I can't transfer large files to a USB

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

Hi! I was trying to transfer a large file (1.8GB) to my 8GB Kingston 2.0 USB.

When I try to transfer it starts with a speed of 150+MB/s, which is weird, then it slows down to 15Mb/s or less, and then it just get stuck in "5 seconds remaining" with less than 5MB remaining of the file.

I already formatted the drive, and that doesn't seem to help, I also can't cancel the operation, it gets stuck, I have to remove the USB to close the window.

What can I do?

My Motherboard

Gigabyte GA B85M D3H
Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bits

Paul NZ · Oct 11, 2014

Well removing it while files are getting copied to it wont help, it'll corrupt it. Then you'll have to format / start again

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

Paul NZ :

It stays in "5 seconds remaining". I waited 15 minutes and nothing happened. I tried in other PC and I could transfer a 500MB file without problems. I tried with a 250MB and I could transfer it, but it starts with a super fast transfer speed, then it stucks and then it closes and I get the file in my USB.

I think that there's a problem with the OS or maybe the USB ports, because in the other PC the transfer speed was always 3-8MB/s, not 180MB/s like in my PC (hell, it even told me that it was transfering 0.98GB/s to my USB when I tried to transfer the 1.80GB file)

What can I do? I already rebooted the PC, and that doesn't seem to help, I also reinstalled the Intel USB 3.0 drivers and the problem remains.

photonboy · Oct 11, 2014

1) Try the USB stick on a different computer to see if you can copy a file with roughly the same size to see if the stick is defective.

2) Try a different file (you don't say if you only tried one).

3) RESTART your computer if you haven't done so since the issue started.

4) Try different USB connectors on your motherboard

5) Reinstall your motherboard main chipset driver (if Intel may find newer at Intel's site. It has an autoscan feature for drivers)

6) try a different thumb drive if possible

7) Look at DEVICE MANAGER for any indication of conflicts (yellow/black exclamation for example)

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

Paul NZ :

Also when it's transfering the file it's very hard to access the USB, it's very slow and also takes some time to show the blue bar in the File Explorer. (the one that tells you how much space you have used).

Reinstalling OS is pretty hard for me, because I have a lot of stuff in my PC.

Look, here's a screenshot:

Also I don't know why it says "2 Files" when it's only one file. It's weird.

photonboy · Oct 11, 2014

Update:
Okay, seems like a software issue since it works in another computer.

1) run MEMTEST www.memtest.org

2) Do a System Restore point now then rollback to a point prior to your problem

3) update BIOS if newer exists (unlikely to help)

4) Try running Ubuntu (can run from DVD) to see if you can transfer from USB stick to a hard drive. If that works Windows is somehow corrupted as it wouldn't be a hardware issue.

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

photonboy :

I got this "SM Bus controller" and it says that the driver isn't installed:

Also I could transfer the 1.80GB file, I just had to wait in the "5 seconds remaining" until it wanted to finish. But anyways I don't think that the transfer stuff is normal.

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

photonboy :

I can transfer files from USB to HDD, also I posted a reply to you, I found a device in "OTher Devices" that tells me that there's no drivers installed for it. I think is the chipset. The device is the "SM Bus controller". I Googled it and it seems to be Chipset Driver issues, the thing is that I don't know which driver I should download.

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

photonboy :

I downloaded all the drivers available for my motherboard in the Gigabyte website, the warning on "Sm Bus controller" is gone (I don't find that device anymore, everything seems to be in order in the Device Manager)

Anyways the transfering stuff keeps happening. I start to transfer and Windows tells me that more than 50% of the file has been transfered, the speed starts with more than 170MB/s, then, at some point, like in 70% it starts to slow down until it reaches 6.22MB/s, tells me that there's 5 seconds remaining and like 1MB remaining. I waited 7-8 minutes since the "5 seconds remaining" thing started and then it closed, I checked the USB and the file was there.

I really think that there's a software problem, and I really want to fix it, the problem I see is that Windows isn't showing the right transfering speeds or I don't know what the hell is happening. I can transfer stuff but I can't know the real transfering speed and I just have to wait in that "5 seconds remaining" thing. Any ideas?

Doughnutnator · Oct 11, 2014

photonboy :

Sorry for being so annoying, I tried other USB and everything worked fine. 3.00MB/s since the start, it seems that only does the 180MB/s with mine. My USB is corrupted then? (it has been on the laundry machine a lot of times, like 3) so I guess that it's a miracle that it's still working. Right?

Taffu · Oct 11, 2014

Might seem like a silly question, but what type of format did you do? Quick? Have you tried full format?
You might have to wait a bit until it finishes, but w/e
To me it seems as though the USB is about to fail, I had tree new Kingstone USB's that went bad after two months.
Praise Verbatim, it survived the washing machine couple of times, three years old, and it's like new. The only downside is that it has only 2GB space :S

Doughnutnator · Oct 12, 2014

Taffu :

I did a full format, anyways that didn't helped.

It's weird because in other PC the transfer rate was accurate, but it was a USB 2.0 port, I only have USB 3.0 Ports in my PC, anyways it's weird. But I know that is not a software issue, because that only happens with my USB.

Anyways thank you for your help.

zeyuanfu · Oct 12, 2014

Some file systems like FAT32 have file size limits, if you didn't already do it, format teh USB drive to NTFS, and try again.

Taffu · Oct 12, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Yeah, but the file size limit on FAT32 is 4GB, he's transferring a file of 1.8GB, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Although, trying both FAT32 & NTFS is worth a try...

zeyuanfu · Oct 12, 2014

Perhaps OP should try with a different USB drive...

Taffu · Oct 12, 2014

The USB works on other PC, could it be that the drivers went bad or something in the registry for that particular USB stick?

Follow this to the exact letter to delete the current USB registry keys, so your windows re-detects it anew.
http://www.aleratec.org/s.nl/ctype.KB/it.I/id.2432/KB.877/.f
Making a backup of the registry is a MUST.

hoover1979 · Jun 24, 2016

Doughnutnator :

I have had this issue for many many moons on windows 7 while copying files not only to External HDD's but internal ones as well. Sometimes it hangs at 5 secs remaining for over 30 mins, even when transferring from one SATA HDD to another.

No solution works for me, not even getting a new SSD and doing a clean install of windows 7 pro (x64) stops this headache.

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