With the increased availability of external hard drives, many computer users have become aware of the technical functions of SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) hard drives. While internal hard drives are designed to perform well with pre-installed system components, external drives are an addition that may noticeably strain your system. If you notice a delay when moving files or accessing data stored externally, you may wish to test your drive's transfer speed. Once you know how slow your drive is, you are better prepared to search for solutions or describe your situation to a technician.
Instructions
Folder
1. Create a folder with approximately 10GB of data. Navigate to "My Documents" and create a "New Folder." Rename the folder "Test" and drag it from "My Documents" to "Desktop." Copy audio/video files into "Test" to reach the 10GB size. (Be sure you are not moving files.)
2. Open "My Computer" and find your external drive. Drag and drop "Test" from the "Desktop" into your external drive. This will initiate the transfer process, a dialogue window will pop up on your screen.
3. Click "More Information" in the transfer dialogue window. This will display the speed of the transfer in bytes per second. You can also view an approximate transfer time. Record this information.
4. Repeat two to three times, deleting the "Test" folder from the external drive after each move so as not to deplete disc space and affect performance. When complete, average the transfer rates to estimate your transfer speed. Delete the "Test" folder from your "Desktop" and external hard drive.
Tags: external drive, hard drives, dialogue window, external hard, folder from, moving files