USB drives are pretty self-explanatory, right? All you have to do is plug it into your PC and it’s ready to go, whether you’re using it to transfer files, play media, or launch an app.

But mistakes happen, and those mistakes can go deeper than the familiar meme of always needing at least three attempts to finally plug in that USB connection. (Less problem with USB-C, but I digress.)

Here are the different ways you might be using your USB drive incorrectly and the types of problems that can arise.

You are using the wrong USB port

Many PCs and laptops have multiple USB ports, and many people simply assume that all USB ports are basically equal. When you need to plug in your drive, you might assume that it doesn’t matter where it goes, so you just need to plug it into the most convenient port.

But that’s far from the truth. In fact, it can make a huge difference in the performance of your USB drive, and this is felt more keenly when you transfer files. Choose the wrong port, even if your drive is suitable, and you could hinder your read and write speeds.

Related: Which ports are essential in a new laptop?

USB technology has continued to improve over the years, but the shape of a USB-A port hasn’t changed. When you plug in, it may be a slower USB 2.0 port or a faster USB 3.2 port. And it can be difficult to know which ports are, so don’t feel too bad if you don’t know.

On most devices, the faster USB 3.0 ports are usually located on the back and have an inner blue stripe inside the port. (If the port is colored green or red, it is USB 3.1 or USB 3.2.) Slower USB 2 ports, on the other hand, tend to be on the front and have no color particular. If you have a USB 3.x drive, make sure you use the corresponding 3.x port.

Your USB drive is not optimized

If your USB drive seems to be slowing down and not working as well as before, you can optimize it using Windows.

To do this, use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run window, then type diskmgmt.msc and click ALL RIGHT. This will launch the Disk Management window, where you can right-click the USB drive (make sure it’s currently plugged in) and select Properties.

In the Properties window, navigate to the Material select the appropriate disk drive, then click Properties. Then access the Policies and check “Enable write caching on device” and “Disable flushing Windows write cache buffer on device”.

If successful, data transfers should be significantly faster. Alternatively, you can also change the file system of your USB drive to one who can better manage large amounts of data. Be careful though, formatting a disk will delete all the data stored on it.

Related: Why the file system of your USB drive is important

You are not removing your USB drive safely

In many cases, it doesn’t matter if you safely “eject” your USB drive before unplugging it. However, if you have followed the tips above and optimized your disk, you should start safely ejecting it before deleting it, otherwise the disk data may be lost.

To safely eject a USB drive, open This PC in File Explorer and right-click on the USB drive in question, then select Eject. This will properly unregister the drive and allow it to be safely unplugged.

You throw away your “broken” USB sticks

What to do when a USB flash drive starts malfunctioning? Maybe the files can no longer be deleted or maybe the disk itself cannot be formatted. This can happen, especially with older or cheap discs.

But you must not despair immediately and above all do not throw it away before trying to recover it. There are ways to backup the USB drive, which you can read in our guide to reviving a broken USB drive.