Flash Drive Speed

[seekermeister]

I have a Corsair Flash Voyager pen drive that I installed the W7 setup files on, before my DVDs arrived. I used it to install the RTM on my primary rig, and just a couple of days ago, I tried using it again on my secondary rig, but both times the screen where is says that it is loading Windows files moved like a sick snail across the screen. I thought that it would be faster than the DVD, but that definitely is not the case. I'm going to delete the files on it, to use it for general purposes, but it's performance has me wondering if there is something wrong with the drive, or if it's behavior is typical?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Make sure USB 2.0 is enabled in the BIOS. You might also try formatting the drive and starting over.

 

[seekermeister]

2.0 is enabled and at High Speed, so that shouldn't be the issue. I was just thinking of deleting the files on it, but it would be just as easy to reformat, so I try that. I know about the file size limitation of FAT32, but is there any kind of problem with formatting it NTSF? The reason that I ask, is because I understand that FAT32 is generally used on flash drives, but a 4GB limit kind of restricts how I might want to use the drive.

 

[Jonathan_King]

To put the files on the thumb drive, you need to format it with NTFS. Try this: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

I use method 2 because it's faster.

 

[seekermeister]

When I initially created the Windows 7 key on the drive, I used the Microsoft USB/DVD Tool to do so. I don't remember now, but I imagine that it used NTSF to do so. That may be the reason for the speed issue...I don't know. Why is FAT32 preferred for thumb drives...is it a speed factor?

 

[Jonathan_King]

Don't use FAT32 for an installation drive... it only works with NTFS. NTFS is faster, I believe.

 

[seekermeister]

That is the point, with the way that it performs now, I do not want to use it as an installation drive. I'm not certain exactly how I will use it, but it may just become an archive drive. Therefore, I'm interested in how FAT32 performs vs NTSF, without consideration of it's use as an installation drive.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Try this: FAT and NTFS performance

 

[seekermeister]

Thanks, that was an interesting read, even though the writer's native language apparently isn't English, because his phraseology is often awkward, leaving a person guessing at his meaning at times. This is also complicated by the fact that his focus on files systems only targeted harddrives...not flash drives.

What he did say would lead one to think that NTSF would be the preferred FS for flash drives, but it isn't, so I'm still left scratching my head some.

 

[Zidane24]

Thanks, that was an interesting read, even though the writer's native language apparently isn't English, because his phraseology is often awkward, leaving a person guessing at his meaning at times. This is also complicated by the fact that his focus on files systems only targeted harddrives...not flash drives.

What he did say would lead one to think that NTSF would be the preferred FS for flash drives, but it isn't, so I'm still left scratching my head some.

FAT32 is preferred because NTFS has indexing (which makes writes on the drive) and little compatibility between anything non-MS

Advantages of FAT32
No File/Folder Permissions (can't lock yourself out of a file)
No "Wear and Tear" on a drive
Can be faster than NTFS (look at benchmarks)
Greater Compatibility between many OS

Advantages of NTFS
File/Folder Permissions (Can lock others out of a file)
Can have single files of 4GB or higher on the drive

Now...lets introduce exFAT

Advantages of exFAT
Take FAT32 + single files over 4GB - Greater Compatibility between many OS

Reccomendation? FAT32

If anyone has anything more to add...than please do so

 

[seekermeister]

You recommended FAT32, but from what little that you said, it sounds as though exFAT would have more advantages.

 

[Zidane24]

You recommended FAT32, but from what little that you said, it sounds as though exFAT would have more advantages.

I probably should have clarified but...

If you are just going to use the flash drive between Vista and 7...sure go exFAT...though I am not sure if you can use the flash drive for Windows Setup like that...

other than that...use FAT32 for maximun compatibility

 

[nate42nd]

Also, you can get a good idea of the speed of 5 different drives and compare it to yours with this video I made. Maybe it will help you sort out how your drive is performing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvKCNKrWcc

 

[seekermeister]

Afer some Googling, I found that it appears that exFAT is on it's way as a cross platform FS:

exFAT for Embedded Systems Comes to Linux from Tuxera - Via an intellectual property agreement with Microsoft - Softpedia

But it is not clear to me if it is now available. From what I have read around Google returns, I get the impression that the FS was designed with flash drive use in mind. This makes me wonder if the Microsoft USB/DVD tool that I used to make the Windows 7 installation drive used exFAT or NTFS for structuring the drive? How would one examine a FS structure to determine it's format type? I'm trying to figure out if this might be the reason that it operates so slowly? Since flash drives are solid state, I would have thought that they would be faster than a DVD.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Afer some Googling, I found that it appears that exFAT is on it's way as a cross platform FS:

exFAT for Embedded Systems Comes to Linux from Tuxera - Via an intellectual property agreement with Microsoft - Softpedia

But it is not clear to me if it is now available. From what I have read around Google returns, I get the impression that the FS was designed with flash drive use in mind. This makes me wonder if the Microsoft USB/DVD tool that I used to make the Windows 7 installation drive used exFAT or NTFS for structuring the drive? How would one examine a FS structure to determine it's format type? I'm trying to figure out if this might be the reason that it operates so slowly? Since flash drives are solid state, I would have thought that they would be faster than a DVD.

It formats the drive with NTFS.

 

[seekermeister]

Also, you can get a good idea of the speed of 5 different drives and compare it to yours with this video I made. Maybe it will help you sort out how your drive is performing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYvKCNKrWcc

I didn't see your post, until after my last post. Your video is quite interesting and it inspired me to test my drives in the same fashion. As you can see in the screenshots below, my drives didn't fare as well as yours did. The Corsair drive is loaded with the Windows 7 installation, and the OCZ just has an archive of zips & exes.

I'm wondering if the irradic results of the Corsair indicates a defective drive or if it is due to how it is loaded and formatted? The access times on both drives are slower than your's but the Corsair is particularly bad.

 

[seekermeister]

I got to thinking about the fact that I had used the front panel USB port on my PC which I think is limited to USB 1.1, so I ran the test again with it plugged into my USB hub, which is connected to the Back I/O USB port, which is 2.0, thinking that would improve the results, but as you can see, it got worse. I then retested the OCZ to see if the problem might be due to a defective hub, but it came out very slightly improved:

 

[seekermeister]

It formats the drive with NTFS.

Thanks, that is good to know.

 

[seekermeister]

Based on the HD Tune tests, I've decided that the Corsair drive is not up to par, and have applied for an RMA. I noted in their FAQs that they say that they didn't include the electronics chip in the drive and that was the reason that it is not as fast as some drives in it's category, but if that is the reason for it to be so irradic, they need to put the chip back in.

They already beat me out of a $20 rebate that they promised, but never came, so they better replace the drive, or I shall not be buying any more Corsair products.

 

[nate42nd]

Well I hope I helped out in some small way.

Good luck and all the best!