[berabi]

Originally Posted by Noyb

Hummm ... Never really messed with this setting.
Alway been afraid to change things that are working.
Any recommendations for the preferred setting for a USB external ??

Hi Noyb,

It really does depend on the way you use your machine - you seem to be the kind of person that remembers to use the safely remove device button before disconnecting certain devices. In cases like yours, you may infact benefit from the higher performance option of the drive. It basically uses a feature in Windows called "Write caching" to improve the performance (I don't know how much you know about this so I won't insult your intelligence by telling you about it unless you want to know more ).

The easiest way to change how your drive performs is, whilst your drive is plugged in, to right click on My Computer > Manage. The computer management console will appear with various snap-ins - go straight to Device Manager. Expand the category "Disk Drives" and then double click on the external drive you want to change the settings for. You will then be given the window in the screenshot attached. Click the Policies tab and then select "Optimize for performance". I'm not sure how much difference it will make to the performance of the drive but if it's almost always plugged in and you're good with remembering to use the safely disconnect dialogue (unlike myself!) then hopefully you'll get a bit more out of it!

[berabi]

Originally Posted by JeannieB360

This is most bizarre, indeed! My USB problem has gone away with no special action on my part! I played around a few times today with the firewire problem, then moved the external drive over to one of my XP machines. Later, I moved it back to the VISTA machine (where I had also re-plugged in my USB printer), and this time, when I plugged it directly into one of the VISTA machine's USB ports, I did not get the low speed warning. I tried again with a couple of other USB ports, and it's working like it should with USB 2.0.

The only other thing I've done in the last 24 hours between seeing the slow speed problem and the problem going away was to set up the properties on the device driver for the external drive to optimize performance rather than quick-disconnect, and a couple of other reboots on the Vista machine for various reasons.

I'm confused!

I too am very confused Jeannie - very odd. Did you use all the same cables and everything? Perhaps a recent Windows update has fixed this issue but after seeing your spec, I'm not really sure that I understand who is at fault anymore. I'm pretty sure, now I know that you experienced the issue with different hardware, that the issue is Windows related and not chipset related as I have an Intel Chipset and processor - very strange indeed!

I am glad that it's working for you now though and I hope that I get the same streak of luck you've had in that the problem just floats away Do let me know what happens with regard the Firewire issue as well because I find it strange that I've got the same issue with that side of things as well, again, with a different Firewire controller.

PS For someone who isn't techie, you could get away with being so if you did one day decide to start pretending

[Noyb]

Berabi …Thankyou …
That’s where it’s hiding .. I knew I’d seen it before, somewhere.
Mine were set for quick removal .. but I’ll safe disconnect anyway.
My USBs are occasional backup data storage and Acronis OS backup Images.
Speed is not a major concern for me here … as long as it’s USB2
A long time ago .. My slow connect problem just went away.
I always figured it had something to do with the formatting of the Drive or unsafe disconnect procedures.


FWIW …
My new toys are SATAII >> USB/eSATA Enclosures.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817424001
They’re Bootable, when attached via eSATA .. And about the only place I want to put Vista, for now.
eSATA is a bit of a Pain .. In that it must be ON at bootup to be recognized.
And .. You REALLY don’t want to disconnect/shutdown one while the Puter is on.
A couple manual reboots are required to fix the mess this causes … But this is a different subject.

[JeannieB360]

Originally Posted by berabi

I too am very confused Jeannie - very odd. Did you use all the same cables and everything? Perhaps a recent Windows update has fixed this issue but after seeing your spec, I'm not really sure that I understand who is at fault anymore. I'm pretty sure, now I know that you experienced the issue with different hardware, that the issue is Windows related and not chipset related as I have an Intel Chipset and processor - very strange indeed!

I am glad that it's working for you now though and I hope that I get the same streak of luck you've had in that the problem just floats away Do let me know what happens with regard the Firewire issue as well because I find it strange that I've got the same issue with that side of things as well, again, with a different Firewire controller.

PS For someone who isn't techie, you could get away with being so if you did one day decide to start pretending

No Microsoft updates in the last 4 days, and I've used the same cables - USB and power - the whole time.
HP insists that the firewire problem is the firewire ports on the PC, since the drive works via firewire with other PCs, and they want me to ship the PC back to them for repair. I'll wait until I hear from someone on the VIA forum before I start that route.

I think I mentioned before that I learned much about PCs when I was a road-warrior working as a business application consultant, starting with the time the print spooler on my laptop decided to overwrite the operating system (does anyone remember OS2?) and numerous hard drive failures, with lots of attempts at finding a good backup solution (Windows 95 backup insisted I mount a tapedrive when I was trying to recover using my very first external hard drive. The only reason I didn't throw the laptop off the hotel balcony was that I figured it would hit my rental car!)

[berabi]

Originally Posted by JeannieB360

No Microsoft updates in the last 4 days, and I've used the same cables - USB and power - the whole time.
HP insists that the firewire problem is the firewire ports on the PC, since the drive works via firewire with other PCs, and they want me to ship the PC back to them for repair. I'll wait until I hear from someone on the VIA forum before I start that route.

I think I mentioned before that I learned much about PCs when I was a road-warrior working as a business application consultant, starting with the time the print spooler on my laptop decided to overwrite the operating system (does anyone remember OS2?) and numerous hard drive failures, with lots of attempts at finding a good backup solution (Windows 95 backup insisted I mount a tapedrive when I was trying to recover using my very first external hard drive. The only reason I didn't throw the laptop off the hotel balcony was that I figured it would hit my rental car!)

I'm inclined to agree with HP though if their turnaround time exceeds what is convenient to you, I would just try and find a workaround for the time being. Strange that your USB prob has disappeared but I'm glad for you at least. As I said to Noyb earlier, I hope I'm so lucky!

[berabi]

Originally Posted by Noyb

Berabi …Thankyou …
That’s where it’s hiding .. I knew I’d seen it before, somewhere.
Mine were set for quick removal .. but I’ll safe disconnect anyway.
My USBs are occasional backup data storage and Acronis OS backup Images.
Speed is not a major concern for me here … as long as it’s USB2
A long time ago .. My slow connect problem just went away.
I always figured it had something to do with the formatting of the Drive or unsafe disconnect procedures.


FWIW …
My new toys are SATAII >> USB/eSATA Enclosures.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817424001
They’re Bootable, when attached via eSATA .. And about the only place I want to put Vista, for now.
eSATA is a bit of a Pain .. In that it must be ON at bootup to be recognized.
And .. You REALLY don’t want to disconnect/shutdown one while the Puter is on.
A couple manual reboots are required to fix the mess this causes … But this is a different subject.

A pleasure - always the way with Windows though; you know you've seen something but can't remember for the life of you where it is

I like the sound of the eSATA enclosure - only trouble is I'm a little short on dough at the moment as I've only just graduated from University and just about to start my job. Roll on the cash and then roll on the toys

[Noyb]

Originally Posted by berabi

... I like the sound of the eSATA enclosure ....

It helps to have a MOBO that supports SATA and Multiple Drive Booting.
But this is the way to go if your thinking about a new computer ...
Or trying to stay Future proof .. (for a couple months anyway)
Still makes a good USB external.

[JeannieB360]

OK - Hewlettt Packard said that the firewire problem must be a hardware problem on my new HP computer, since it didn't see my Western Digital external hard drive when I hooked it up via firewire, so they wanted me to arrange to return it for repair. I was able to convince the store where I bought it to accept it back as defective and give me a new one, same model.

That one ALSO doesn't see the external drive when hooked up via firewire!

However, Western Digital's support page pointed me to a Microsoft article when I searched the WD knowledge base for 'external firewire VISTA'. The article gives a registry change to get a VISTA machine to see a firewire drive if the device manufacturer hasn't got some sort of firmware or driver update:

Article ID : 927827
Last Review : March 15, 2007
Revision : 1.3



Windows Vista does not enumerate an IEEE 1394a device that you connect to the computer

Since I believe my external hard drive is actually a Western Digital drive in someone else's external enclosure, I have no idea where I'd get some sort of firmware update, so I MIGHT just try the registry tweak. (Another alternative is to just use this as a USB drive. I have another external drive that's firewire only, but I bought that one from LaCie a couple of years ago. I finally found the power supply for it, and I'll try that on my VISTA machine once it finishes restoring the C partition from the backup I took before exchanging it this morning. Since LaCie makes the enclosure, they may have some firmware update if VISTA does not 'enumerate' my LaCie IEEE 1394a device when I connect it to the computer.)

so - my USB problem seems to be non-existent or transitory - and there seems to be a fix for the firewire problem. Thanks for the help, all of you, and I hope you all have your own usb or firewire problems solved.

[berabi]

Well done Jeannie - I'm glad you had a good result. I just simply can't be bothered with Dell anymore and Intel are a no show and won't talk to me. I'm just going to hold high hopes for some mega update with the chipset drivers and until then, 0.5m cables it is

Thanks anyway guys, it's been fun chatting

[Juggynut]

Here is some new data on the same topic.

I have two Lenovo notebooks running Vista Home premium. These are 4 month old machines with all USB 2 ports.

I am connecting an "acomdata" external 250Gb push button hard drive. I have the same problem with the drive error: Your USB drive needs to be connected to another port to run at USB 2.0 speeds. defaulting to USB 1.1.

I talked to Lenovo, no luck. Checked acomdata's drivers - nothing offered specifically for Vista. also tried 3 different cables, all ports, and setting the drive to max performance as Jeannie recommends above. After trying all this, the best speed was 725K/sec.

I do believe this is associated with Vista. If Jeannie got this to work correctly, it must have been a lucky download from someone out there.

I will try and find a very short USB cable, and also check the performance thru my Kensington port expander. If either of these solutions work, I'll let you know.

[supportpros]

Originally Posted by Noyb

My new toys are SATAII >> USB/eSATA Enclosures.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817424001
They’re Bootable, when attached via eSATA .. And about the only place I want to put Vista, for now.
eSATA is a bit of a Pain .. In that it must be ON at bootup to be recognized.
And .. You REALLY don’t want to disconnect/shutdown one while the Puter is on.
A couple manual reboots are required to fix the mess this causes … But this is a different subject.

FYI Noyb, whether your esata device has to be switched on before you turn on your computer depends on your motherboard.

I have an asus extreme striker, and it can recognize an eSata connection plugged in after windows has loaded.

I did have another motherboard that couldn't do this however. Anyway glad your usb issue was resolved. On my old XP computer I had to switch on the hard drives before connecting them to my computer to get 2.0 speeds.

[Noyb]

Juggynut ... Like supportpros said ...
With the USB external disconnected ... turn it on ... then plug the USB in.
See if this connects at High Speed.
Once upon a time .. I had to do this with one of my USB's

When I had this problem .. I could switch the HD in the external and then I wouldn't have this problem.

This pointed to the problem being something in the way the HD was loaded/formated ..
Never did know what the problem was .. It just went away after a while.
Being a nice guy .. I did give this problem external, and one of my older/smaller HDs, to a friend .. they never had a problem.

supportpros ...
Hot swaping eSATA would be nice ... But not sure I like the idea of having the external's extra electronics in my SATA connection.
And .. Not sure if Hot Swapping would allow booting to the external after the computer is booted.
Having some problems Cloning Vista to an eSATA external.
Not sure if it's the eSATA configuration or Vista ... But right now, I tend to blame Vista.

The Main reason I'm using these externals is so that I can have newer SATA HD's in my externals and use them USB ... and to be able to read SATAs externally for repair purposes.
Anything else is just play time.

If I'm going to get serious and use the HD's as SATA II ... I'll hook them directly to my spare Mobo SATA ports.

[supportpros]

Noyb I'd be very interested to find out if you can actually boot up your operating system from an esata hard drive. So please let me know what you eventually discover.

If it was possible to do it without an operating system on the computers main hard drive, that would be incredible. You'd have a fully portable operating system on as large a portable hard drive as you want.

[Noyb]

No problem booting to eSATA ... but the ease of doing this, seems to depend on your Mobo (Bios)

In my last two Asus Mobo's ... (HP m7070n or m7690y CTO) ...
when I bootup, I can tap the escape key and enter a boot loader menu.
From there, I can choose who to boot from.

Otherwise, it defaults to the first OS it finds installed ... as determined by the BIOS settings.
(Think about this)

Right now, I'm running from my eSATA external (on the left) .. Which has Vista HP in it.

Disc 0 (internal) is my main working XP MCE OS.
Disc 1 (internal) is the master source OS (fresh install, full loaded, updated) and ready to Clone to Partition 1 Drive 0.
Disc 2 is the eSATA external with Vista HP 32 bit in it ... the 64bit version HD is in a desk drawer.

I hate Vista .. Can I get outa here now
I'll trade you your Raptor for this info, just one will do

[Noyb]

Ahh .. It feels so good being back home again on disc 0 with XP.

Funny Ya'll just mentioned the slow USB problem again ...
I just finished reloading an older Dell Computer with a new HD for a friend.

I like to keep Acronis backup copies of the HD after a fresh install...
after I've performed all the M$ updates and loaded all the programs.

So I connected my USB backup External .. and it said "slow speed"
I thought maybe this Dell wasn't USB 2.0 capable ... Since I've seen this message several times on it.

So, I tried a safe disconnect .. cycled the power to the external, rebooted the Computer .. and plugged the USB external back in Hot.
All is well now... And it runs at USB 2.0 speeds.

Now .. It only takes me about 3 minutes to keep a restorable copy of his entire Hard Drive in my USB Externals.