usb 2 speed

2 issues that need to be clarified:
1. 480Mb/s is in theory. Almost NO way to run at that speed.
2. Copying speed is affected by many factors:
   - Antivirus software. If enabled, it will scan the files thoroughly before allowing windows to copy.
   - Hard drive performance. If there are other disk activities (Windows, Software...), the copying speed will varry.
   - Numbers of files/folders copied. Fastest if copy ONLY single 390Mb file, than 390 files at 1Mb/each, or 390,000 files at 1Kb/each. This varies A LOT.
   - USB thumb drive quality. Good branch names gives better result.
   - USB chipset on your mainboard.

Me usually copy 2Gb at

In my case, copy one 2Gb file (MPG) using KINGSTON 4Gb, around 2-4 minutes

all you said i know general knowledge- please try to answer my questions, or give facts

90 seconds - that is already 50% better, and a good suggestion. i'll test it further
more info is welcome
***note that the speed was the same on an XP SP2 system, and on a Vista pc, it does not seem to be systeml dependant; software (like AV) seems more plausible to me
specs :
Vista 3.2 GHz cpu 2 Gb ram
XP        2 GHz cpu 1 Gb ram

My CPU is a Pent D 3.4Ghz. Eventhough the speed my system achieved was much improved compared to yours, it's still a long way from the 8 seconds it should be capable of.

Try booting from a Bart PE disk and copying the same data, if you get similar times then you'll know it's a hardware issue.

ok - i'll keep this question open some more days, to allow for more input

Trying to find a Flash Drive that isn't already full of "portable apps" to test for you ....

Just verifying your figures so I can try and replicate the scenario as accurately as possible:

380MB folder divided by 390 files = Average file size 0.97MB
You gave the file sizes as about 1 - 2 MB.  Not sure if that meant 1.2MB or between 1 and 2 MB, but it doesn't tally up.

OK, so I created a folder with 390 x 1,020KB (0.99MB) *.jpg files = 388MB.  It was the nearest I could get.  I did 2 tests:

Drag and drop copy of new folder to Flash Drive.
2 minutes and 39 seconds (159 seconds).

xcopy Foldername L:\Foldername /s /i
2 Minutes and 48 Seconds (168 Seconds)

Seems a lot of loss too.  My Flash Drive is connected to an externally powered USB 2.0 hub by a 60cm cable and the hub is connected to the USB port by a 90cm cable.  I have a 2GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM and I have been using the PC for a while, so it's not running as fast as it would have been after a reboot, but this all gives a "normal" kind of overhead that you would probably be working with in normal use.

I did the tests again with the Flash Drive plugged directly into a USB 2.0 Port on my PC and did not notice any significant increase in transfer times.

Hope this helps.

Forgot to say.  That was from a folder on my system drive (XP SP3) which is a 160GB 7,200 rpm IDE drive with loads of free space, and was to a cheap  empty Emtec 1GB Flash Drive.

well Bill -  this is exactly what i get, not NEAR usb2 speeds !
i thought something was bad from my side
if some one can offer exact figures as to why it is soooo   sloooooow, i will be most grateful.
i know 480 MBs will not be met, but this is, well, just too much difference to swallow....

as for the folde size, there are some pictures in it that were compressed for e-mailing
i can try to take them out to be sure
but USB 2 seems a commercial output, instead of a technical one.....

TX Bill for such thorough testing !
regarding :  -->    c) File copy to the new 4GB Flash Drive was significantly faster than to the 1GB Flash Drive (both USB 2.0).   ---- i  believe i read somewhere that the write speeds to flash drives can vary enormously

now 388 /74= 5.24 MByte / sec  
 the 74 sec are MUCH better than my speed, but still 10x slower as announced for USB 2
i just cleaned up the test folder, now it is 384 Mb with 355 files (all jpg's)
result : transfer time = 230 seconds !

My conclusion is that the Sony Microvault is rather a a Microspeed device....
if somebody with a microvault could confirm or deny this ???

for fun only, i copied the same folder on an USB 1 system (cpu = P4, 2 GHz, 512 MB ram) and got the whopping transfer time of 10 minutes and 25 seconds !

i also have a 256 Mb USB 1 stick , to whom i copied an 100 Mb folder (of the same jpg's) in 3.10 minutes, or 190 seconds = 0.5 Mb sec (also 10 x slower as expected)

now the big apple : is it the  flash ram write speeds, or the usb copy system under windows??

more research needed, appreciated (and probably not rewarded as it should)
upping the points to a full  500 for such thorough work !

"is it the  flash ram write speeds, or the usb copy system under windows?"

I'm afraid that my knowledge of how Windows handles usb data is far beyond my scope of knowledge.  In fact, if the mathematics get any harder here I will be lost also, because I'm terrible at even working out a darts score ;-)

There's no doubt about the fact that some Flash Drives are "better" than others with respect to read access time and write speeds, hence the fact that PC magazines include a "USB Flash Drive Roundup" in their hardware reviews.

There are so many factors involved, including the conductive qualities of the metals used for not only the usb jack plug, but also with the circuit boards and hard wiring.  Too much impedence (or is that resistance) could badly affect data transfer rates I suppose.  Although you don't always get quality with higher price, it is quite often the case.

Perhaps the benchmarking methods published for some of these reviews will shed some light on why some flash drives are better than others in transfer rates.  I found a few good review pages using the key words "usb flash drive roundup reviews" and "usb 2.0 flash drive roundup reviews" in Google, but some of the testing methods (and calculations) used exceed my level of knowledge.

maybe a look at what i found helps :
http://www.techcrater.com/2007/04/05/readyboost-flash-memory-speed-list/
http://www.techcrater.com/2007/04/06/how-to-find-readyboost-speed-rating/

i tested an older 512 Mb stick, and my SONY 8 GB
here the results :
512 MB test results :
pass #1 ended

----------------------------------------------------------[Operation result]--
passes:                 1
errors:                 0
read bytes:             1048511488 (999 Mb)
avg. read speed:        4909350 (4794 kb/s)
max/min read speed:     5791856 (5656 kb/s) / 388146 (379 kb/s)
write bytes:            524255744 (499 Mb)
avg. write speed:       1144107 (1117 kb/s)
max/min write speed:    1336544 (1305 kb/s) / 456625 (445 kb/s)

8 GB test results :
Runing operation [write test] for drive f:

pass #1 ended

----------------------------------------------------------[Operation result]--
passes:                 1
errors:                 0
read bytes:             16106093568 (14 Gb)
avg. read speed:        -1631341 ( -not avaible- /s)
max/min read speed:     28323957 (27 Mb/s) / 1953669 (1907 kb/s)
write bytes:            8053046784 (7679 Mb)
avg. write speed:       3809713 (3720 kb/s)
max/min write speed:    14952716 (14 Mb/s) / 229909 (224 kb/s)

ok - closing time, since nothing  comes in here

i just wish there was more info coming in
anyway thanks to all participants, especially BillDL
research continues; if anybody finds good resources, or diagnostics, feel free to post them !