I am using My Passport Ultra (3TB) to transfer files and folders from my computer. Mostly photos and video files. Using USB3 port and the (short) USB cable provided with the ‘Passport.’
Transfer rates vary enormously - from under 20MB/sec to nearly 50MB/sec. Mostly in the high 30’s.
Toward the end of a transfer (the last 20GB or so) the transfer speed slows down as the amount to be transferred slows down - 20GB at a rate of about 20BM/sec, 17GB at ~17MB/sec, and so on, so that the time remaining does not decrease.
This does not seem to depend on whether or not I’m using the computer for anything else.
I note that the spec for this device is up to 5GB/sec - this is a long, long way from what I’m getting.
One review site tested and got sequential read and write speeds of 109.1MB/s and 108.8MB/s. Random speeds of 73.9MB/s read and 73.3MB/s write.
So even allowing for the data I’m transferring, it looks like something is wrong.
Any ideas/suggestions most appreciated.
I’d recommend replacing the USB cable that came with your unit and then running a diagnostic test using WD Drive Utilities. I’d also recommend testing the unit’s performance in a different computer in order to confirm if there is a driver or compatibility issue at play in your main system.
Thanks. I’m unable to run any diagnostic tests with Utilities; I have tried but nothing happens except the occasional failure message. I ran the Quick test when I first set up the unit last week, that doesn’t work anymore either. No message, no result, nothing. The unit is only a week old so maybe I’d be better off just to send it back. My older Elements model is over twice as fast, using the same computer and same USB port.
