# Moving data from one drive to another via usb 2



## jdramirez (Dec 25, 2016)

I'll try and be brief. I have on 2TB external hard drive and I just picked up a new 8 TB external hard drive. I have an old computer that I am on the cusp of upgrading with ALL the fancy bells and whistles... but I don't have it yet. So I'm using my old computer as the go between to move nearly 2 TB of information to the new drive. 

I'm getting around 15mb/s of data and per Windows... I'm looking at over 1 day for the drive to be cloned. I don't think overheating will be a huge problem, but I just thought I would touch base if yall have had similar experiences... maybe do 4 hours on... 1 off... rinse repeat.

Thanks.


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## kaihp (Dec 25, 2016)

jdramirez said:


> I'll try and be brief. I have on 2TB external hard drive and I just picked up a new 8 TB external hard drive. I have an old computer that I am on the cusp of upgrading with ALL the fancy bells and whistles... but I don't have it yet. So I'm using my old computer as the go between to move nearly 2 TB of information to the new drive.
> 
> I'm getting around 15mb/s of data and per Windows... I'm looking at over 1 day for the drive to be cloned. I don't think overheating will be a huge problem, but I just thought I would touch base if yall have had similar experiences... maybe do 4 hours on... 1 off... rinse repeat.
> 
> Thanks.



I take that both drives are connected using USB2? - 15Mbyte/s is sure slow, and could be limited by your computer.

I wouldn't have a problem of letting the computer run for 24h straight, but I would recommend you to use something else than the built-in Explorer to copu things over. Explorer isn't exactly known for it's resilience. I would recommend you to look at TeraCopy - I've had good experience with that.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 26, 2016)

I usually open up my PC and plug in SATA cables to each of the drives, and than use Acronis to clone a new one. It should be muich faster than USB2. 15MB/s is actually pretty fast for USB2.


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## tpatana (Dec 26, 2016)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I usually open up my PC and plug in SATA cables to each of the drives, and than use Acronis to clone a new one. It should be muich faster than USB2. 15MB/s is actually pretty fast for USB2.



I think he said 15Mbps, which is fairly slow.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry, just keep copying. Some of my big backups too ages, and never problems. I think one big recent one was about 60 hours straight, if I remember correctly. No biggie.

My USB3s are fairly slow, not sure why. My best guess is that I have too many USB devices connected, and it bogs them all down. Doesn't bother enough to investigate, I don't care if my backups take 1 hour or 1 day.


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## jdramirez (Dec 26, 2016)

Interesting development... it paused after 14% was complete... so maybe it was overheating a bit... so it told the computer to pause the transfer. So I guess I will be doing like I said... 3 hours on... 1 off... 3 on... 1 off...

Also... megabytes... bytes... not bits...


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## sanj (Dec 26, 2016)

I recommend don't attempt all at one go. Transfer in bunches.


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## unfocused (Dec 26, 2016)

I've got several USB drives. Never had any problem with overheating or hanging up, but transferring a lot of data takes time. I try to do most of my transfers overnight or on days when I'm out and won't need to have access to other programs. The biggest downside I've found is that it can be very hard to get any other work done (like Photoshop) when the drives are copying files.

Fortunately, once you've got the files backed up, you just need to add new files once a week or so, which doesn't take nearly as much time. 

As a side note, lately I've started using the small portable drives (Seagate and WD both make them). You can get 4TB for a little over $100. Not as cheap as the larger 8 TB drives, but the nice thing is they are much easier to switch out, since they don't need an external power source. 

I label them by subject and then just switch them out when I need to back up images that pertain to the subject or clients on each drive. Much easier to keep track of where files are that way.


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## Orangutan (Dec 26, 2016)

Unless you know that your current drive is failing there is nothing to worry about regarding transferring all at one go. Remember that the drive is spinning all the time regardless of whether you're ready/writing. The only extra movement is the read/write head, which adds negligible heat.

Copy it all at one go and don't worry about it. If both of your drives are sharing the same UBS bus then 15MB/s is about what you'd expect, maybe just a tad slow.


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## timmy_650 (Dec 26, 2016)

When I have had to do things like that. I did 2-5 hour blocks. so if it messed up it was a lot easier to tell that was copy and what wasn't. When I have tried long ones, it would either mess up some how or just say something like do "you want to replace this file" so it would stop.


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## rfdesigner (Dec 26, 2016)

jdramirez said:


> Also... megabytes... bytes... not bits...



[nerd mode]

I do see a lot of people.. and even occasionally on ads for internet services, misusing the unit system, so they advertise a 30milli-byte line speed!

Not just for you but for others:

M = mega (1,000,000 or 1,048,576 for digital sytems)
m = milli (0.001)
b = bit
B = Byte

so 15MB/s >>>>> 15mb/s
[/nerd mode]


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## Don Haines (Dec 26, 2016)

sanj said:


> I recommend don't attempt all at one go. Transfer in bunches.



I agree. If you are dealing with such slow speeds, transfer in bunches. Consumer hard drives are typically not rated for continuous use and can overheat, particularly in plastic cases with no active ventilation.....


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