Short answer
USB flash drives get slower and slower on large copies with many files and folders, so a job that takes about two hours on a portable hard drive or SSD can take two or three days, or freeze your computer. We recommend a USB hard drive or an SSD instead. If you cannot afford one, we can loan one in special cases, provided it is returned.
Why can’t I supply a USB stick as the destination device?
The reason is that USB flash drives, or USB sticks as some people call them, or USB pen drives, are exceptionally slow when it comes to copying large amounts of data, especially if there are numerous files and folders within those directories. For example, one might acquire a 256-gigabyte USB flash drive, and an individual with a damaged iPhone might desire all their data copied to it. If we transfer all the data onto an external portable USB hard drive or an external SSD, the data transfer might take approximately two hours.
With a USB flash drive, upon connection, it might initially indicate a two-hour transfer time, but it will progressively become slower and slower, potentially failing to complete the transfer. It could, for instance, take two or three days to copy the data, which wastes our time, equipment, and resources; hence, we do not recommend USB flash drives.
Furthermore, our customers occasionally experience issues when attempting to back up an entire computer or laptop containing two million files via a USB flash drive. Such an operation might cause the computer to freeze or hang, or you might find it exceedingly unresponsive and slow to use. The technology is not designed for such extensive data transfers. It is primarily intended for transferring a few hundred documents or photos between two computers, not for managing hundreds of thousands of folders within subfolders and long file names. Fundamentally, the file system and memory storage are not designed for that purpose.
Therefore, we do not endorse the use of flash drives. We simply advise purchasing a USB hard drive or an SSD. In the worst-case scenario, if you cannot afford one, we will loan one to you, provided it is returned, and we can accommodate such requests in special cases.
Related help
- More about USB flash drive data recovery.
- Read a real job: SanDisk USB flash drive case study.
- And another: emergency USB flash drive case study.
- See more data recovery success stories.
- Ready to start? Get a free assessment and quote.
International customers are always welcome. Post your device to us from anywhere.
More questions people ask
- Do you offer collection service?
- Can you write us a statement so that we can still use the Apple Warranty?
- Will you be able to recover all my files?