3 replies to this topic

[Nick Marques]

Hi all,

 

I have been installing Windows from USB sticks for years, even going back to XP. 

 

I used to keep around 6-10 flash drives handy with different images on them. I've used RMPrepUSB to make a multi-ISO USB before, which is awesome. 

 

That said, here are some things I have been searching for answers on.

 

• What USB 2.0 flash drives are you using for the best speed? I was getting Patriot Xporter Boost drives since they were reasonably cheap and very fast. They aren't available in USB 2.0. I've narrowed hundreds of drives down and think I am going to get some Super Talent Pico drives... unless you guys can swing me a different direction. 
• As far as USB 3.0 drives, what's the deal? I have yet to install Windows 7/8 from one, even if it is used on a USB 2.0 controller. In once case, Windows installed, but it wouldn't make the drive bootable. Even booting to Command Prompt to use bootrec/bcdedit/diskpart didn't work. So, I stopped buying and trying to use 3.0 drives as boot disks. Why is this so different?
• I am just now getting into UEFI booting since I picked up an Ultrabook and have been tinkering with a Hackintosh install. Is it possible to make a RMPrepUSB multi-ISO drive that can be UEFI AND Legacy boot? I am very curious on this... One drive to rule them all would be awesome.

Thanks all!

[MedEvil]

As for the Super Talent Pico drives. I had 2 versions of them, none performed like advertised.
8MB/s read is not even close to the claimed 30+MB/s read speed.

Lexar has some very fast drives, unfortunately they tend to fiddle with the internals without telling you. So performance of "identical" drives tends to vary widely, with early models mostly performing better than later ones.

I prefer SanDisk now. If they give you numbers, you can count on it, that the drive is even better.
Also later production models always perform better than earlier versions.

No experience with Patriot or Corsair though.

[Nick Marques]

As for the Super Talent Pico drives. I had 2 versions of them, none performed like advertised.
8MB/s read is not even close to the claimed 30+MB/s read speed.

Lexar has some very fast drives, unfortunately they tend to fiddle with the internals without telling you. So performance of "identical" drives tends to vary widely, with early models mostly performing better than later ones.

I prefer SanDisk now. If they give you numbers, you can count on it, that the drive is even better.
Also later production models always perform better than earlier versions.

No experience with Patriot or Corsair though.

 

Thanks for the info. I ordered a couple Picos to try out. I used to buy only SanDisk memory, but they couldn't compete in price with Patriot. My microSD, SD, and CF cards for cameras and phones are all SanDisk. 

 

I couldn't find numbers on current SanDisk USB 2.0 drives... only USB 3.0 ones.

[steve6375]

• Is it possible to make a RMPrepUSB multi-ISO drive that can be UEFI AND Legacy boot? I am very curious on this... One drive to rule them all would be awesome.

That is exactly what you can do with Easy2Boot! Watch the videos.

You have to make a FAT32 image partition file from a liveCD ISO and copy it to the E2B USB drive.  You can even make a partition image file from an existing bootable USB flash drive and add the image to E2B.

 

P.S. I always go for USB 3.0 flash drives. When connected to a USb 2.0 port they should behave identically to a USB 2.0 flash drive. Did you check to see if the drives were of the Removable type or Fixed-disk type?