
APM Level : 8080h [ON]
AAM Level : ----

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 115 100 _34 000005F49990 Read Error Rate
03 _99 _99 __0 000000000000 Spin-Up Time
04 100 100 _20 00000000001C Start/Stop Count
05 100 100 _36 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 _63 _60 _30 00000022328D Seek Error Rate
09 100 100 __0 BD0D0000004E Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 _97 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0C 100 100 _20 00000000001B Power Cycle Count
B8 100 100 _99 000000000000 End-to-End Error
BB 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reported Uncorrectable Errors
BC 100 100 __0 000000000000 Command Timeout
BD 100 100 __0 000000000000 High Fly Writes
BE _56 _55 _45 00002D1B002C Airflow Temperature
BF 100 100 __0 000000000003 G-Sense Error Rate
C0 100 100 __0 000000000003 Power-off Retract Count
C1 _99 _99 __0 000000000AF3 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 _44 _45 __0 00170000002C Temperature
C4 100 100 _30 2E6900000045 Reallocation Event Count
C5 100 100 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
FE 100 100 __0 000000000000 Free Fall Protection

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 0C5A 3FFF C837 000F 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 5330 5636 5643 4334
020: 0000 8000 0004 3030 3031 4C56 4D31 5354 3530 304C
030: 5430 3132 2D39 5753 3134 3220 2020 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 4000 2F00
050: 4000 0200 0200 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0110
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 0F06 0004 0048 0040
080: 01F8 0029 346B 7D09 6123 3469 BC09 6123 407F 0032
090: 0032 8080 FFFE 0000 FE00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 6030 3A38 0000 0000 0000 0000 6003 0000 5000 C500
110: 618F B372 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401E
120: 401E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0029 6030
130: 3A38 6030 3A38 2020 0002 0140 0108 5000 3C06 3C0A
140: 0000 003C 0000 0008 0000 0000 00FF 0280 0004 0000
150: 0008 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 5F00 8000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0003 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1031 0000 0000 4000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1518 0000 0000
220: 0002 0000 101F 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 8EA5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 0A 00 01 0F 00 73 64 90 99 F4 05 00 00 00 03 03
010: 00 63 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 64 64 1C
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 0F 00 3F 3C 8D 32 22 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 64 64 4E 00 00 00 0D BD 10 0A 13 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 32 00 64 64 1B 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 B8 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BB 32
070: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BC 32 00 64 64 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 BD 3A 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 BE 22 00 38 37 2C 00 1B 2D 00 00 00 BF 32
0A0: 00 64 64 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32 00 64 64 03
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 63 63 F3 0A 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C2 22 00 2C 2D 2C 00 00 00 17 00 00 C4 0F
0D0: 00 64 64 45 00 00 00 69 2E 1D C5 12 00 64 64 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 10 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 C7 3E 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FE 32
100: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 73
170: 03 00 01 00 01 69 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 02 01 01 02 01 02 01
190: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 38 35 4E AE 49 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 01 00 03 00 24 7A 7C 26 BA 1D 00 00
1C0: 24 A7 B3 14 DE F7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3E 11 00 00 C4 00 09 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 24
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4D

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 01 00 01 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 14 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 24 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 1E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 61 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 B8 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BB 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BC 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 BD 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 BE 2D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BF 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C4 1E
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 FE 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 71

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(2) SAMSUNG HM100UI
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enclosure : SAMSUNG HM100UI USB Device (V=04C5, P=2028, sa1)
Model : SAMSUNG HM100UI
Firmware : 2AM10001
Serial Number : S2GHJDZZC00411
Disk Size : 1000.2 GB (8.4/137.4/1000.2/1000.2)
Buffer Size : 8192 KB
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 1953525168
Rotation Rate : 5400 RPM
Interface : USB (Serial ATA)
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 6
Transfer Mode : SATA/300
Power On Hours : 19582 hours
Power On Count : 826 count
Temparature : 32 C (89 F)
Health Status : Bad
Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, AAM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
APM Level : 0080h [OFF]
AAM Level : FE00h [OFF]

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 100 100 _51 00000000031B Read Error Rate
02 252 252 __0 000000000000 Throughput Performance
03 _80 _77 _25 000000001824 Spin-Up Time
04 100 100 __0 000000000338 Start/Stop Count
05 __9 __9 _10 000000002C18 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 252 252 _51 000000000000 Seek Error Rate
08 252 252 _15 000000000000 Seek Time Performance
09 100 100 __0 000000004C7E Power-On Hours
0A 252 252 _51 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0B _97 _97 __0 000000000F2C Recalibration Retries
0C 100 100 __0 00000000033A Power Cycle Count
B5 _99 _99 __0 000001CD517F Unknown
BF _99 _99 __0 0000000047A4 G-Sense Error Rate
C0 252 252 __0 000000000000 Power-off Retract Count
C2 _64 _43 __0 0039000A0020 Temperature
C3 100 100 __0 000000000000 Hardware ECC recovered
C4 __9 __9 __0 000000002C18 Reallocation Event Count
C5 100 100 __0 000000000018 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 252 252 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 100 100 __0 000000000010 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
C8 100 100 __0 00000000719B Write Error Rate
DF _97 _97 __0 000000000F2C Load/Unload Retry Count
E1 _15 _15 __0 0000000D1D16 Load/Unload Cycle Count

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 0040 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 5332 4748 4A44 5A5A 4330 3034 3131 2020 2020 2020
020: 0000 4000 0004 3241 4D31 3030 3031 5341 4D53 554E
030: 4720 484D 3130 3055 4920 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 4000 2F00
050: 4000 0200 0200 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0000
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 1F06 0000 004C 0040
080: 01FF 0028 746B 7F69 6123 7469 BC41 6123 407F 0074
090: 0074 0080 FFFE 0000 FE00 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 6DB0 7470 0000 0000 0000 0000 6003 0000 5002 4E90
110: 046E A346 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0100 0000 401C
120: 401C 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0021 0000
130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0003 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 4000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1518 0000 0000
220: 0000 0000 101F 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 0400 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 E5A5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 2F 00 64 64 1B 03 00 00 00 00 00 02 26
010: 00 FC FC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 23 00 50 4D 24
020: 18 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 64 64 38 03 00 00 00
030: 00 00 05 33 00 09 09 18 2C 00 00 00 00 00 07 2E
040: 00 FC FC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 24 00 FC FC 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 32 00 64 64 7E 4C 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0A 32 00 FC FC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 32
070: 00 61 61 2C 0F 00 00 00 00 00 0C 32 00 64 64 3A
080: 03 00 00 00 00 00 B5 22 00 63 63 7F 51 CD 01 00
090: 00 00 BF 22 00 63 63 A4 47 00 00 00 00 00 C0 22
0A0: 00 FC FC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 02 00 40 2B 20
0B0: 00 0A 00 39 00 00 C3 3A 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C4 32 00 09 09 18 2C 00 00 00 00 00 C5 32
0D0: 00 64 64 18 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 30 00 FC FC 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 36 00 64 64 10 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 C8 2A 00 64 64 9B 71 00 00 00 00 00 DF 32
100: 00 61 61 2C 0F 00 00 00 00 00 E1 32 00 0F 0F 16
110: 1D 0D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F4 38 00 5B
170: 03 00 01 00 02 F3 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 7C

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 10 00 01 33 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 19 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 05 0A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 07 33
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 0F 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 0A 33 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 BF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C2 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C3 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C4 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C5 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 DF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E1 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3B

Any help would be appreciated on how to fix this

 

[aammiittg]

I had a similar issue with my new purchased WD ultra 2tb hard drive. My system would hang the moment I connected my hard drive to my PC or it would not read my hard drive. even if it did the contents would not open...After many attempts of restart, pluging in & out my HD the PC could not read it and would hang. Was confused it is was my PC or my HD that had an issue as without my HD my system worked fine.

SOLUTION :-
1. Firstly, to check if my PC had a problem, I went on windows site and downloaded "Microsoft Fix it" for my windows 7. I ran it and post that the PC could read my HD but then when I started to copy my content the speed was very very slow, for a 849mb it showed it would take 7hours. Another problem for me then.

2. I then went on WD (Western Digital) support site and downloaded all the drives and related contents again ( like Installation, smartware, Security, etc) and that was it. My struggle for 2 days ended finally. Everything is working absolutely fine now. The speed is great and Problem solved.

P.S - You might be asked to restart your system every time you download & run a new update, it is absolutely fine, do that for the changes to take into effect.

Hope it helps You !
Cheers !

 

[Pradeep Rajmane]

Before copying if possible Zip the possible folders e.g images document and other folders which will reduce the space of the folder to large extend.
this is will speed up the copying and after wards you can unzip the files .

 

[Alial]

I having same problem but when my hard drive plugged in my computer and i turn on my computer isn't very slow. when I plug out and in again it become good and normal speed.

 

[archfrog]

Hi,

I had the same problem (very slow USB3 transfer to external harddisk). I aired my frustration to a friend of mine and he told me to reset my BIOS settings. I did and immediately, upon the next restart of Windows, my USB3 transfer speed surged from about 28 mb/sec to 105 mb/sec. Windows 8.1 had to reinstall drivers for all USB3 devices again, but that went smooth and all by itself.

So, the morale is: Don't tweak your BIOS settings unless you really, really know what you are doing


Cheers,
archfrog