Cloning over the network, using a USB thumb drive, takes EXCESSIVELY longer when USB thumb drive is unplugged.

So, I honestly am not sure why this is a thing, but I did some VERY detailed speed tests, regarding pulling images down from a network share, and what I found was that the images took EXCESSIVELY longer if the USB thumb drive was pulled; once Windows PE loaded. With the drive PULLED, I was getting about 1MBps down, but if I left the USB thumb drive PLUGGED IN, I was getting nearly 100MBps down. This makes no sense to me. I know that during load, many components of the Windows PE are loaded into memory, and the connection to the Samba Share appears to be saved into memory as well; until the system is rebooted. So, why is it that if the USB thumb drive STAYS PLUGGED IN, that the transfer rates are SO much faster? This seems counter intuitive to me, but I'm likely just stupid and missing something.

Most things loaded into memory "usually" run faster than being run from an external drive. Does anyone have any information on why this is a thing? Thanks for dealing with my stupidity in advance. =\

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