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I Windows 10 installed on an external SSD that is connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, which I guess used to be called USB 3.0 and has an advertised speed of 5 Gb/s. The SSD has a speed of 20 Gb/s.

I haven't measured it, but the boot time is definitely upwards to a minute or so. I am also having slow speeds when backing up and restoring images which I do on a regular basis for the application of this whole setup. Restoring a 40GB backup takes about 10 minutes, instead of 1 minute if the transfer rate was at 5 Gb/s, according to a calculator I used.

I dont have any problems within the OS, so it sounds like the USB 3.0 drivers aren't being loaded during the image and boot process which could explain the slow times.

  • One-minute boot time does sound a little bit slow, but the restoration speed could reasonable if it's a file-based backup and there are a lot of small files. Even with UASP and an NVMe SSD that could still work slower when compared with native SATA. Normally you get less than 50MiB/s in reality with USB 2.0 even for sequential write, so I am not sure if it really has anything to do with the bus speed. But perhaps you may check if UASP is somehow not on. (See if your drive is listed as a UAS drive under Storage Controllers or a simple USB Mass Storage under USB Controllers in Device Manager.) – Tom Yan Jan 01 '23 at 18:13
  • “I dont have any problems within the OS, so it sounds like the USB 3.0 drivers aren't being loaded during the image and boot process which could explain the slow times.” - The fact the OS is booting makes this theory impossible. – Ramhound Jan 01 '23 at 18:20
  • Btw, could you run a benchmark with CrystalDiskMark? I think that will give more exact data for us to examine whether what you are getting is normal. – Tom Yan Jan 01 '23 at 18:35
  • @ramhound, USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.0, so without the 3.0 driver it functions as a standard 2.0 port. –  Jan 02 '23 at 01:35

2 Answers2

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Slow performance on Windows to Go installation

Windows 10 to Go is no longer supported.

Numerous user find it too slow. I recommend that you do not use Windows to Go.

Here is the Microsoft Article for this.

Windows 10 to Go not supported

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Windows 10  Important

Windows To Go is removed in Windows 10, version 2004 and later operating systems. The feature does not support feature updates and therefore does not enable you to stay current. It also requires a specific type of USB that is no longer supported by many OEMs.

Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education that enables the creation of a Windows To Go workspace that can be booted from a USB-connected external drive on PCs.

PCs that meet the Windows 7 or later certification requirements can run Windows 10 in a Windows To Go workspace, regardless of the operating system running on the PC. Windows To Go workspaces can use the same image enterprises use for their desktops and laptops and can be managed the same way. Windows To Go is not intended to replace desktops, laptops or supplant other mobility offerings. Rather, it provides support for efficient use of resources for alternative workplace scenarios. There are some additional considerations that you should keep in mind before you start to use Windows To Go:
John
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/141709/discussion-on-answer-by-john-slow-performance-on-windows-to-go-installation). – DavidPostill Jan 02 '23 at 19:15
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That is what I would do:

  1. Check if the SSD is running in USB3 mode. See this post. If it is not the case then you have to install drivers.

  2. Boot Ubuntu Live from an USB pen drive on the same PC. Connect the Windows SSD to the exact same port as before and run this command to measure the speed. Replace sdXXX with the Windows SSD. Use lsblk to list disks:

    sudo dd if=/dev/sdXXX of=/dev/null bs=4M status=progress

    You should get at least 100 MB/s or else there is something wrong. Then you should get a faster SSD or USB case.

Maybe you can add to your post which SSD you are using exactly. Also add your motherboard model and tell us to which port on the motherboard the USB slots (of your PC case) are connected.

USB3 requires additional PINs. If the cables of your PC case do not have these PINs then the SSD will fall back to slow USB2. See this image.

zomega
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