Slow usb transfer rate

I have the same problem with USB sticks on Windows 7. Slow 3-4mb transfer rates!
I tried most of the same stuff: write caching, best performance, reloading drivers over the past 6 or 7 months.
I get a little bump in performance mode, but nowhere near acceptable.

I have a USB hard drive, it works much better (40-50mb/sec). Does not matter which ports, front, back they all act the same.

I believe its a Windows 7 issue, because my old Win XP worked just fine. (I no longer have XP available).
As I recall I did not have this problem when I first installed Win 7 over a year ago -- can't be sure though.

I have a Linux Mint DVD, when I boot from that all work nice and fast -- same hardware, same files.

If the directories are really large Windows 7 copying might stop 3-4 hours in
(should not have taken more than 30 minutes in the first place).

Feel free to move my post to anyplace its likely to get a solution.

Seems like it's an issue with Win 7 ultimate 64 bit sys. Before this one I had a Win 7 ultimate 32 bit - everything worked fine!

I have the problem with Win 7 32 bit. I think it might have started with a Windows update. Some folks blame it on service pack 1, but I have no specific evidence to link it to a particular update date.

I tried to copy from HDD to flash right after a clean Windows 7 install (no updates yet) - the problem was there.  

Did the Win 7 install media include SP1 ? A newer Win 7 installation media might.

Yes, it was Win 7 sp1. Do you mean to say the sp1 is the problem?

My Windows 7 DVD did not include SP1. As I recall, my USB sticks worked OK for many months. Then somewhere along the way I started having the problems. I also recall seeing it mentioned in another thread (not this site).

If I can find an old hard drive, I'll try building a new Windows 7 system -- and not install any fixes. I'll report back if the USB sticks work ok on a clean original Windows 7 (ultimate) installation.

I believe this issue could be related to VT-x being turned on in the bios. I myself have noticed about the same rates when I have VT turned on in the BIOS with Windows 7 x64.

With the USB interface being so slow it may be competing with grooming exercises for bandwidth. There are inherent issues with NAND Flash that make it different than hard drives. When a file is deleted a standard drive must only set bit that indicates the sector is free. With flash it must write over the. There are clever ways to make this faster and save the wear and tear on the NAND like writing ones instead of zeros. I believe it's possible Microsoft has their own internal grooming. By my rough calculations I estimate the amplification at 50% capacity could significantly drop the speed to about 50% or more is short bursts. It would likely get much worse as the drive fills.
I could write a vbscript you can run as a groomer if you like to write all zeros to see if it helps during large transfers. If the speed increases, it might be the worth reporting to Microsoft for further study.

I believe this issue could be related to VT-x being turned on in the bios. I myself have noticed about the same rates when I have VT turned on in the BIOS with Windows 7 x64.

With the USB interface being so slow it may be competing with grooming exercises for bandwidth. There are inherent issues with NAND Flash that make it different than hard drives. When a file is deleted a standard drive must only set bit that indicates the sector is free. With flash it must write over the. There are clever ways to make this faster and save the wear and tear on the NAND like writing ones instead of zeros. I believe it's possible Microsoft has their own internal grooming. By my rough calculations I estimate the amplification at 50% capacity could significantly drop the speed to about 50% or more is short bursts. It would likely get much worse as the drive fills.
I could write a vbscript you can run as a groomer if you like to write all zeros to see if it helps during large transfers. If the speed increases, it might be the worth reporting to Microsoft for further study.

I believe this issue could be related to VT-x being turned on in the bios. I myself have noticed about the same rates when I have VT turned on in the BIOS with Windows 7 x64.

With the USB interface being so slow it may be competing with grooming exercises for bandwidth. There are inherent issues with NAND Flash that make it different than hard drives. When a file is deleted a standard drive must only set bit that indicates the sector is free. With flash it must write over the. There are clever ways to make this faster and save the wear and tear on the NAND like writing ones instead of zeros. I believe it's possible Microsoft has their own internal grooming. By my rough calculations I estimate the amplification at 50% capacity could significantly drop the speed to about 50% or more is short bursts. It would likely get much worse as the drive fills.
I could write a vbscript you can run as a groomer if you like to write all zeros to see if it helps during large transfers. If the speed increases, it might be the worth reporting to Microsoft for further study.

Hi there! I have no idea what you're talking about when you say VT-x turned on in the bios.... What is that? Where is it in the bios? Could you please tell in simple language about it? Thanks very much in advance!

Try change the properties of your USB key. To do so, right click on the Key -> Hardware tab -> select the Key -> Properties -> (Change Settings for Win 7) -> Policies tab -> select Optimize for performance -> Ok. I've also formatted the key in NTSF. To me this worked in XP (NTSF) but not in Win 7 (FAT 32). I have two hard drives for the same laptop. In XP it passed from 4mb/s to like 10 times faster. In 7 is the same 4mb/s.
Remember to always click "Eject" the Key every time prior to removing it from an USB port.