It is no secret to anyone that modern USB-drives in the form of ordinary flash drives and removable memory cards are very much crowded out on the market of storage media and floppy disks, and were once considered the most frequently used optical drives. However, with all its compactness and impressive volumes available for data storage, all models of such devices in terms of speed of access to them and the ability to perform any actions related to copying or moving files vary quite a lot. And it is the speed of a USB flash drive or memory card, which, by and large, can also be attributed to this class of devices, often determines the user's choice in favor of a particular device. Let’s try to figure out how it is possible to test carriers of any type to determine their true speed, since the dry characteristics declared by the manufacturer with the actual state of affairs may not coincide.
Factors Affecting Read and Write Speed
And for starters, we’ll define some of the most important factors that affect the speed performance of any device. Most experts call the type of connection used as one of the most important criteria.
In the case of flash drives, of course, we are talking about different USB standards (2.0 and 3.0). It is understood that the third version provides better performance. But in this case, the drive itself must support it. What's the point of connecting media that is designed to use USB 2.0 ports connected to 3.0? The second equally important factor is the type of file system that is used to format the drive. Today, NTFS and FAT32 standards are most often used, and the first one provides a faster flash drive interaction with the operating system and the ports used to connect.
The exFAT standard is quite specific and is used mainly in non-Windows operating systems, and is also sometimes used when working with memory cards. for memory cards, such criteria are also applicable, however, types of additional devices called card readers play a more significant role here, which can also vary in their characteristics. But in any case, for all such devices on the computer must be installed the appropriate (preferably the latest) drivers, without which you can not even dream about working with removable storage media.
Declared manufacturer specifications
Thus, checking the speed of the USB stick should be performed taking into account all of the above factors. But after all, when buying such devices in a store, you are unlikely to be offered a test, and you will have to be content only with the characteristics indicated by the manufacturer on the package.
Indeed, the first thing you should pay attention to are supported connection standards and read and write settings. Keep in mind that the declared speed is maximum (any manufacturer indicates such characteristics, so to speak, for ideal operating conditions of the device). And, unfortunately, this maximum does not always correspond to the real value, since many manufacturers, trying to promote their products on the market, simply overestimate the characteristics (and some also praise their devices, saying that their products are much better than competitors). Of course, eminent companies will not do such things, but, you know, advertising is the engine of trade.
Which drive to choose?
As for the choice of the preferred device, it is advisable to read in advance information about a particular manufacturer of flash drives and memory cards on the Internet, and also to determine the availability or the possibility of using additional software for such devices (for example, to eliminate the consequences of possible failures, install original controller firmware and etc.). Finally, do not be too lazy to just read user reviews about the drive model you select, regarding speed, usability, etc.
Choosing a flash drive is a purely individual matter and depends on the preferences of the users themselves. However, if you look at the conditional total ratings for 2017, you can identify several manufacturers and models that are the best in their class.
Among the fastest devices, the SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 256 GB model is undoubtedly the leader. In the class of drives with a capacity of 16-32 GB, in most cases, preference is given to devices Transcend JetFlash 780 16Gb and Corsair Flash Voyager GT USB 3.0 32GB (serial number CMFVYGT3B). Among the storage media with volumes from 64 to 128 GB, the first two places were shared by the HyperX Savage 128GB and Transcend JetFlash 750 64Gb flash drives. The best among high-capacity devices are HyperX Savage 512GB and Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT 1TB. Finally, in the rating of flash drives with two types of connection, the first places are given to the models ADATA i-Memory UE710 32GB and SanDisk Ultra Dual USB Drive 3.0 32GB.
Note: almost all SanDisk devices, despite the presence in the ratings, are not particularly enthusiastic for many users just because the manufacturer did not create any native utilities for unexpected recovery of their work or flashing, so you have to be content with either universal programs or developments for other drives.
Checking a flash drive for read and write speeds in USB Flash Benchmark
Now let's start testing removable drives directly. There are no such tools on Windows systems.
In the best case, by copying a file or several files, it will be possible to track only the current speed. And it can depend on the amount of data being moved, and on the availability of free space on the medium itself, and on the factors indicated above. This is not always convenient, since quite often checking the speed of a flash drive should include both maximum and average indicators, both for writing and reading at the same time. In this regard, most experts recommend using a small utility called USB Flash Benchmark. By the way, it is very often used to compile conditional testing ratings of carriers of different manufacturers.
In it, after connecting the USB flash drive to the corresponding port, you need to select your device and click the test start button (Benchmark). After that, the process will start, and the result in real time will be displayed in the form of a graph with a description of the current event or test in a special window. The program checks the read speed of the flash drive using standard methods. But the write speed is determined by the expected test copying of packets with data of different sizes as it decreases (the total is 100 MB, and testing is carried out in three stages for each individual size). Based on this, the result is calculated. Looking ahead, we can note the fact that almost all known devices check the speed of writing to a USB flash drive shows that it is 1.2-2 times lower than the read speed. Upon completion of testing, it will not be difficult to conclude on the performance of the device. The program has the ability to send your result to the developer's website, where you can see the tests of other users by selecting a specific model taking into account the manufacturer and volume of the flash drive from the list.
Checking flash drive speed in Check Flash application
This utility is in some ways obsolete. However, its uniqueness lies in the fact that when checking the speed of a flash drive, it is able to independently check the drive with the detection of errors or bad sectors.
But the inconvenience of using this application is that at the end of the checks the flash drive will have to be reformatted, for which you can even use the standard tools of Windows systems.
The basic technique for speeding up reading and writing
With the determination of the speed of copying test information to a USB flash drive and the determination on this basis of the maximum and average speed of a particular operation, we figured it out a bit. Now briefly about accelerating access to the device and increasing its potential performance. To get the most accurate test result, use the connection only through the USB interface for which the device is designed.
As for manual acceleration, format the media in NTFS, if in each case other file systems are not required. Periodically check the device for errors, and disconnect from the computer only with safe removal. It goes without saying that observe the storage conditions of the media and do not expose them to mechanical or thermal effects.
What and how to use to scan drives for viruses?
Sometimes checking the speed of a flash drive can give a distorted result, which may be due to exposure to viruses. To identify and neutralize them, you can use regular scanners installed in the operating system. But in some cases it is more logical to use portable anti-virus programs from Kaspersky Lab or Doctor Web developers, but only if they are launched not from a verified medium, but, for example, from the computer’s hard drive.
Some viruses (especially hidden Autorun INF files) from removable media can be removed on their own. If this proves impossible, the Unlocker utility will help.
Drive Read Troubleshoot Summary
Finally, checking the speed of a flash drive can give a completely different result than the user expected, due to damage to the software of the controllers. In this case, it is recommended to use recovery utilities like D-Flash Doctor or install original firmware based on device identifiers defined, for example, in the ChipGenius program. If nothing helps at all, you can use the universal low-level formatting utility HDD LLFT or applications developed by the manufacturers themselves for the lines of their manufactured devices (usually such programs are laid out for free download directly on official sites).