Slow transfer?

todd23 · todd23 #1 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:04 AM

I'm helping a friend transfer their iPhoto library file (28GB) to an external HDD (1TB). He has a Macbook Air and the file speed is ticking away at about 1Mb/s. The estimated time is now at 21hrs and still climbing.

Is there something else I should do? The external hard drive is a Seagate Free Agent and I believe it's a USB 3.0. I didn't format the drive since he uses it with both a Windows and Mac computer. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Update:

It's now going a lot quicker. Once it got about 15% done the transfer rate increased dramatically. Was it still possibly calculating everything while starting the transfer?

McBie · McBie #2 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:19 AM

What is the external drive formated in .... FAT32, NTFS or something else ....
Is the system actually writing anything to the external or is it just sitting there ?
If you connect that drive to a windows box and copy files to it, is it also slow ?
What if you copy something else ( not iPhoto ) to the disk .... what is the result of that ?

These are a few of the things I would do to narrow it down as much as possible.

Cheers ... McBie

rez · rez #3 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:21 AM

Hey Todd,

How long has the transfer been running for? And what is the format of the drive if it's not journaled?

Regards,

Ryan

todd23 · todd23 #4 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:25 AM

It's filesystem is Windows NT. It's actually about half-way done now. After the first slow 20 minutes it started transferring at a faster rate, it's almost 50% done now.

Like I said in my update, I think it was still trying to calculate everything while starting the initial transfer.

rez · rez #5 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:27 AM

This happened to me before with the Iphoto library and with other big files in general, it usually estimates a big time but then ticks over and the transfer doesn't take anywhere near as long. As long as it's working now I guess that's what has happened.

McBie · McBie #6 (**permalink**)

04-03-2012, 11:48 AM

Todd, Windows NT is not a file system, it is an operating system.
The reason why I ask is .... if the file system is NTFS and you have not installed an NTFS driver ( Which I could not make up from your first post ) then I am puzzled.

Cheers ... McBie

todd23 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 16, 2011 Posts: 14	04-03-2012, 11:04 AM I'm helping a friend transfer their iPhoto library file (28GB) to an external HDD (1TB). He has a Macbook Air and the file speed is ticking away at about 1Mb/s. The estimated time is now at 21hrs and still climbing. Is there something else I should do? The external hard drive is a Seagate Free Agent and I believe it's a USB 3.0. I didn't format the drive since he uses it with both a Windows and Mac computer. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Update: It's now going a lot quicker. Once it got about 15% done the transfer rate increased dramatically. Was it still possibly calculating everything while starting the transfer? Last edited by todd23; 04-03-2012 at 11:20 AM. Reason: Update
	QUOTE Thanks

McBie #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 26, 2008 Location: Belgium Posts: 1,838 Mac Specs: 2008 MBP 17" - 10.8.2 & iPad - iOS 5.1	04-03-2012, 11:19 AM What is the external drive formated in .... FAT32, NTFS or something else .... Is the system actually writing anything to the external or is it just sitting there ? If you connect that drive to a windows box and copy files to it, is it also slow ? What if you copy something else ( not iPhoto ) to the disk .... what is the result of that ? These are a few of the things I would do to narrow it down as much as possible. Cheers ... McBie " Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. " A. Einstein The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude towards the problem. You understand ?
	QUOTE Thanks

McBie #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 26, 2008 Location: Belgium Posts: 1,838 Mac Specs: 2008 MBP 17" - 10.8.2 & iPad - iOS 5.1	04-03-2012, 11:48 AM Todd, Windows NT is not a file system, it is an operating system. The reason why I ask is .... if the file system is NTFS and you have not installed an NTFS driver ( Which I could not make up from your first post ) then I am puzzled. Cheers ... McBie " Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. " A. Einstein The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude towards the problem. You understand ?
	QUOTE Thanks

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todd23 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 16, 2011 Posts: 14	04-03-2012, 11:25 AM It's filesystem is Windows NT. It's actually about half-way done now. After the first slow 20 minutes it started transferring at a faster rate, it's almost 50% done now. Like I said in my update, I think it was still trying to calculate everything while starting the initial transfer.
	QUOTE Thanks

rez #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 13, 2011 Location: Nottingham, U.K Posts: 25 Mac Specs: Late 2009 Macbook 2.26GHZ 4GB RAM 250GB HDD 64GB SSD	04-03-2012, 11:27 AM This happened to me before with the Iphoto library and with other big files in general, it usually estimates a big time but then ticks over and the transfer doesn't take anywhere near as long. As long as it's working now I guess that's what has happened.
	QUOTE Thanks

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