# What version USB do I have?



## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

So the problem started when my first flash drive began transfering data at unusually slow speeds. I would always transfer 700MB or so films from my computer to the flash drive to watch onmy Xbox 360 later but it had recently began copying at slow speeds, under 1MB/sec, which was not what it used to do. 

I decided to buy a new one because Future Shop had one that was being sold at cheap and had a maximum transfer capacity of 12bps (Read); 3Mbps (Write). I bought it. This is it. (Lexar JumpDrive Firefly 4GB USB Drive : 4GB & Under - Future Shop) 

When I got home today to test it out, it was copying from my computer to my flash drive at 1MB/sec so I freaked out. I then unplugged all the USB devices from my computer to see if the speed was being subdivided. When I tried the copying again, now with only the flash drive connected to the computer, it copied at 4MB/sec but refused to go any higher. So I thought it had something to do with my transfer speed being shared.

Then I decided to find out what version my USB ports were. This is the picture I took.












Then I found some articles that explained me the following;



> If your computer has only two built-in USB ports then they are likely to be USB 1 ports. You can check for sure by checking in the Device Manager (open the Control Panel, double-click System, select the Hardware tab, click Device Manager... button). Check under Universal Serial Bus Controllers. There are different kinds of "host controllers": OHCI (open host controller - USB 1), UHCI (universal host controller - USB 1), and EHCI (enhanced host controller - USB 2). If you have USB 1 then you'll have OHCI or UHCI only. If you have USB 2 then you'll have OHCI or UHCI and you'll also have EHCI.
> 
> If you try to connect an external hard disk to a USB 1 port then you are limited to 1.5MB/sec versus connecting it to a USB 2 port which is usually about 30MB/sec or so for a hard disk. The USB 1 connection would be very slow. So if you have only USB 1 ports then it would be worth it to get a cheap USB 2 expansion card and hook the hard disk to that instead. In most cases, USB 2 external hard disks can be connected to both USB 1 ports and USB 2 ports. They just slow down (a lot) when connected to a USB 1 port.


http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f25/how-can-i-know-the-usb-version-92028.html



> The one exception to this scenario is a machine with USB 1.1 ports that has a USB 2.0 expansion card added. In this case I know of no way to tell which is which, other than simply knowing you added a USB 2.0 card to a machine with built-in 1.1 ports. Obviously in a case like this, the built-in ports are 1.1, and the added expansion card ports are 2.0.


How can I tell if I have USB 2.0?

Then, I tried transferring the same file onto my flash drive while it was plugged into each port but all 6 USB slots gave the same speed. They topped out at around 4MB/sec. So whatever they are, they're all the same type of ports. So I doubt I have 1.1 ports. Most likely an expansion card for USB 2.0. 

I want to know which ports are the 2.0 ports? How do I find that out? And how do I make them all 2.0 or possibly 3.0 ports for as little cost possible?

I'd appreciate a detailed response. Thank you in advance.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

What motherboard do you have?


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

I know you asked for a detailed answer, but this might suffice. If your computer was made in 2001 or later it should have 2.0. You mentioned (Quote) looking in the Device Manager for Serial Bus Controllers. If it says Enhanced Host Controller, then you have 2.0.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Corday said:


> I know you asked for a detailed answer, but this might suffice. If your computer was made in 2001 or later it should have 2.0. You mentioned (Quote) looking in the Device Manager for Serial Bus Controllers. If it says Enhanced Host Controller, then you have 2.0.


OK. But even if I have 2.0 that doesn't explain why the speeds are slow.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

wrench97 said:


> What motherboard do you have?


Here is the dxdiag report.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It's USB 2.0 > ECS Web Site

Transfer rates are effected by a lot of things the including the flash drive, have you tried more then 1 brand/model drive?


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

wrench97 said:


> It's USB 2.0 > ECS Web Site
> 
> Transfer rates are effected by a lot of things the including the flash drive, have you tried more then 1 brand/model drive?


Yes, I've tried the old drive and the one that I just bought. 

Just to clear things up, I think it would be a good idea to get the stats for each drive for certain. The first drive I had looks like this and is 2GB. 











The new one that I just bought is this. 

Lexar JumpDrive Firefly 4GB USB Drive : 4GB & Under - Future Shop

Having said that, would you be able to do research and find out what the official read and write speeds for those two drives are so we can compare them to my results?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Theoretically they can read at up to 30 megabytes/s (MB/s) and write at about half that speed, on a new drive without a lot clutter, but I've not seen one actually hit those speeds.

Are they faster in a different PC then in this one, the USB wiring and quality of the front ports can also come into play, test front and rear ports(fixed to the motherboard) as will the hard drive speed it's transferring the data to/from.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

wrench97 said:


> Theoretically they can read at up to 30 megabytes/s (MB/s) and write at about half that speed, on a new drive without a lot clutter, but I've not seen one actually hit those speeds.
> 
> Are they faster in a different PC then in this one, the USB wiring and quality of the front ports can also come into play, test front and rear ports(fixed to the motherboard) as will the hard drive speed it's transferring the data to/from.


Well the drive is new and only hits a maximum speed of 4MB/sec (write) and 18-20MB/sec (read). Those speeds were constant when I tested a sample file on all 6 of the USB ports on my computer. I took out all the other USB devices for the testing so there should be any 'clutter' slowing down the speeds. But that's why I wanted to know if you can verify the maximum transfer capacity for the firefly drive so that I can see whether I have an issue or not or if those are the speeds it can attain.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I haven't seen any specs listed by lexar.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

How can I check what the read and write speeds for both my drives are supposed to be in order to verify if I'm getting the right speeds?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I have no idea, if there not listed in the specs when you bought them, I would suspect there lower then normal.


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

As noted previously, test them on another PC. If they test at roughly the same speed, then it's obviously not a PC issue.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Dogg said:


> As noted previously, test them on another PC. If they test at roughly the same speed, then it's obviously not a PC issue.


Wouldn't the PC specs have an impact on the speed at which the drive reads/writes?


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

I just contacted Lexar support and they told me that the drive I purchased has not yet been speed rated so there's no way of checking its maximum transfer capacities. Darn. Now I can't know if there's a problem...


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

You should get roughly the same speed on any USB2 equipped PC.


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Dogg said:


> You should get roughly the same speed on any USB2 equipped PC.


I guess I bought the wrong drive. I was looking for something with a faster write speed. I'm looking for a drive that I can buy for cheap that has a write speed of at least 25MB/sec, so that it takes about 2 minutes to transfer a movie to it. It doesn't need to have a very big capacity. Any deals you guys know of?


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

As with most items, you get what you pay for. "Cheap" and quality or performance don't typically go together.

Take a look at this model: Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB


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## Solidify (May 12, 2011)

Dogg said:


> As with most items, you get what you pay for. "Cheap" and quality or performance don't typically go together.
> 
> Take a look at this model: Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB


What is so special about the above drive?
And I can't buy it I live in Canada so I need Newegg.ca


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

Nothing "special" about any flash drive.

You asked for something "fast". It's the cheapest "fast" model that I could find.


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