I recently upgraded my motherboard and tried transferring 115GB of video data to a USB flash drive. The transfer speed drops to zero MB/S, and when I play the videos back using VLC, they keep freezing. To troubleshoot this, I formatted the USB stick to NTFS, changed the policy in Device Manager to 'Better Performance', and activated the Optimize Drives service. I've also heard that Windows Cumulative Update KB5063878 can cause issues with heavy data transfers, and I'm not sure if the problem lies with this update, my new motherboard (B550M DS3H AC R2 from Gigabyte), or a combination of both. I'm using a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port too. What should I do to figure out what's causing the slow transfer speed?
2 Answers
USB sticks aren't the fastest option out there. They're made for easy data transfer on the go rather than high performance. You might want to run a performance test using CrystalDiskMark to see the typical speeds for your USB stick. Keep in mind, large file transfers can be quick, but small files might take longer.
Have you tried using a different flash drive? People have reported that the latest drivers from Gigabyte could help. Just a heads-up, the Windows update KB5063878 might cause issues with SSDs, but it shouldn't affect USB flash drives directly.
I actually tried another flash drive. I bought two of the same model and both had the same issue. I even tested a different brand, and it was still problematic. I used the latest drivers from the AMD website instead of Gigabyte's.
Who do you think I should reach out to for more help?
I should've mentioned earlier, but my USB stick and the port I used are both USB 3.2 Gen 1.