USB 2.0 - or not?
Q&A
Is it me, or do the USB 2.0 ports on my laptop seem too slow? I copied some files from a friend onto a USB stick, and they copied quickly. But transferring them onto my machine was very different.
It's a new machine, so it's not like they're USB 1.1 ports, but the speed definitely doesn't seem to be up to USB 2.0 par.
Bad laptop? Bad ports? Or is there a setting I can tweak to put this right?
COMMENTS
@John Sims
John Sims wrote:
"I can't change my BIOS settings as Dell very kindly decided to password protect it on the BIOS update"
Try "Dell". If that doesn't work you can google "Backdoor BIOS Passwords". Or contact customer support.
Same problem
I've got a Dell laptop with exactly the same problem if I use the USB ports on the side. If I use the two at the back they work at 2.0. Unfortunatley I can't change my BIOS settings as Dell very kindly decided to password protect it on the BIOS update that came with my update from XP to Vista CD. Naughty Dell!!!
Also,
I agree with both of the above....
Not meaning to add complexity to the question - but I notice that USB drives don't always work correctly if another device has been previously connected to a particular USB port. I have, in the past, deleted all of the devices from hardware manager just to get my USB camera to be correctly discovered.
Fault finding
The thing to do is put the USB stick back in your friend's computer and copy the file off it to see how it does. And try copying the same files back on to the USB stick from your laptop. Then try the same thing with a different USB stick. It's possible that the USB stick is to blame, rather than your laptop.
Once you've established if it is your laptop or the USB stick that is to blame, then you cam start to try and find the problem. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your USB host controller and chipset. Updating your BIOS can't hurt either. There are some laptops that come with aditional drivers to enable USB 2.0, but default to USB 1.1, so that's worth investigating.
It would help if you mentioned the make and model of your laptop, what operating system you're using, what patches you have applied that might be of relevance, and what you've done to try and fix the problem already.
Of course, it is possible that you just have a s*** laptop :-)
BIOS?
I bought a laptop from Dell once where there were 4 USB ports, two on the back and two on the side. All were advertised as USB2.0 but the side ones appeared to run much slower than the back!
Turned out that they were set in the BIOS to run at USB1 speed, I think as a power saving measure.
Anyway, perhaps worth scanning through your USB settings in the BIOS?
