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Copying a larg file

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AineJack

New Member
Aug 9, 2020
4
4
I need to transfer a large file 2TB from my Laptop (Windows 10)to an external HDD,
Will I have any problem when moving it at once?
Some friends informed me that corrupted files or data loss may be found.
How can I avoid this?
 
Shouldn't be a problem as long as your external drive is formatted as NTFS. Some older (fat32) formats will only handle files less than 2 Gigs but NTFS With Windows10 version 1709 the maximum implemented file size is 8 PB. So check the format on the external drive and if its NTFS your good. If your worried about corruption of the data do a copy/verify instead of a simple copy and you should be OK. Suggest you do a copy/verify and check the file before you delete the original to insure the copy is good.
 
Just a thought but what exactly is in that file? You may save a pantload of space and time using a compression program like 7zip that will basically remove all the null and unused space in the file among other things.
Is this one big file or a whole bunch of little guys like music, photos, videos, etc?
You can do what's already suggested and that will work.
If it were me I would break the folder into bite size pieces rather than pushing one huge chunk.
I may be paranoid or a throwback but I would also use my preference Quickpar to each block you move to insure integrity and to ease and speed of repairing should it become corrupt. Moving stuff with USB on a laptop can be a little sketchy depending how much IRQ resource you are sucking up with other tasks. This can result in random USB disconnects and if that happens at 90% of a 2 TB file transfer it will make you unhappy.
 
The good news is that the External HD format is NTFS,
The bad news is that when trying to copy the file at once, I found that some data are missing, I don't know what really it is, but after checking the sizes and some copied programs related to my work, there is a loss on the data, most of the programs informed me that there are missing files,
..when trying to copy a part of the folder like a group of files about 20 G, I have an error like the file path is too long to copy :rolleyes:
Is that the end of the world!
I think I will give Teracopy a try, recommended by ThumperTM :)
 
Sucks when that happens. Windows only has a 260 character limit for file paths so if, for any reason your files have more, that will happen. Couple ways to fix it,

1 Shorten the file name.
2 Enable long file names in Windows. Requires editing the registry, so if you aren't familiar with that maybe not an option for you.
3 PowerShell could do it, but it's a pain to use so your best bet is
4 Teracopy
 
Last edited:
Compress the File - and there should not be a issue.... it also depends on exactly what the FILE is.
 
just copy it, do not move it, after copying it, check the file size and see if the file works, if you move it it removes the file from its location, when you copying it doesnt remove it, it just transfer the file, and leaves a copy. after verifying the file works, then you can delete the original.
 
you use a hash generator to compare before and after copy
md5 i think is one type of hash, for example
the idea of breaking the file up into chunks is good, i think 7z will do this, then recombine after copy, and then check hash, compare
but first try teracopy, that should work
if not do something else, like compress it first, try just one file chunk
then try multiple chunks
of course do not 'move' the file, just copy it
are you using wifi or network plug?
access the file from the new computer and 'download' it, using a browser with a good download app or a standalone download program
make the file into a torrent and use a torrent downloader to retrieve it over the network
even windows 'copy' routine should be without error
what is the source of the error?
oh it is just a usb drive
it may be a bad drive, ie bad interface, not the drive itself, though the drive could also be bad
they use refurb drives in those removable things
best to make one yourself using a quality enclosure
 
After a year with Teracopy, it was good in some points and fails in some, so I find it is suitable for personal use, and medium business .
2 months ago my company switched to GsRichcopy360 which I find, is very suitable for medium and large businesses, especially when we synced to the cloud.
I hope you accept my feedback
 
I need to transfer a large file 2TB from my Laptop (Windows 10)to an external HDD,
Will I have any problem when moving it at once?
Some friends informed me that corrupted files or data loss may be found.
How can I avoid this?
For what my comment is worth, if I have large files, some bigger than you want to transfer, I usually make use of Easus and do it as a file backup and then restore onto a new disk. It has never failed me as yet. Of course you can always use something else but just saying...

Oldgeek
 
Often overlooked use multipar to verify and/or repair the file if required. If your source is clean and you build PAR2 files before you transfer you cannot loose your data. It may take a bit of time to build the PARs and verify the file but it will always work 100% of the time.
 
Often overlooked use multipar to verify and/or repair the file if required. If your source is clean and you build PAR2 files before you transfer you cannot loose your data. It may take a bit of time to build the PARs and verify the file but it will always work 100% of the time.
Although Gs Richcopy360 doesn't take much time on the whole normal copy process, and also with the large files, your way can be considered as an out-of-the-box solution which may take some time.
 
I need to transfer a large file 2TB from my Laptop (Windows 10)to an external HDD,
Will I have any problem when moving it at once?
Some friends informed me that corrupted files or data loss may be found.
How can I avoid this?
You can use the copy.exe to transfer files and chunk of files.
 
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