USB Flash Drive Getting Sluggish? Here's a Quick Method to Speed it Up (Torrent Fix)

I have a plethora of USB flash drives at my disposable. I have three Toshiba's that include one 16GB and two 32GB versions. I then have two generic USB flash drives, one is 64GB and the other is 128GB. They all serve various purposes and I usually only have one that is "resting". Until recently, I never really saw an unbearable lag on any of these USB flash drives. And when I did, only one thing actually fixed it...

Speed (Performance) Trick

A Download Story
As I have written before, I find it good practice to actually use a USB flash drive as the location for all my downloads. They are inexpensive to replace, and will help deter against running down your hard drive or SSD.

To give a better perspective of how tough I can be on these USB flash drives, I could be running anywhere between 1-5 downloads from a download manager, while using a torrent client from 1-10 different torrents, and still using my browser to download files like a PDF, ZIP, or EXE.

As such, I started with one of my 32GB USB flash drives. It did well and I cannot recall ever watching it show lag more than a few seconds (when applicable). I soon realized that I would often run out of room, and instead of just slowing down my download agenda, I decided to upgrade to a 64GB USB flash drive. After rearranging all the locations for my browsers and download manager to point to the 64GB, I started up my downloading frenzies again. It too did a phenomenal job and I saw no real performance hit compared to the 32GB. The thing was that I yet again noticed my storage space was insufficient for my needs.

So, I decided to try a 128GB USB flash drive. I purchased a generic one for about $10 that included shipping from China. I should mention that the 32GB was a brand name USB flash drive (Toshiba) purchased for around $30-$40 when it was brand new a few years ago. The 64GB USB flash drive was also a generic brand, very likely Chinese considering where I got it from, and was bought for less than $20.

128GB Too Much?
Before I designated the 128GB as my main drive for downloads, I tested it out to make sure it worked. It seemed to, so I made the necessary arrangements and began my downloading.

At first, everything was fine. I wasn't downloading nearly as much as normal, but downloads were completing in good time with little to no lag. I started off with one torrent at a time, which seemingly did well. However, when I started adding multiple torrents (e.g. two or three), I started to notice how sluggish the 128GB would get...

It was so bad that downloads on my download manager would complete and then take anywhere between 15-45 minutes to actually finish. My torrent client would suddenly freeze for similar amounts of time. And when I would try to transfer files off of the drive, it could take up to 30 minutes. Sometimes all three of these things would be occurring increasing the already lengthy times to double those amounts!

I had even used the Task Manager to end the torrent client process on numerous occasions, and while it would be speedy on startup, it would soon revert back to a sluggish state. After reformatting the 128GB USB flash drive a few times, it would always start the same, speedy. But it would always end up the same with lag coming back into play.

The Speed (Performance) Trick
Then I recalled a trick that I had seen while looking up some other information. If you are using a lot of generic USB flash drives, or have a lot of the same name brand drives, you will either want to take them all out save the one in question, or already know the generic name given to that USB drive, in preparation of this method:

1. Open up "My Computer".
2. Right-click on the USB flash drive (any drive will actually do).
3. Click "Properties".
4. Click the "Hardware" tab.
5. Choose the generic name of the USB flash drive.
6. Click on "Properties".
7. Click the "Policies" tab.
8. Click the "Better performance" radio button. (If this is already selected, you are out of luck.)
9. Click "OK".
10. Click "OK".

Note: Changing to "Better performance" only has one downside. It will force you to eject the USB flash drive every time you want to remove it (something you should be doing regardless). If you don't, you could compromise data integrity and cause a loss of data.

This technique should work on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, and 10; and can be done from the Device Manager if preferred. It is not a speed increase in the normal sense, but if your USB flash drive is sluggish, it will help speed it back up to what it should already be able to do.

This technique does not require or perform a format to your USB flash drive, so your data should remain intact. However, as a safety precaution, you may want to copy all the data on the USB flash drive to another safe location.

Test Results
I immediately noticed a difference in the lag, as it had dwindled itself to that of the 32GB or 64GB USB flash drives (if not a tad better). To test this I started two downloads with my download manager and one torrent with my respective client.

When the first download from the manager completed, it took very little time to finish and transfer it. Transferring took a minimal amount of time despite being a large file and using the move command (which I've noticed takes more time than copying). The second download from the manager then completed, which took a bit more time to actually finish. To transfer I decided to use the copy command, which still took more time than the first, but it was on par with the 32GB or 64GB.

Throughout this time the torrent never hung once, which indicated to me that this trick was indeed working, and could also be accounted for the lag on the second download (given the increase in speed the torrent client got after each download completed).

The torrent never stopped. Not even while opening another torrent. I did notice that trying to download initial torrent files (to start a torrent), and magnetic links clicked while waiting for the initial torrent files to download, did take an abnormal amount of time. Possibly about as much as when it was sluggish. Regardless, the torrent chugged along only freezing when I had clicked a good amount of magnetic links that were failing to open quickly. Eventually, the magnet links worked.

At one point the torrent froze completely, likely due to me trying to add another additional torrent while I had other magnet links popping up. This shouldn't have been a problem for a "normal" USB flash drive, but given this 128GB's history, it certainly could be a remaining issue.

I started the torrent client again, which did take some time before it was functioning properly. By this time I had two torrents running, one nearly finished, another one just starting. The first finished and started flushing to disk. I had to go before it would be transferable, and the second finished before I got back, so I can't say if it took an extremely long time before I could actually do anything with the files.

To retest the torrents and see them through, I started up a single download with my download manager, and three torrents with my client. When the download from the manager completed, it did end up freezing the torrent client as it finished. But once it finished, the torrents started back up. I used the move command to transfer the file and I would say it wasn't as fast as the first download with the manager, but quicker than the second.

Note: It seemed to put a little less stress (and lag) on the USB flash drive to already have its folder opened before moving or copying anything from it.

The first of the three torrents to complete was about half the size of the very first torrent I had downloaded. It took about 4 minutes to flush to disk. I at first had an issue with trying to move another file I had downloaded with the manager while waiting. I had to restart Windows Explorer. After doing so, and when I could get back to the directory of my torrents, I used the copy command which was by far the fastest transfer yet. I then redid my transfer (with the copy command) of the file that had caused Windows Explorer to crash. It too was extremely quick.

At this time, I had closed my torrent client as I needed the extra bandwidth for something else. I came back and restarted the client. Another torrent file completed soon after, that was about 3/4 of a gigabyte. About 2 minutes later it was fully flushed to disk. I made the mistake of opening another folder with the torrent client (which took another two minutes). I then copied the file over, which took another minute or two to start, but the actual copying took a few seconds. The second download finished in about 2-3 minutes. I used my pre-opened folder of the USB flash drive and copied the download. It took around a minute or so to finish transferring.

One additional note, while the last two torrents were finishing the third had stopped downloading from lack of seeders. This may have helped somewhat in moving things along. 

The Lesson Here
While this simple method can help a sluggish USB flash drive, it should be noted that my problem seemed to really stem from torrents. I open several initial torrent files and magnet links in an attempt to add more trackers. Sometimes this is beneficial for torrents with few seeds or peers. Other times it is not. While this helps perpetuate the lag I experienced, the torrent and client itself were still the main culprits.

That being said, whether using the method or not, I still noticed quite a lag to navigate or perform actions on items in my USB flash drive while using the torrent client.

Moreorless, don't use torrents. If you do, try to keep to a maximum of 2 for best results. Three is when things start adding lag for me. And try to download via magnetic links. If you must use initial torrent files, download and open them one at a time and be patient.

Everything Comes to an End
So, there you have it. A way to speed up your USB flash drive. Some people may try it and notice no difference, but they should really perform tests on it first to see if there was truly a significant difference. Others may be using torrent clients and realize that this is a method to aid them in their downloading endeavors.

Part of my thoughts as to why this happened is because it is a larger USB flash drive making it more susceptible to slower write speeds (as evident with SSD's, which are essentially what USB flash drives are). But this could happen to USB flash drives of any size, and performing the above steps should help.

If you feel jilted, then I apologize. There is only one real technique I know of to get USB flash drives to increase their read/write speeds. Come back to my blog later to find out...

How to Add MORE Storage Space to an iPhone/iPad/iPod or Android Device! (Update)

I originally meant this to be a part of my last article, but I thought it important enough to be its own. Everyone knows that iPhones don't come with micro SD card slots to expand their storage capability. And even with the advent of the 128GB iPhone 6/Plus, there may be those who run out of room or can't afford that particular model to prevent such an issue.

iOS Devices & Android Devices

iOS Devices
The following works with iPhones, iPads or iPods. However, do this at your own risk as there is a bit of money involved to get the process going.

You will need the following in order to get this running properly:

1. An iOS device.
2. Either a Transcendence, Toshiba Flash Air, or Eye-Fi WiFi SD card.
3. A computer.
4. A SD card reader with WiFi capability.

A bit of background on the WiFi SD cards. They were originally meant for specific cameras that do not have (and some that do have) WiFi capabilities. They come in varying sizes that are currently up to 32GB. Be forewarned, that even the smaller storage sizes have a premium price tag because of the WiFi antenna installed in each card. You can get deals on used items from eBay. I found a 32GB Toshiba Flash Air used on Amazon for a great rate, which actually came in its original packaging!

A WiFi SD card reader will make it so that you can have something small and portable that you can use the WiFi card in while on the go or waiting somewhere away from home. You will want to purchase one that has a built-in battery so that you don't need to constantly feed it power. If you don't, then you will likely only be able to use it in places like a plane that has USB ports for charging. You can find them on Amazon for $40 brand new, like this one. This particular WiFi card reader can also power up an external hard drive, which means a whole lot of storage possibilities for your needs!

These are the steps to take once you have met all the requirements from above:

1. First connect your WiFi SD card to a computer.
2. Transfer all needed media and documents to your WiFi SD card.
3. Install any app on your iOS device that the WiFi SD card reader requires.
4. Run the app from your iOS device to see and use all the media and documents on your WiFi SD card.

And that's it! You should now be able to add extra storage space to your iOS device. While it is actually not in the iOS device, you can now watch numerous movies without worry of having to run out of space for necessary your apps or other items.

Android Devices
It should first be said that the above will work on Android devices too, so you can give it a go if you need a huge amount of storage space. But if you only require so much, you can try another method.

There are devices that will plug into your Android devices micro USB port and add extra storage. Some older Android devices are supposedly not compatible with this type of technology. I believe this is because of USB OTG support. If you do not have USB OTG implemented on your device, then you will not be able to use the following. Some older devices have the capability but just need to have USB OTG enabled. Others do not and cannot. In addition to that, most devices capable of USB OTG may require an Android OS of JellyBean or higher.

There are three ways to accomplish this procedure. Two are similar. One is more like a flash drive as it has a fixed amount of storage, but has a regular USB that can be plugged into a computer USB port, and on the other side is a micro USB for your Android device. The second is an adapter that has a slot for micro SD cards. With this you need to buy a micro SD card separately, but it too has normal and micro USB ports. The third is simply using a USB flash drive, and purchasing what is often referred to as an OTG cable. The cable has a female USB port for the flash drive, and a male micro USB port for your Android device.

If you already have a flash drive, OTG cables are rather cheap and can be found on eBay, Amazon, NewEgg, and numerous other places. You can find the first type in Amazon by simply typing in "micro USB flash drive" or "OTG flash drive". Some are inexpensive, while others will cost you a premium. The second type seems to be harder to find if you don't use the right terminology, expected since some manufacturers would probably prefer you to pay for multiple devices of differing storage amounts, instead of being able to just swap micro SD cards. You can find an abundance in Amazon by using the phrase "OTG card reader". There are other places that have these, but I would recommend staying away from Chinese websites and companies like Alibaba [their parent company will just steal your money].

The steps for this process are fairly simple:

1. Place your flash drive, micro SD card, or OTG flash drive into a computer.
2. Transfer all media and documents to your device.
3. Plug your flash drive, micro SD card, or OTG flash drive into your Android device.

That's about it. You should be able to view your media from a media player app by selecting the storage device connected and searching for your desired picture, song, or video. You can view documents by a file manager or a document viewing app. This route should be far cheaper than the route iPhones have to take, but either should get you similar results.

There are tricks to make Android devices think their micro SD cards are actually internal memory, but this doesn't work on a lot of newer devices (and older devices), and doesn't actually add more than what is already possible. It is also possible to have apps and other items stored on your external micro SD card instead of your internal memory, but again, this does not add more than what your device is already capable of.

Update: Mophie Space Pack

The Mophie Space Pack is an external battery case with the inclusion of extra storage space for iPhones 5 and above. The great benefit of this method is that not only can you get more power on the go, but more storage space for files and photos!

However, many of the reviews on Amazon lean towards staying away from them and going for Mophie's external battery case without the storage capacity. Apparently, there have been numerous problems ranging from battery draining--opposing part of its purpose--and losing charging capabilities altogether. In one review, Mophie blamed the iPhone after the person had brought it to the Genius Bar to ensure that was not the case.

A definite downside on the storage side is that if you wanted, to say, upload your photos to iCloud; you first need to move all those photos to the iPhone's actual storage in order to do so...

What Else Can I Say?
I have not tested the iOS route detailed above. Again, I do have a Flash Air WiFi SD card, but have never felt the need to use it in this manner. I have tried all three devices for Android with success. There have been times where I desperately needed them, not so much for storage space, but because my phone cable was iffy at times and would stop a file transfer midway through. These methods seemed to guarantee against that situation from reoccurring. I do admit that this does not add to your internal storage at all, but I don't know anyone anywhere willing to use their time and money to attempt to add more storage to the inside of the phone itself. But external storage can be quite handy and keep your smartphone or tablet free of clutter, which can also help maintain its fluidity while multi-tasking between apps (or just in general).