SLOW delete speeds

[Goodteacher]

I transferred about 50 gb of data from my external using usb 3.0 which was very fast.

Changed my mind and went delete it all about 20 minutes later. Drag to highlight all files, press delete.

It took over an hour to delete them all.

Is this normal? Seems excessive, when it copied in about 7 minutes I think it was.

 

[marsmimar]

I think what you've experienced is normal. But I can't find a good explanation why it happens. Just as an example, I have an external hard drive in a USB 2.0 and eSATA enclosure. If I create a system image (ie: copy data from the C: drive to the external hard drive) I can use the much faster eSATA. But if I try to restore the image I have to use the much slower USB 2.0. Similarly, when you transferred (copied) your data you were able to use 3.0, but the delete function probably defaulted to USB 2.0.

Perhaps someone else will jump in with additional information.

 

[Goodteacher]

I tHink maybe I confused my explanation.

Files transferred to internal hdd from external hdd via USB 3

Deleted files on internal hdd, took forever. No transfer going on. External was unplugged at that point.

Just curious if there is a way to not have this happen, or just a reality.

Just trying to learn something.

Thanks for the reply by the way.

 

[UsernameIssues]

There is a place in your system spec for this forum where you can fill in what antivirus tool you are using.

So, what antivirus tool you are using?

Did some other process start while you were deleting those files - like an AV scan?

Did the deleted files go into your recycle bin?

Do you want to try it again to see if it is repeatable?

 

[Goodteacher]

I just updated av specs. It's just MSE.

Don't remember if it went to rb or permanently deleted via the prompt.

I'll try to replicate soon. Away from pc currently. On the ipad.

 

[UsernameIssues]

I too see slow file operations within W7 (as compared to XP).

MSE should not slow file deletions down.

If the files were sent to the recycle bin and if there were lots of tiny files, then the overhead of handling each file might slow things down. I'm not sure how much indexing goes on to put one file into the recycle bin.

 

[mmmelaney]

....So, what antivirus tool you are using?

Did some other process start while you were deleting those files - like an AV scan?


Do you want to try it again to see if it is repeatable?

That was it! I temporarily disabled Eset Nod32 and I'm back to lightning-fast. I always forget I can do that. Eset is pretty fast otherwise, but I guess it fights with external drives a bit.

The other thing that always helps me on older computers & Win7 is to disable Windows Search completely (In the Services panel.) I simply turn it back on for a few minutes once a month or so, just to refresh any new items in the Start Menu. Again this only makes a difference on older computers (5+ years.) Recent computers shouldn't need this. Their problem is almost always "crapware" and "bloatware."


Sorry for the late post but I thought my answer might help others since this thread comes up at the top of Google searches.