It can be frustrating to work with USB drives. Their low cost completely revolutionized personal data transport, but data volumes are growing, and users eventually find themselves waiting 15 to 20 minutes to copy a couple of gigabytes. Windows' built-in copying system isn't the most efficient, which leads us to explore alternatives like FastCopy, a tool designed to copy files faster.
Few things are as natural today as copying files to a USB drive and moving them to another computer. The price-to-capacity ratio is very favorable for users (32 GB cost less than ten euros), and it's normal to have several units. However, one element often goes unnoticed: speed.
Budget models don't go beyond USB 2.0, and although that protocol promises faster transfers, storing data on a USB drive becomes an exercise in patience. Add the fact that Windows isn't very good at copying files, what can we do besides getting a USB 3.0 drive?
Copy Files to a USB Drive Faster
The answer is to use parallel copying tools. FastCopy is one of those tools for copying files faster. And yes, its interface is very Spartan and offers no guides or tutorials, but it delivers on its promise.
FastCopy has several parameters to optimize performance, including a general buffer size, the ability to automatically ignore errors, group drive letters, and run multiple instances at once. The official documentation is a bit weak and uses quite rough English, which is understandable given that FastCopy is of Japanese origin.
Now, how fast is FastCopy? In my test, I used a Windows 10 ISO image, mainly because my transfers with USB drives tend to be very large files. The rest of the conditions were very unfavorable: I used a SanDisk Cruzer Blade connected to a USB 2.0 port. While FastCopy took 11 minutes and 26 seconds with its factory settings, Windows 10 File Explorer took 12 minutes and 48 seconds.
Even with everything against it, FastCopy was 11-12% faster. Of course, results may vary depending on the USB drive, the type and size of files, the operating system, and even the computer itself, but if your plan is to speed up copying files to a USB drive, you should give FastCopy a try.
