Question USB Flash Memory Very Slow

[meeshu]

I have a 128 GB ADATA flash stick model UV128 which is very slow.

On plugging the stick into a USB port, it literally takes several minutes before it is fully recognized by a computer (tried stick in two different computers) and then shows the stick contents!

Writing and reading data to/from the stick is also very slow. Small files of around 4 MB literally takes about 2 minutes to write, and reading has similar time.

I'm currently doing a full format of the stick (using NTFS). But as of this writing, the format is only 1/3 complete after about 15 or so hours of formatting!

I strongly suspect that this stick is faulty (and/or has a very slow controller embedded), as my other USB sticks (64 GB and less) are almost immediately recognized by computers upon insertion of the sticks into USB ports. And writing and reading data to /from these other USB sticks is much faster (taking just some seconds to process around 4 MB files).

Although the suspect ADATA USB stick is very slow, it does eventually write and read data successfully. However, due to its slow speed I'm seriously considering throwing this stick out and getting another (brand) as a replacement.

Comments?

 

[Tech Junky]

throwing this stick out and getting another (brand) as a replacement.

Probably a good idea. When they get slow they're usually about to fail. Brand doesn't matter but, it doesn't hurt to shop around.

I use actual drives and enclosures at this point. I have a handful of traditional drives though but, my top choice at this point would be SanDisk. I've got a cheap 32GB one for OS images and an Extreme 256GB that runs as an SSD when used. It's a good backup way to boot to a usable OS that runs from the drive itself.

All kind of depends on how much you want to spend and how often you'll use it.

 

[manly]

I have an old USB drive that's pretty bad almost from day 1; it's in a drawer somewhere, never got myself to throw it away.

https://www.amazon.com/Centon-Electronics-Datastick-Waterproof-Multi-Pack/dp/B07F18ZBWL/

Brand certainly matters. In general, Samsung has good flash memory products. I believe the standard advice is to check inside Samsung Magician software for authenticity. Their products are very popular, and often counterfeited.

I also like SanDisk Ultra; most of their products are also well-reviewed. I'd avoid any of the cheap crap sold on Amazon. These things are now so cheap that there's little reason to buy bottom of the barrel NAND unless you like headaches.

 

[Shmee]

Can you return or RMA the USB stick?

 

[meeshu]

All comments noted, thanks!

I can't return the USB stick as I no longer have the purchase receipt as proof of purchase. I've had the stick for more than a year now, I believe.

Actually, I noticed the USB stick was slow on data transfer to begin with. I thought this was due to it's large capacity (128 GB). But I now suspect this stick is faulty and I'll trash it shortly.

I'm not overly concerned about trashing this USB stick as it was purchased at a very good sale price. But I'm still a bit annoyed that this stick was slow right from the start.

Most likely I'll be purchasing another brand of replacement USB stick, and maybe with greater capacity, like 256 GB or even more capacity(?)

 

[mikeymikec]

It would be useful to know what the Windows Event Viewer says around the time of connecting the memory stick.