file transfer from CD to HD

sunreinsunrein
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I just switched over to Mac this Fall and bought a 15" albook with all the trimmings (fast HD, SuperDrive, 1GB RAM). I should also preface by saying that this is my first laptop.



I love my computer, but it seems like file transfers from my SuperDrive take way too long. I recently moved a 250MB file from a CD to the hard drive and it took six minutes! This seems a little odd and much slower than my experience on other computers, so I thought I'd poll the collective wisdom and see if this is the norm or not. I've experienced this on every build from 10.2.7 through 10.3.2. Thoughts?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Have you ever used a Superdrive before? Read times on these drives is slower than a typical CD Burner.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    250 MB should go faster than 6 min. though. but yes, the superdrive is slower than a standard CD-R drive. (24x or something, instead of a theoretical 52x)



    but if it's taking that long, something is wrong.



    i'd try copying files off of another CD/DVD before i worried though. could just be that one's hard to read, so things copy off of it slowly.



    if you see that one a number of DVD's, there might be a problem. (also keep in mind things at the center of a DVD copy slower than thing on the outside edges)
  • Reply 3 of 7
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    250 MB should go faster than 6 min. though. but yes, the superdrive is slower than a standard CD-R drive. (24x or something, instead of a theoretical 52x)



    but if it's taking that long, something is wrong.



    i'd try copying files off of another CD/DVD before i worried though. could just be that one's hard to read, so things copy off of it slowly.



    if you see that one a number of DVD's, there might be a problem. (also keep in mind things at the center of a DVD copy slower than thing on the outside edges)



    Wow I never thought about that but I guess it makes sense. Interesting little fact to keep in mind
  • Reply 4 of 7
    sunreinsunrein Posts: 138member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    250 MB should go faster than 6 min. though. but yes, the superdrive is slower than a standard CD-R drive. (24x or something, instead of a theoretical 52x)



    but if it's taking that long, something is wrong.



    i'd try copying files off of another CD/DVD before i worried though. could just be that one's hard to read, so things copy off of it slowly.



    if you see that one a number of DVD's, there might be a problem. (also keep in mind things at the center of a DVD copy slower than thing on the outside edges)



    The CD that I was pulling data off of is this month's MacAddict CD. I was grabbing the Neverwinter Nights game demo off of the disc. I've put some other CDs in and they seem to be faster. Anyone want to be helpful and see if their MacAddict CD acts the same way?



    Thanks to everyone for their help. I'm a quick study, but having used MS stuff since DOS in the early 80's, making the switch has been a bit daunting.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dale soreldale sorel Posts: 186member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bunge

    Have you ever used a Superdrive before? Read times on these drives is slower than a typical CD Burner.



    Makes me glad my iMac has a Combo Drive
  • Reply 6 of 7
    russsrusss Posts: 115member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by sunrein

    The CD that I was pulling data off of is this month's MacAddict CD. I was grabbing the Neverwinter Nights game demo off of the disc. I've put some other CDs in and they seem to be faster. Anyone want to be helpful and see if their MacAddict CD acts the same way?



    Wow! I first read your post late last night and decided to test to see how long it took on my Quicksilver 933MHz. I grabbed the first CD I found and started to copy a 250 meg file. It was really slow. Here's the 'WOW' part: it was a MacAddict CD and the file was the Neverwinter Nights demo! I was actually going to post and ask you if that was the file you were copying!



    Anyway, it's definitely the MacAddict CD and not your drive. I can normally copy a full CD in less than 5 minutes.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    sunreinsunrein Posts: 138member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by RussS

    Wow! I first read your post late last night and decided to test to see how long it took on my Quicksilver 933MHz. I grabbed the first CD I found and started to copy a 250 meg file. It was really slow. Here's the 'WOW' part: it was a MacAddict CD and the file was the Neverwinter Nights demo! I was actually going to post and ask you if that was the file you were copying!



    Anyway, it's definitely the MacAddict CD and not your drive. I can normally copy a full CD in less than 5 minutes.





    Too funny. Well, I'm glad it wasn't just my computer.
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