This week I got a new SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB b/c it was on sale for only $69. However, FF runs EXTREMELY SLOW.... I mean it takes 2+ minutes just to open; it takes 10+ seconds to switch to an already open tab; it takes 15+ seconds to open a new tab; and FORGET about clicking in one window and switching to another while the first link comes up!!!!
I've got an open support ticket with SanDisk--they had me reformat it, then download some Micro$oft app that verifies the authenticity of the USB device, and I've been left hanging since yesterday morning.
Is there ANYTHING that could be Firefox related here? I don't see how, b/c I copied everything off my USB drive, a Lexar 512MB. It runs EXTREMELY fast--especially compared to this one.
I have a 0 size cache. What other settings might affect this?
I'm convinced it's drive related since the *exact* same copy of the program and all it's configuration runs perfectly on another drive.
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I haven't played with the 2GB cruzer micro, but they could have it optimized for big files, which significantly hurts small file writes. Try a base install of Portable Firefox and see where things are at on the drive. If you have any tab or session extensions, they should be disabled.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Ok I just tried a fresh "install" (unzip) of PFF... didn't even copy bookmarks or anything. It was a little bit faster, but was still so slow I couldn't switch between tabs, if I tried to type anything it would lag--basically not enough of an improvement to make any difference.
I still haven't heard anything more from SanDisk support. I'm probably going to return it this weekend if I don't get a resolution from them soon.
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It shouldn't be THAT slow. Try an exchange to see if that improves things.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I've heard complaints about SanDisk's large USB drives lately, the 1 GB and 2 GB drives. SanDisk drives are around the middle of the pack in speed (read/write) up to the 512 MB size, but the 1 GB and 2 GB drives have seen complaints on some other boards about slow speed (particularly write speed). But why? Optimized for large files?
I'm guessing because the drives are so big, they're optimized for large files. I can't imagine why, seeing as how you usually buy a bigger drive to store more files, not necessarily bigger ones. It would explain this problem, though.
P.S. Anyone know what the iPod shuffle is rated as far as read/write speed? Mine seems pretty fast, but my copy of Portable Firefox gets laggy at times, where about 5 seconds after a page finishes loading, Firefox locks up for a few seconds, preventing me from doing anything until it "snaps out of it". This doesn't happen all the time though, which is why I can't figure out what's causing it.
I gave up on hearing back from the online support folks at SanDisk, so I called them earlier this morning. After a long song and dance (see http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15784458) she finally told me to take it back to Office Depot and exchange it. She said that if the new one has a problem then "it must be the computers or the environment." I didn't waste my time trying to explain again (for the 3rd or 4th time) that this is happening on multiple computers, and that my Lexar works just fine on each of those computers.
So I guess I'm gonna try another one, and if it doesn't work I'll just stick with the Lexar.
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I exchanged it for another one this afternoon and this one is the same way. I don't know what's going on but it's ridiculous. I'll be returning this one for a refund tomorrow.
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I don't know how to (or even if I can) upload images here, so check out the discussion at DSLReports.com (http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15784458) where I just uploaded the results of a benchmark test of the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 2GB and the Lexar JD Lightning 512MB. The Lexar rated at 19.9MB/s, while the SanDisk rated at 9MB/s.
Needless to say the SanDisk is going back to OfficeMax.
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9 MB per second? Is this a large-files test? Because I've sure as heck never seen a USB key capable of writing at 9 MB per second. My iPod shuffle doesn't write anywhere near this fast; it averages about 2 MB per second, and Portable Firefox runs just fine from it except for a few minor blips now and then. And 19.9 MB per second for your other drive? Wow. That's blazing.
Of course, if it's optimized for large files (which I think we've determined that it is), then all this means nothing: Portable Firefox will be slow, since it's constantly writing little chunks of information to the drive the whole time it's running. Still, 10 seconds just to switch tabs? Good gravy.
Drives speeds vary A LOT depending on whether you're talking about writes or reads... and small or large files. Check out the differences in write speed of small files on many drives:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2549&p=26
Read speeds vary, but not quite as much:
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2549&p=24
I have a Lexar Jumpdrive Lightning, too. I got it for the speed. You pay a small premium for it, but on sale, it's a great value (I got mine for under 60 bucks US)
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Check you have usb2 enabled, see for enhanced usb controller
under your usb devices in your OS's equivalent of xp's device
manager.
You might want to try 64k cluster size on it.
It should give you some speed boost, along with securing the
safety of your files. (Running many files with small cluster size will eventually kill the mft..)
Seriously though, this should speed it up..
On a newly OS install, changing cluster size from 4k to 64k makes
my system at least boot at bare minimum 8 seconds faster.
Part 2 would be to defragment the drive naturally, then delete
any trash and defragment it again.
As said here, that the drive might not be for small file writes...
Well then you defintively should check the 64k cluster.
Hope this works out for you...
64 KB clusters may enhance performance, but at a price: all files will take up at least 64 KB (that's a lot of wasted bytes), and as the file expands, its "size on disk" will increase in increments of 64 KB. It might not sound like a lot, but that's a lot of wasted space.
The performance gain with large clusters is seen mostly because of how well they defend against fragmentation. A disk with 64 KB clusters will rarely become severely fragmented, as files almost always have plenty of room to grow. It has nothing to do with whether the drive is optimized for large or small files. If a drive is optimized for large files, writing small files to it is still going to be slow, regardless of the cluster size.
By the way, on FAT and FAT32 drives (the defaults for USB keys), it's called the File Allocation Table, not the MFT. It's only called the MFT if you're talking about NTFS.
honestly, i have an OLD lexar jumpdrive secure [albeit a 256mb drive] and it loads way faster than what i've been reading above. i'm sure it's only a usb 1.1, and i know the computer i'm using presently is only usb1, so a with a usb2 drive and a usb2 able computer should blow me away. how's the expectable lifetime look on these puppies - looks like i needs ta git me one!
best of luck!
keeping the faith baby!
mike
USB keys typically last anywhere from 2 to 3 years. And yes, the original JumpDrive Secure is a USB 1.1 drive. I used to have a 128 MB one.
Defragging...good or bad? Or just use judiciously?
How hard on the drive is this and what are the gains?
Inquiring mind wants to know.
I used to run off of a 64mb iomega micromini drive - Portable Fx was speedy as all else.
Went out and got myself the same SanDisk drive that you got and had horrendous speeds. Same issues as you. Fx was taking between 3-5 minutes to boot on a brand new computer (fresh OS install) and opening the preferences menu allowed me to make a sandwitch before anything loaded.
I did a little research and found that Lexar, iomega, and (I believe) Sony had the quickest read/write times. I went out and got a 512 Lexar JumpDrive II. Bingo...Got my speed back. Not as fast as the original iomega, but cheaper and it works.
Just thought I'd let you know you're not alone.
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zan.thri.a - personal/political/philosophical blog community
I used to have a Sony MicroVault 256MB. Out of all the flash drives I've had, that was the fastest. Even faster than my JumpDrives--and I've had a ton of those.
I now use a Kingston DataTraveler Elite 1GB model. The speeds are insane. Got it on NewEgg.com for $50.
A good resource for choosing one can be found here: USB High-Speed Roundup
Cheers!
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zan.thri.a - personal/political/philosophical blog community
I just recently got the 1 gb cruzer (the one with the slide-out plug) and don't have any speed issues whatsoever. I don't have benchmarks, but it runs just barely slower (almost undetectable) than ff running off my hard drive. I think for the money it was great (50 bucks and a 20 dollar rebate= $30 for 1 gig) It does come with the u3 garbage installed, though, so you might want to uninstall that, but that is simple enough.
For anyone that doesn't know where to find the U3 uninstaller, here's a link:
http://www.u3.com/uninstall/
Note that uninstallation is irreversible.
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fatcerberus@yahoo.com [aim: fatcerberus]
I have no witty remarks or quotes to share at the moment.
same here. my new sandisk cruzer micro 2gb causes miranda and firefox to pause nearly the whole system for 1-2 seconds on every write cycle. this happens when sending a message via miranda as well as even when typing this text in firefox. its simply unusable as a portable app stick, dammit
i think i'll return it too and take a look what i get as an alternative one.
http://www.arnekolja.de
Is your Cruzer Micro one of those small ones, cause SanDisk has two types. I'm thinking of getting a 1GB.
----
R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
It's this one: http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Catalog(1168)-NEW__SanDisk_Cruzer_Micro_USB_Flash_Drive.aspx
http://www.arnekolja.de
That's the one I was thinking of getting.
----
R McCue
PortaBlog Home and My Website
And before anyone complains about the grammar, I'm so jetlagged that my
hands aren't even in the same time zone...
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."