External USB HDD is slow

[Darth-Veger]

I got a LaCie HDD 232 GB model. but when i put like a game on it it takes ages to load a game or level.

it used to be very fast, Its pretty full and there is only 3 GB left. if i format my HDD would make it any faster? or how can i test my speed of the HDD?

Thanks,

[Nilrus]

Make sure it's plugged in to a USB 2.0 port and not a USB 1.1 port. The latter is the old interface version which is quite slow by todays standards.

How do you check this? Look in your mobo manual and check if the back ports are USB 2.0 and if the front panels are hooked up to 2.0.

[Darth-Veger]

i use the back ones, those are 2.0

[Nilrus]

Try defragmenting it.

[voltlight]

Internal > External

USB 2.0 can only get up to 480Mbps whereas SATA2 can get up to 3Gbps.

I've tried running games off external before and faced the same issue.

[Mokkan13]

If you can get your games off your external... Internal is better..