Why does transfering files between two external hard drives go so slowly?

[bluemoon22]

Hello, I have two external hard drives and was copying files from one to the other. Both have USB 3.0 interfaces but the transfer rate was going at a max of 4.4MB/s. I tried using TeraCopy but it didn't help. Why is the transfer rate so slow and what can be done about it?

By the way, this isn't the first time a problem like this has been reported, google has some accounts of it.

 

[TeraMedia]

To help us help you, you should describe the computer you are using to do the transfers:
- What motherboard does it have?
- Which USB ports are you connecting to?
- What O/S are you using?
- Have you installed the USB 3.0 drivers? If so, what driver version?
- If you look under Driver Manager and configure the view to be Devices by Connection, are the two external drives sharing the same USB Host Controller, or are they on different ones?

Next, please tell us about the external drives you are using. The fact that they have USB 3.0 interfaces isn't very important if they're super-slow, heavily-fragmented, 5400 RPM 100 GB drives.

 

[bluemoon22]

Motherboard: ASUS - - ASUS P8Z68-V LE
USB ports: two on the back of a desktop that are coloured blue (I assume that blue indicates they are USB 3?)
O/S: Windows 7 64bit
Drivers installed: not sure
Are they using the same USB Host Controller: not sure
External hard drives used:
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B007FQNLOY
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Drive-Storage/dp/B005HMKKH4

My suspicion: I've red complaints about the cable coming with the HD being USB 2 but nontheless USB 2 speeds are faster than 4MB/s.

Feel free to ask question or try things, the reason I posted here and not superuser.com is so we can have an interactive discussion.

 

[Sakura-00]

My hard drive has ever experienced the same problem. It seems too full. Therefore, I delete some useless files. And the rate is fine now.
I don't know. I hope my words can help.

 

[Alabalcho]

It all depends what you are transferring. If you transferring a lot of small files, the speeds you're seeing are almost normal. To pinpoint the problem, copy some large file (e.g. .ISO from a DVD) between local hard drive with plenty of space back and forth.