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I tested the internal HDD with CrystalDiskMark and was able to get 109 MBPS both on sequential read and write tests. Then, when I tested my 1 TB WD My Passport USB 3.0 External HDD with CrystalDiskMark the sequential read and write speed did not exceed 40 MBPS the few times I tried. Got similar 30-40 MBPS speed when transferring movies from external HDD to internal HDD.

So far, I have tried updating the external HDD and USB 3.0 Controller drivers. Tried with 'USB selective suspend setting' disabled (Under Power Plan Options). Also tried with write caching enabled. But havent been able to solve the issue.

My laptop is running Win 10 Home 64-Bit. I am sure I used the USB 3.0 port. And, I used the USB 3.0 cable supplied with the external HDD. I don't have another USB 3.0 device so cannot figure out whether the issue is with my laptop of the external HDD.'

Please help me out here.

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  • Are you sure it's not the speed of the hard drive speed limiting it, rather than the USB bus?
    – Jonno
    Jan 31, 2016 at 9:20
  • Not sure but its a USB 3.0 HDD and I am using it with a USB 3.0 cable. Shouldn't it get like around 80 MBPS write speed at least like other 2.5" drives? Jan 31, 2016 at 9:35
  • Jonno may be on to something. WD uses old technology in some of their external drives. In an ad for a 1TB My Passport drive (not sure if it's the same model), it talks about USB 3.0 vs. 2.0 and says the drive is up to 3 times faster with USB 3.0. USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than 2.0, so the data transfer rate of the drive inside the enclosure may be much lower than USB 3.0 capability.
    – fixer1234
    Jan 31, 2016 at 9:41
  • Reviewers of the HDD on Amazon claim upto 105 MBPS transfer speed. Jan 31, 2016 at 9:53

1 Answer 1

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I was able to find a solution. Turns out that if you plug in a USB 3.0 HDD too slowly, then it will be recognized as a USB 2.0 HDD. This happens because in a USB 3.0 plug the USB 3.0 connector pins are in the second row. So, if you plug in the USB 3.0 HDD slowly then it gives the PC enough time to complete the protocol handshake and your USB 3.0 HDD is recognized as a USB 2.0 HDD before its fully plugged in. Which is why you don't get USB 3.0 speeds. So if you have a similar problem try plugging in your HDD quicker and see if it helps.

Original solution post: superuser.com/a/886634/552013

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