The speed of your external hard drive mostly depends on the cables and the drive itself. It is very difficult, in fact impossible, to increase the hardware speed of your external hard drive. However, a person can improve the cables so as to boost the external hard drive speed.
Use Shorter Cables, Boost External Hard Drive Speed
A long cable allows you to place your external hard drive in a convenient place, far away from the computer. Such long cables affect the external hard drive speed. There are different types of cables and their lengths also vary depending on the kind of cord you use on your hard drive. Cords can be USB 2.0, USB 3.0, eSATA or Firewire. In most cases, the cables have a maximum length of between 2-3 yards or meters. Data transmitted through copper cables travels approximately 60 percent of the speed of light. As you use a short cord, your speed will increase. Typically, this means a short 3-foot cable is twice as fast as a long 6-foot cable. On the other hand, a 2-foot cable will be faster than both cables.
As a matter of fact, you will save money when you buy a short cord to use on your external hard drive, as well as get a unique combination of savings and speed.
Use Quality Crosstalk-Resistant Cables
If you place a cell phone or any other electronic device near a pair of low-cost speakers, the speakers will produce a whining sound due to electronic interference. Electronic interference is present in all electronic devices including the cables connecting the external hard drive and your computer. The cables connected to the computer, the majority being USB cables, produce ample electronic interference that generates false signals in cords that are close, a problem referred to as crosstalk. When crosstalk occurs, you computer gets confused since it receives false signals from each cord. As a result, the computer halts the transmission of data and requests the cables to resend the data. When this problem occurs when you are transferring data between your computer and the external hard drive, the computer will be forced to resend the data again. This considerably slows down the data transfer. You can overcome this problem easily by using shorter codes to transfer data. However, you must also ensure that you use high-quality crosstalk resistant cables. If you look carefully at some USB cords, you will realize that some have a cylindrical bulge on both ends or on one end. These cylindrical bulges have magnets that prevent crosstalk. Quality crosstalk-resistant cables will definitely boost external hard drive speed.
Place the External Hard Drive on a Flat Surface
This strategy helps to boost the external hard drive speed of magnetic hard drives only. It cannot be applied on Solid State Drives (SSDs). The magnetic hard drive is made up of a magnetic needle and high-speed spinning platter, which looks like a vinyl record. The magnetic needle is designed in such a way that it moves towards the platter but does not touch it. Designers of this hard drive assumed that people would always place the hard drive in a flat position. If your hard drive tilts, the magnetic needle moves very near or far from the platter thereby reducing the speed of transferring data on your external hard drive. As such, the hard drive should always be flat.
These are just a few tips to make sure your external hard drive is as fast as possible. Know another tip? Let us know in the comments!