Vista just sucks...accept it

Hi,

This problem just wont go...i have tried 6 times on all USB ports of my new laptop.. (the USB ports are perfect and all devices run on them)

Read the problem:

I did a backup of all my movies, songs and documents on external 100 GB HDD using USB 2.0 from my older laptop.
Backing up 33 GB of Data took 20 mins on XP.

Now while transferring data on my new laptop, the time remaining increases to 1000 + days.....

The transfer of files doesnt complete even when i leave it all night...and so far only 10-12 songs have transferred and few document folders.

All other files from my previous laptop just wont transfer on my vista laptop.




HELP!!!

or i ll be convinced vista sucks...a simple transfer of data is giving so many problems..

 

It's not Vista, it's either your laptop or you that's doing something wrong. Accept it.

 

I think there's something wrong with your installation then quite simply

 

not enough info to help.

at first blush, i would agree that it's user error since this morning i transferred 15 GBs from my Vista notebok to a Windows 2003 Server box and it took about 30 mins.

 

This and your thread title just isn't going to endear anyone to help. You might be sitting on a two second setting change that someone could easily point out but now wont even bother.

 

I'm a testament to that.

 

Oh, nooooo! Not that! PLEASE! ANYTHING but THAT!

 

What software are you using to transfer your data?

 

I have backed up my 200gb harddrive using usb 2.0 without any problems. No operating system is idiot proof so by those standards yes you are convinced that vista sucks.

 

ok ok...this was due to frustration..


The external HDD is connected on USB 2.0 ports.


The data transfer of the 33 GB folder just freezez after 2-3 minutes.

Time Remaining goes to 1000+ days.


I use copy+paste to transfer the folder.



Only 2-3 subfolders get transferred and those also incomplete.




Now Vista fans...tell me what other info. u need?...


As far as i know there should be an update on microsoft site......


When backing up from XP there was no issue.

 

Do u think my HDD is corrupted? ....when i execute files on USB connected HDD then they work just fine..all songs, all movies ...they are not corrupted.

I even ran a disk check.
I defragmented also.



I use this external HDD everyday to backup files on my XP OS vaio laptop and no problems.


But transfer on Vista never gets completed.

 

Problem arises when i transfer from HDD to the laptop.....(backup is reverse )

 

Other people reported excruciatingly long times when moving data from within Vista (hundreds of days), to and from the removable media, on the network.
Some people reported the problem (one of those, I don't remember which) go away with one of the hotfixes provided by Microsoft. Have you updated the darn thing, lately? It looks as if Microsoft found a way to have beta testers pay the full price of the product.

Try google for a solution: for example, this is a fix for the network transfer problem: http://www.ads-links.com/index.php/how-to-fix-windows-vista-slow-network-transfer.html

My cd/dvd burner transfer is about 1.5 MB/s in Vista.
Out of Dell's box.
Impressive speed. My Win98 P4 box is about ten times faster.

 

Quick tip: Update your windows...

I disagree with you.
Windows Vista is a great Windows Update
________________________________________
LAwrenceAlbert

 

... whatever ...

 

agreed. lol

 

Run WindowsUpdate and install all the updates. Windows Vista came with a bug where it totally cripples network file transfer speed and USB transfer speed.

Thank all the Vista lovers who are willing to accept all the bugs.

 

The network/music bug has been patched with an Update for a while now. Vista runs fine, transfers start slow, but get progressively faster.

Name a bug in Vista and I'll provide you one for your operating system. Oh, they'll all begin with "Can't play ____".

 

Whatcha usin' to copy to the external USB drive? Windows Explorer or some other software?

 

LOL. It takes ages, nonetheless.
http://www.google.com/search?q=slow+file+transfer+in+vista
Besides, it's amazing that an OS was launched with this very minor bug about an action so seldom performed by an operating system, like moving files from here to there.
What have they been testing? The solitaire?

They begin with "I have to wait ages to move files from one partition to the other". "I have to wait ages to move the files to and from my USB 2.0 pen". "I have to wait ages to move files and from my Cds and DVDs...". Chores that Windows98 (hey, not Linux, not OSX, not even XP) can do in a heartbeat or two.

And finding bugs in another OS won't help in solving these.

 

Ahh people. I use my external HD all the time with esata and usb connection and I'm getting great speeds.

Heres a thought, maybe necessarily the first time you experience a problem its not the OS? Hmm it could be settings, drivers, updates, your hardware etc. etc.

 

That's funny.

I wouldn't be surprised if it has a lot to do with content protection. There are apparently a lot of checks, balances, and bus encryptions occuring at just about every level attempting to achieve it. But, like you suggest, moving files is seemingly something that would be all worked out at release.

 

Yes, as do I as well.

In my 30+ years working in professional computing I've seen more than my share of junior programmers insisting that their application program failure was an operating system error.

Yes indeed, I would usually reply, thank you so very much for bringing this catastrophic problem to my attention. If only the millions or billions of previous programs run in the past year or so had only seen it and recognized it as an operating system problem.

Not to say that they didn't have a problem, and that I would not assist them in figuring it out.

So, again,

 

No, I'm pretty much convinced that the only difference between XP, and Vista regarding content protection is that Vista will(in the future) scan for protection on HD media, and if it's protected, it will not allow the data to be transfered, or displayed on third party hardware(yes, that means your current HD ready TV sets) if it's not equiped with specific technology that hasn't been fully developed yet. In other words, don't worry about it until 2010.

Here is my effective transfer rate from my external USB drive to my Vista laptop:
15MB/s


Here are a couple suggestions:
Make sure your Hard Drive drivers support Vista.
Try turning UAC off.

If you still have space in your external drive, try putting some files on a .rar, or .zip file, and see if that single file transfers faster than hundreds of them. Then unzip/unrar it on your laptop. (Like make 30 1Gig zip files, or 15 2Gig files, or whatever)

 

You may be right, Daniel. I still think the testing comment was funny. And AKA asks a good question too.

 

I never had the slow USB problem, but recently all sorts of unreliable USB problems have come up. It's like every other update that comes out fixes one and screws up another. These days when I plug in a USB device it's 50/50 whether Vista will recognize it. Oddly enough, the devices are recognizing Vista 100% of the time. It's also not just one device. And no, I'm not a Vista novice at this point.

I just got some more hotfixes through Lenovo so let's hope it works and stays working for a while. Vista is getting pretty effing tedious with this constant stream of issues.

I will eventually do a clean install but that really sucks for me because of a bunch of other software licenses that I will have to comb through.

 

No, it doesn't take ages. Only on the OP's computer, and bandwagon bashers like you who find any opportunity to badmouth Vista.

I didn't think anyone would take me up on the rhetorical offer. I agree that pointing out bugs on other OS's won't help anyone and thus I haven't listed any. You on the other hand...

I hear DOS is a great operating system, extremely fast file transfers, lets all use that, because it's better than Vista!

 

LOL. I simply say what's wrong in a software that I happen to be using.
[ Oh, by the way, it's a software I did not choose: it was forced on me by "free market" to "lower the price" of my notebook by adding a 75 bucks third party product. (but that's not the topic of this thread, so let's drop this).]

Besides, if you had cared to follow the Google links, you'd have found many other people besides the OP with problems in file transfer. I could post the 1.2 kB high speed file trasfer to and from my usb pen. There seems to be a fix for that. Alas, the links I could have used to download them with the PC I have connected to the net are broken (I think MS did not like the shortcut provided). I should connect my laptop with Vista, but guess what: the connection does not work (this is probably my fault - I disabled a few services - but I am happy it didn't work because I don't want to go on the net with an OS that cannot even trasfer files in a decent manner). I use my other OS to surf the net: I discovered Vista cannot connect to the internet during a reboot from Linux while the laptop was connected to the DSL.

So, here I am stuck with a bugged OS (it's a bug, yes? Or do you see that as a feature?) and un upgrade path that could expose my system to something worse than a bug. After all, if MS can't get file transfer right how could I trust their work in network security?
I should teach my penguin how to pass WGA validation, maybe.

On the other hand what?
I simply reported (and documented) the fact that many people have been driven up the wall by the same (or similar) bug the OP was experiencing.
Even in this forum someone posted a screenshot with an expected time of ten thousand days or more...

In trasferring files it sure is.
And file trasfer is something an OS, any OS, should be able to perform fairly well. This does not seem to be the case with Vista, though. Not out of the box.

 

If this is not the topic here, why bring it up in the first place?
You also use Linux, then why not stick with it, and ditch Vista altogether? It is to my understanding that as long as you keep using Vista, you will be haunted by those $75....

So you are saying that I imagined I transfered 20GB of files from my old computer to my Vista computer two hours after I got it? I mean, when you say 'Not out of the box', it seems you are generalizing.

The thing is, how can an Inspiron out of the box not have one single problem, and a similar built computer (your Vostro) show several problems? If the OS was the cause, my Inspiron would have had the same problems. I can only conclude that it was something the user did afterwards, like maybe you installed something that wasn't 100% Vista compatible, and messed up the system(I'm not saying this is you fault as any software vendor can claim that their product is compatible with Vista). If that's the case, then it's not a bug that came with Vista, but a bug that was induced to Vista.

I know I'm right
j/k, but I'm pretty sure it's something like that..
And yeah, I got a kick out of that comment as well

 

I'd have to agree, this seems like a problem that is apart from the OS. Ever since I got my Q35 I've never had any sort of problem with transferring files. A full system back up (40+ GB) takes my laptop roughly half an hour and the last time I transferred files, about 3GB, took roughly 3 minutes. That was from an external HDD to my laptop.

All I can suggest is that you update Windows and hope that solves the problem. If not, could it be possible that another part of the overall setup is to blame?

 

I installed the bunch of hotfixes released last week....
Now.....

The time remaining wont come...it keeps saying 'calculating...' but never calculates.


What could be the problem?


When i copy files individually theres no problem....when i transfer large folders the transfer stops after 2-3 mins and i have to pull out the USB as cancel also doesnt work.

 

What i meant is that in this thread we're talking about the file transfer problem and not about the fact that Microsoft's OSes are forced on many users.
I brought it up in the first place because a legitimate reply to my criticism would have been "so why did you choose Vista?". Well I didn't.

I also have to use a MS OS for work, and I asked for XP but in my Country that was not an option for the Vostros (it still isn't). I do not think that all MS Os are awful . I think XP SP2 is a good compromise of usability, stability and security. Maybe the first true OS Redmond has produced. Maybe Vista SP2 will be as good, who knows. But it is unacceptable to me that an OS might be released with problems with file transfer.

I am talking about my Vostro. A system that supposedly came after a thorough testing. A system onto which the OS has been correctly installed.

Good question. The answer is that an OS bug can be triggered by many different events. A different IRQ assigned to this or that device, an X.Y.Z.000W driver instead of X.Y.Z.000N one, screen resolution, color depth, an hard disk with a slightly different feature.

How do I know it's not a problem of my particular Vostro? I infer that from the fact that slow file trasfer is transversal (see the Google link in my previous message) and - lo and behold - by the fact that Microsoft released a fix for Vista to solve that bug.
The latter event let me think that yes, that could be a bug in Vista.

This is a perfectly reasonable approach. Fact is that the slow file transfer was noticed before *anything* was installed on my computer. As I said I never connected it to the net, so all my data and programs had to be transferred via CD/DVD and USB stick. This happened from the first transfer ("out of the box"). I went on the net (with my other system) and found that it was a widespread problem that could be fixed with a MS update. So I did not care too much to call Dell to fix it. Eventually I will connect Vista to the net, probably when SP1 is available. I still would have liked to be able to install the patch without having to go on the internet with Vista, though.

But what we were talking about here is that such a bug is unacceptable in modern software engineering.

 

this could be the problem :confused2:

lol

 

How about some recommendations on fixes..

Have you tried removing/re-adding or updating the driver for your external drive... You could very well have a corrupted driver...

Joe

 

Success...i transferred data in small groups..sub-folders at a time....then also it gave the problem but after 3 tries files transferred...

Vista has lot of bugs....


Microsoft has released an update for my issue btw..but not for my version

 

Sure, for my network problem. I could enable the services to see which is the culprit but I don't care now. But the file transfer problem has nothing to do with the services I disabled. It showed itself before I started to fiddle with settings.

 

What version you got? I believe this hotfix was released for both x86 and 64bits versions....

 

So, according to you, if we jump on the internet and praise Vista for the object of beauty it really might be *cough*, then our Vista compatible machines will absorb the love puring from our hearts, and make our file transfers go faster?

At file transfers, yes, it is better.

Whilst the OP's hardware may play a part, I believe there is something in Vista that plays havoc with the transfer speeds, as I experience the same symptoms. Everything else works fine, runs almost as fast as Linux, etc, but my fully updated system chugs on network and usb file transfer. Took me an hour to transfer my music to my Nokia N95 (only 1.5GB).

 

And yet I can do a three way synchronization from my Vista laptop to an XP desktop and a Win2000 server with 2gig transferred in less than 5 minutes. So, clearly it is not systemic Vista issue as has been implied.

I'm not suggesting there is NO issue, I am insisting it is situational.

Gary

 

exactly. there have several people in this thread who have pointed out that their transfer speeds with Vista are just fine (myself included).

 

Your HDD is probably corrupt. The exact same thing happened to me. A friends usb removable hard drive wasn't detected by his Mac, so he plugged it into my Vista laptop, and whilst I could see the files, transferring them all led to estimations it would take 1000+ days.

I copied some stuff off, but the culprit files are causing problems. The ony way I can imagine it is to transfer stuff off the drive one at a time, delete the rest, and reformat the drive

 

But this thread isn't about who has no problems, it's about fixing the problem for those that have it.

And if it looks like a reformat is the way to go, I'm going back to XP.

 

Well I'm able to copy files from a laptop that has a USB external drive to another laptop on my wireless network although its not real fast but no problem doing it.

 

How do you explain the fact that the same disk works fine with XP?

 

You are right! However, there is an implication within this thread that the problem is somehow systemic within Vista. What others and myself are trying to make sure folks who stumble into this conversation understand is that the problem seems to arrise only under certain, as yet un-isolated, situations.

Gary

 

Well, of course there must be instances where the file transfer works fine!
Not even Microsoft would release a code that wouldn't work in every situation.
Besides, bugs are almost always situational. Even the Pentium bug depended on a particular set of conditions to cause problems. To go back to MS, think about the Excel bug http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/24/2339203&from=rss: it can only be triggered by certain numbers.
Would you call that bug 'systemic' or what?

 

Reread his response. The drive was already corrupt, the Mac wouldn't even detect the drive. No point in blowing up this situation worse than it already is. Clearly there is some issue with certain USB devices and/or network transfers. The real task is to try to determine what commonality there is amongst the machine exhibiting the troubles and how they differ from the ones not having any such trouble.

Gary

 

Ok, my bad. I'll edit my post.

This can be a daunting task. I've already been there :-(
My Win98SE box has always had a little problem: when I try to transfer several files from one partition to another (of the same disk or on another disk on the same computer) it will cause the desktop to 'freeze'. Certain windows no longer responds, and dragging them around would leave 'ghost images' around. The system will remain in this condition for 2-3 minutes and then get back to normal, oly to repeat the same behavior at every single subsequent file transfer.
I reinstalled Windows dozens of times, trying to pinpoint the cause (graphic card drivers, the number of partitions, the chipset drivers, the soundcard...) I ended up in having this problem even with the most basic windows install.
Microsoft solved this problem in their KB in a very elegant way: "there is no solution". So much for their support. The other people on the net who had the same problem had *absolutely nothing* in common with my rig (different processor, different chipset, different video and sound card, different hard disk, different partition structure...) apart from the version of Win98.

So, here I am, with a system that requires me to reboot as soon as I try to transfer more that 10-20 files at the same time and no way to fix it (no source code, no way to know if it's some easter egg gone awry that causes the problem).

 

The Start menu on vista is really ineffecient and slow to use....the XP start menu was better...


Moral of the story: Microsoft should not innovate...they are good only at copying other companies.



And....Dont ask me why i bought vista....Vista no one buys...its loaded on all new laptops.

 

We're going to have to disagree again, since I think the Start Menu search function is awesome. Never going back to hunting through lists of programs anymore. Not to mention if you go into properties, you can get all the classic stuff back if you don't want to adjust.