Copy/Paste Fails?

I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam

On Sun, 01 May 2016 06:57:03 -0400, wrote:

I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

I tried the mini hard drive. It not only took only 2 hours, but the
numbers weere worrect. All files seem to be recorded. Again, I can't
see trusting a stick.

Sam

Sam

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam

wrote:
I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam

It isn't as easy to copy disks, as it looks.

Since your pseudonym is SamSpade, let me put on
my Dick Tracy hat for a moment.

1) You wrote a script with six lines in it.
2) You failed to check the return code of each
copy command.
3) The three failed copy commands reported "No space
left on device". But because you didn't check the
return code with a conditional, you cannot see that
result.

Add return code checks to your script. After the line
for each copy command, you should be checking the
return code. And printing on the screen somewhere,
"No space left on device". So you'll know later,
something bad happened.

*******

The only software that makes bulletproof copies of
data, is backup/clone programs. XXcopy, Robocopy,
are not always going to deal with every situation,
in a way that you would like. And the hardest things
to copy that way, are the C: partitions on OSes more
modern than WinXP.

Copying file trees to USB flash sticks, isn't the
best thing for them, due to the excessive number of
directory writes while the copy is happening. What you
really want, is to transfer a single large file, containing
all the other files.

Some formats function as "containers". TAR (tape archive)
is a container, one which is a stranger to Windows. ZIP
is a kind of container, and it can store an entire tree
of files. You can make a ZIP, with compression turned off,
so that the files are just copied into one large file.
*Then*, you copy the large file, over to the USB flash stick.
You format the USB Flash stick ExFAT, which is a flash-friendly
format that minimizes unnecessary updates to the USB flash
stick. That's about the best you can do, from a file by
file copy point of view. A program like 7ZIP, gives you
random access on the USB flash stick later, when you need
to pull a single file out of the archive. The container
is no problem at all for 7ZIP. You don't need to
copy the 25.2GB archive file back to the system,
to extract the file. 7ZIP allows you to "browse" the
archive, while it sits on the USB stick.

And while you're fooling around with TAR and ZIP, you may
notice the program used to prepare the large archive
file, throws errors when it hits certain stuff. Maybe
the program doesn't handle Junction Points all that well.
You're bound to learn a lot while designing your own
copy routines... In fact, the same kinds of errors that
happen during a File Explorer copy, are going to occur
during a TAR or ZIP run.

I don't have the answer for you. I copy things with
Robocopy, and I've given up on sweating the "skip"
error messages. If I copy my current C:, it always
refuses to copy a couple things, like trash cans,
pagefiles or whatever. And that's fine with me. I
never came along later to find a file missing that
I had created myself.

I have found files missing on C: , after doing a CHKDSK
and having a file system repaired. And in some
cases, those can be a lot harder to find. What
I found in one case, is there was a file
with the correct name, but the size was zero
and the file was empty! Imagine the shocked look
on my face. To repair that, I used my backup/restore
software, and had to dig up a two month old full backup
to restore the files that had zero size. And CHKDSK
didn't really warn me that "hey, I just erased some
of your files". It was quite quiet about the "repairs"
it made.

So if you want to do File Explorer style copies, I can
assure you, that you're going to learn a *lot* about
file systems. If you use a proper backup/restore program,
those hide the details of inaccessibility from you, so
you don't end up learning anything.

Paul

On Sun, 01 May 2016 17:59:02 -0400, Paul wrote:

wrote:
I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam

It isn't as easy to copy disks, as it looks.

Since your pseudonym is SamSpade, let me put on
my Dick Tracy hat for a moment.

1) You wrote a script with six lines in it.
2) You failed to check the return code of each
copy command.
3) The three failed copy commands reported "No space
left on device". But because you didn't check the
return code with a conditional, you cannot see that
result.

Add return code checks to your script. After the line
for each copy command, you should be checking the
return code. And printing on the screen somewhere,
"No space left on device". So you'll know later,
something bad happened.

*******

The only software that makes bulletproof copies of
data, is backup/clone programs. XXcopy, Robocopy,
are not always going to deal with every situation,
in a way that you would like. And the hardest things
to copy that way, are the C: partitions on OSes more
modern than WinXP.

Copying file trees to USB flash sticks, isn't the
best thing for them, due to the excessive number of
directory writes while the copy is happening. What you
really want, is to transfer a single large file, containing
all the other files.

Some formats function as "containers". TAR (tape archive)
is a container, one which is a stranger to Windows. ZIP
is a kind of container, and it can store an entire tree
of files. You can make a ZIP, with compression turned off,
so that the files are just copied into one large file.
*Then*, you copy the large file, over to the USB flash stick.
You format the USB Flash stick ExFAT, which is a flash-friendly
format that minimizes unnecessary updates to the USB flash
stick. That's about the best you can do, from a file by
file copy point of view. A program like 7ZIP, gives you
random access on the USB flash stick later, when you need
to pull a single file out of the archive. The container
is no problem at all for 7ZIP. You don't need to
copy the 25.2GB archive file back to the system,
to extract the file. 7ZIP allows you to "browse" the
archive, while it sits on the USB stick.

And while you're fooling around with TAR and ZIP, you may
notice the program used to prepare the large archive
file, throws errors when it hits certain stuff. Maybe
the program doesn't handle Junction Points all that well.
You're bound to learn a lot while designing your own
copy routines... In fact, the same kinds of errors that
happen during a File Explorer copy, are going to occur
during a TAR or ZIP run.

I don't have the answer for you. I copy things with
Robocopy, and I've given up on sweating the "skip"
error messages. If I copy my current C:, it always
refuses to copy a couple things, like trash cans,
pagefiles or whatever. And that's fine with me. I
never came along later to find a file missing that
I had created myself.

I have found files missing on C: , after doing a CHKDSK
and having a file system repaired. And in some
cases, those can be a lot harder to find. What
I found in one case, is there was a file
with the correct name, but the size was zero
and the file was empty! Imagine the shocked look
on my face. To repair that, I used my backup/restore
software, and had to dig up a two month old full backup
to restore the files that had zero size. And CHKDSK
didn't really warn me that "hey, I just erased some
of your files". It was quite quiet about the "repairs"
it made.

So if you want to do File Explorer style copies, I can
assure you, that you're going to learn a *lot* about
file systems. If you use a proper backup/restore program,
those hide the details of inaccessibility from you, so
you don't end up learning anything.

Paul

I've learned something. Thanks

Sam

On Sun, 01 May 2016 19:20:49 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 01 May 2016 17:59:02 -0400, Paul wrote:

wrote:
I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam

It isn't as easy to copy disks, as it looks.

Since your pseudonym is SamSpade, let me put on
my Dick Tracy hat for a moment.

1) You wrote a script with six lines in it.
2) You failed to check the return code of each
copy command.
3) The three failed copy commands reported "No space
left on device". But because you didn't check the
return code with a conditional, you cannot see that
result.

Add return code checks to your script. After the line
for each copy command, you should be checking the
return code. And printing on the screen somewhere,
"No space left on device". So you'll know later,
something bad happened.

*******

The only software that makes bulletproof copies of
data, is backup/clone programs. XXcopy, Robocopy,
are not always going to deal with every situation,
in a way that you would like. And the hardest things
to copy that way, are the C: partitions on OSes more
modern than WinXP.

Copying file trees to USB flash sticks, isn't the
best thing for them, due to the excessive number of
directory writes while the copy is happening. What you
really want, is to transfer a single large file, containing
all the other files.

Some formats function as "containers". TAR (tape archive)
is a container, one which is a stranger to Windows. ZIP
is a kind of container, and it can store an entire tree
of files. You can make a ZIP, with compression turned off,
so that the files are just copied into one large file.
*Then*, you copy the large file, over to the USB flash stick.
You format the USB Flash stick ExFAT, which is a flash-friendly
format that minimizes unnecessary updates to the USB flash
stick. That's about the best you can do, from a file by
file copy point of view. A program like 7ZIP, gives you
random access on the USB flash stick later, when you need
to pull a single file out of the archive. The container
is no problem at all for 7ZIP. You don't need to
copy the 25.2GB archive file back to the system,
to extract the file. 7ZIP allows you to "browse" the
archive, while it sits on the USB stick.

And while you're fooling around with TAR and ZIP, you may
notice the program used to prepare the large archive
file, throws errors when it hits certain stuff. Maybe
the program doesn't handle Junction Points all that well.
You're bound to learn a lot while designing your own
copy routines... In fact, the same kinds of errors that
happen during a File Explorer copy, are going to occur
during a TAR or ZIP run.

I don't have the answer for you. I copy things with
Robocopy, and I've given up on sweating the "skip"
error messages. If I copy my current C:, it always
refuses to copy a couple things, like trash cans,
pagefiles or whatever. And that's fine with me. I
never came along later to find a file missing that
I had created myself.

I have found files missing on C: , after doing a CHKDSK
and having a file system repaired. And in some
cases, those can be a lot harder to find. What
I found in one case, is there was a file
with the correct name, but the size was zero
and the file was empty! Imagine the shocked look
on my face. To repair that, I used my backup/restore
software, and had to dig up a two month old full backup
to restore the files that had zero size. And CHKDSK
didn't really warn me that "hey, I just erased some
of your files". It was quite quiet about the "repairs"
it made.

So if you want to do File Explorer style copies, I can
assure you, that you're going to learn a *lot* about
file systems. If you use a proper backup/restore program,
those hide the details of inaccessibility from you, so
you don't end up learning anything.

Paul

I've learned something. Thanks

Sam

Paul -

Do you know of a free program which will compare/display content
differences 'tween two folders or sets of folders so's I can see which
files fail to copy?

Thanks

Sam

wrote:
On Sun, 01 May 2016 19:20:49 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 01 May 2016 17:59:02 -0400, Paul wrote:

wrote:
I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam
It isn't as easy to copy disks, as it looks.

Since your pseudonym is SamSpade, let me put on
my Dick Tracy hat for a moment.

1) You wrote a script with six lines in it.
2) You failed to check the return code of each
copy command.
3) The three failed copy commands reported "No space
left on device". But because you didn't check the
return code with a conditional, you cannot see that
result.

Add return code checks to your script. After the line
for each copy command, you should be checking the
return code. And printing on the screen somewhere,
"No space left on device". So you'll know later,
something bad happened.

*******

The only software that makes bulletproof copies of
data, is backup/clone programs. XXcopy, Robocopy,
are not always going to deal with every situation,
in a way that you would like. And the hardest things
to copy that way, are the C: partitions on OSes more
modern than WinXP.

Copying file trees to USB flash sticks, isn't the
best thing for them, due to the excessive number of
directory writes while the copy is happening. What you
really want, is to transfer a single large file, containing
all the other files.

Some formats function as "containers". TAR (tape archive)
is a container, one which is a stranger to Windows. ZIP
is a kind of container, and it can store an entire tree
of files. You can make a ZIP, with compression turned off,
so that the files are just copied into one large file.
*Then*, you copy the large file, over to the USB flash stick.
You format the USB Flash stick ExFAT, which is a flash-friendly
format that minimizes unnecessary updates to the USB flash
stick. That's about the best you can do, from a file by
file copy point of view. A program like 7ZIP, gives you
random access on the USB flash stick later, when you need
to pull a single file out of the archive. The container
is no problem at all for 7ZIP. You don't need to
copy the 25.2GB archive file back to the system,
to extract the file. 7ZIP allows you to "browse" the
archive, while it sits on the USB stick.

And while you're fooling around with TAR and ZIP, you may
notice the program used to prepare the large archive
file, throws errors when it hits certain stuff. Maybe
the program doesn't handle Junction Points all that well.
You're bound to learn a lot while designing your own
copy routines... In fact, the same kinds of errors that
happen during a File Explorer copy, are going to occur
during a TAR or ZIP run.

I don't have the answer for you. I copy things with
Robocopy, and I've given up on sweating the "skip"
error messages. If I copy my current C:, it always
refuses to copy a couple things, like trash cans,
pagefiles or whatever. And that's fine with me. I
never came along later to find a file missing that
I had created myself.

I have found files missing on C: , after doing a CHKDSK
and having a file system repaired. And in some
cases, those can be a lot harder to find. What
I found in one case, is there was a file
with the correct name, but the size was zero
and the file was empty! Imagine the shocked look
on my face. To repair that, I used my backup/restore
software, and had to dig up a two month old full backup
to restore the files that had zero size. And CHKDSK
didn't really warn me that "hey, I just erased some
of your files". It was quite quiet about the "repairs"
it made.

So if you want to do File Explorer style copies, I can
assure you, that you're going to learn a *lot* about
file systems. If you use a proper backup/restore program,
those hide the details of inaccessibility from you, so
you don't end up learning anything.

Paul
I've learned something. Thanks

Sam

Paul -

Do you know of a free program which will compare/display content
differences 'tween two folders or sets of folders so's I can see which
files fail to copy?

Thanks

Sam

I think the topic has come up before,
but I don't have something on hand to offer.
(I don't see anything in my Program Files
menu that rings a bell.)

I've used hashdeep to generate checksums
for an entire disk before. (Then "diff" two
lists of files, to detect differences.)
But there are some GUI programs, to make
this a bit simpler. I just never got around
to picking one out.

Paul

Thanks

Sam


On Mon, 02 May 2016 09:03:04 -0400, Paul wrote:

wrote:
On Sun, 01 May 2016 19:20:49 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 01 May 2016 17:59:02 -0400, Paul wrote:

wrote:
I am experimenting with windows explorer copy/saves to do backups from
internal hard drive to different targets: internal hard drive,
external stick, external mini drive all because I find the back ups
inconsistent, and even lose stuff.

My total file/folder size is close to the stick capacity:
size 29.3GB
size on disk 29.4GB
files 45,093
folders 3,667

The reported breakdown of the 6 main folders & files I want to back up
is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 1.01GB size on disk 1.01GB files 29 folders 5
5 size 1.31GB size on disk 1.33GB files 9 folders 0
6 size 1.04GB size on disk 1.04GB files 2,216 folders 21

The first thing I see is that the # folders in the six parts do not
add up to what the total is said to be (3561 vs 3667).

The next thing I see is that the # files in the six parts do add up to
what the total is said to be (45,093).

I find I have no trouble copying to internal hard drives in all three
OS's. The numbers are the same, even tho wrong. I haven't tried the
USB mini drive yet.

The reported breakdown of the folders & files on the 32GB stick is:
1 size 113MB size on disk 113MB files 114 folders 4
2 size 1.86GB size on disk 1.86GB files 1,145 folders 44
3 size 25.2GB size on disk 25.3GB files 41,580 folders 3,587
4 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
5 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0
6 size 0GB size on disk 0GB files 0 folders 0

Interestingly, I can copy/paste each of the last three folders one at
a time, and they will all copy and fit onto the stick.

What shud I do - besides toss the sticks?

Oh, I have three OS's - XP, W7, and W10. The results seem the same.

Help?

Sam
It isn't as easy to copy disks, as it looks.

Since your pseudonym is SamSpade, let me put on
my Dick Tracy hat for a moment.

1) You wrote a script with six lines in it.
2) You failed to check the return code of each
copy command.
3) The three failed copy commands reported "No space
left on device". But because you didn't check the
return code with a conditional, you cannot see that
result.

Add return code checks to your script. After the line
for each copy command, you should be checking the
return code. And printing on the screen somewhere,
"No space left on device". So you'll know later,
something bad happened.

*******

The only software that makes bulletproof copies of
data, is backup/clone programs. XXcopy, Robocopy,
are not always going to deal with every situation,
in a way that you would like. And the hardest things
to copy that way, are the C: partitions on OSes more
modern than WinXP.

Copying file trees to USB flash sticks, isn't the
best thing for them, due to the excessive number of
directory writes while the copy is happening. What you
really want, is to transfer a single large file, containing
all the other files.

Some formats function as "containers". TAR (tape archive)
is a container, one which is a stranger to Windows. ZIP
is a kind of container, and it can store an entire tree
of files. You can make a ZIP, with compression turned off,
so that the files are just copied into one large file.
*Then*, you copy the large file, over to the USB flash stick.
You format the USB Flash stick ExFAT, which is a flash-friendly
format that minimizes unnecessary updates to the USB flash
stick. That's about the best you can do, from a file by
file copy point of view. A program like 7ZIP, gives you
random access on the USB flash stick later, when you need
to pull a single file out of the archive. The container
is no problem at all for 7ZIP. You don't need to
copy the 25.2GB archive file back to the system,
to extract the file. 7ZIP allows you to "browse" the
archive, while it sits on the USB stick.

And while you're fooling around with TAR and ZIP, you may
notice the program used to prepare the large archive
file, throws errors when it hits certain stuff. Maybe
the program doesn't handle Junction Points all that well.
You're bound to learn a lot while designing your own
copy routines... In fact, the same kinds of errors that
happen during a File Explorer copy, are going to occur
during a TAR or ZIP run.

I don't have the answer for you. I copy things with
Robocopy, and I've given up on sweating the "skip"
error messages. If I copy my current C:, it always
refuses to copy a couple things, like trash cans,
pagefiles or whatever. And that's fine with me. I
never came along later to find a file missing that
I had created myself.

I have found files missing on C: , after doing a CHKDSK
and having a file system repaired. And in some
cases, those can be a lot harder to find. What
I found in one case, is there was a file
with the correct name, but the size was zero
and the file was empty! Imagine the shocked look
on my face. To repair that, I used my backup/restore
software, and had to dig up a two month old full backup
to restore the files that had zero size. And CHKDSK
didn't really warn me that "hey, I just erased some
of your files". It was quite quiet about the "repairs"
it made.

So if you want to do File Explorer style copies, I can
assure you, that you're going to learn a *lot* about
file systems. If you use a proper backup/restore program,
those hide the details of inaccessibility from you, so
you don't end up learning anything.

Paul
I've learned something. Thanks

Sam

Paul -

Do you know of a free program which will compare/display content
differences 'tween two folders or sets of folders so's I can see which
files fail to copy?

Thanks

Sam

I think the topic has come up before,
but I don't have something on hand to offer.
(I don't see anything in my Program Files
menu that rings a bell.)

I've used hashdeep to generate checksums
for an entire disk before. (Then "diff" two
lists of files, to detect differences.)
But there are some GUI programs, to make
this a bit simpler. I just never got around
to picking one out.

Paul