In this post, we will show you how to make your USB or External Hard Drive perform faster in Windows 11/10 by tweaking a setting in Device Properties. This will help increase your USB Data Transfer speed. However, note that the performance improvement may or may not be noticeable. You will have to see how it works for your external media.
Make USB or External Hard Drive perform faster
Change Removal policy of External Storage Devices in Windows
Plug in your USB or external hard drive to your Windows 11/10 computer. Open the File Explorer and access This PC. Now right-click on the connected USB device and select Properties.
Next, select the Hardware tab. Select the storage media you want to make faster here, and then click on the Properties button.
A new box will open. Click on the Policies tab. Here you will see two options in the USB Device Properties box:
- Quick removal (default)
- Better performance
USB Quick removal vs. Better performance
The policy settings have the following effects, states Microsoft:
- Quick removal: This keeps the device ready to be removed. You can remove the device without using the Safely Remove Hardware process. However, Windows cannot cache disk write operations to do this, which may degrade system performance.
- Better performance: This improves system performance. Windows can cache write operations to the external device when this policy is in effect. However, you must use the Safely Remove Hardware process to remove the external drive. The Safely Remove Hardware process protects the integrity of data on the device by ensuring all cached operations finish.
The default is Quick Removal. When this option is selected, it disables Write Caching on the device and in Windows. You can disconnect the device safely, without using the Safely Remove Hardware option.
If you want better performance from your USB device, you can select the Better performance option. When this is selected, it enables write caching in Windows. However, you have to use the Safely Remove Hardware option from the notification area to disconnect the device safely; otherwise, it may result in data corruption.
When you eject a device using this setting, Windows flushes the write cache to the disk. It ensures that the operation is completed and informs you that it is Safe To Remove Hardware.
Read: How to create Safely Remove Hardware Shortcut in Windows
As we mentioned earlier, the performance improvement may or may not be noticeable. You will have to see how it works for your external media.
Please let us know if you noticed a performance increase when you tweaked this setting.
See this post if Safely Remove Hardware not working in Windows.
How can I increase my USB transfer speed?
If you want to increase the data transfer speed in the external hard drive or speed up the USB transfer speed in Windows 11/10, then you should connect to the USB 3.1/3.0 port, instead of USB 2.0. Also, close the unnecessary background apps and running programs, switch to the NTFS file system, and clean up your external hard drive.
Does Windows 11/10 have ReadyBoost?
Yes, Windows 11/10 does have the ReadyBoost feature, but it is useful if you have a slower hard drive (and a compatible USB drive). You can access the ReadyBoost tab in the USB drive Properties window to use it. In case you don’t see this tab there, then you need to manually add the ReadyBoost tab in drive Properties. You must also enable or run the SysMain (Superfetch) service to use ReadyBoost.
Read next: How to enable or disable USB Ports in Windows PC.
