Is there a limit to file size that can be copied

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loren - 26 Jun 2007 15:37 GMT

Using Win XP Home, 2.6 ghz, 2 gb ram. I just bought a 500 gb WD Ebook
external hd, and am trying to copy all "my documents" from an older drive to
the 500 bg drive as a backup. But there is one video file that will not
copy... it's just over 5 bg. A box poped up and says there is not enough
space on my new drive.. which at that time had pretty much nothing on it. I
have since copied over 80 gb with no problems, but the one file over 5 gb
will not copy. Is there a file size limit for copying or do I have a
different kind of problem?

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Tom Willett - 26 Jun 2007 15:44 GMT

Did you format the new drive to NTFS? By default, they are FAT32, and it's
a 4GB file limit until you reformat.

| Using Win XP Home, 2.6 ghz, 2 gb ram. I just bought a 500 gb WD Ebook
| external hd, and am trying to copy all "my documents" from an older drive to
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
| will not copy. Is there a file size limit for copying or do I have a
| different kind of problem?

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loren - 26 Jun 2007 16:12 GMT

Thanks Tom. Of course by now I've transferred 80 gb before I saw your reply.
Now I have to decide wether or not it's worth it to reformat, or just not
back up that file. I may buy another 500 gb Ebook and reformat that one,
then try to back on onto that one... and if successful reformat the first one
for use later on.

> Did you format the new drive to NTFS? By default, they are FAT32, and it's
> a 4GB file limit until you reformat.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> | will not copy. Is there a file size limit for copying or do I have a
> | different kind of problem?

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Tom Willett - 26 Jun 2007 17:14 GMT

loren: You *should* be able to format the drive without losing the data,
but you never know.

Tom

| Thanks Tom. Of course by now I've transferred 80 gb before I saw your reply.
| Now I have to decide wether or not it's worth it to reformat, or just not
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
| > | will not copy. Is there a file size limit for copying or do I have a
| > | different kind of problem?

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Shenan Stanley - 26 Jun 2007 16:11 GMT

> Using Win XP Home, 2.6 ghz, 2 gb ram. I just bought a 500 gb WD
> Ebook external hd, and am trying to copy all "my documents" from an
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Is there a file size limit for copying or do I have a different
> kind of problem?

FAT32 formatted drive - 4GB size limit on FAT32.
NTFS does not have this limit.
You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
this.

Signature

Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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loren - 26 Jun 2007 22:21 GMT

Thanks to all of you who replied.
Of course you were correct. I decided to reformat and lost my backup, but
was pleased with the results because my re-backup was flawless and now I'm
confident that all files are there.

One more question though... I notice that when I open explorer now that the
new drive is listed in a blue font and all the directories and files are in
blue font. What does that mean?

> > Using Win XP Home, 2.6 ghz, 2 gb ram. I just bought a 500 gb WD
> > Ebook external hd, and am trying to copy all "my documents" from an
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
> this.

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Shenan Stanley - 26 Jun 2007 22:27 GMT

> Thanks to all of you who replied.
> Of course you were correct. I decided to reformat and lost my
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> that the new drive is listed in a blue font and all the directories
> and files are in blue font. What does that mean?

Blue text in Explorer = Compressed Files.

Signature

Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

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Leonard Grey - 26 Jun 2007 22:44 GMT

That means the files and folders were compressed with XP's built-in file
compression utility.

---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

> Thanks to all of you who replied.
> Of course you were correct. I decided to reformat and lost my backup, but
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
>> this.

Reply to this Message

loren - 27 Jun 2007 00:30 GMT

Is there any downside to having them compressed?
Does it slow their processing?

> That means the files and folders were compressed with XP's built-in file
> compression utility.
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> >> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
> >> this.

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loren - 27 Jun 2007 02:04 GMT

One more question:
If I right click on the compressed drive and go to 'properties' it looks
like I have the option of un-checking the 'compress drive' block. If I
decide that performance is degraded more than I wish, and were to uncheck
that block, what would happen to the files already compressed?

> Is there any downside to having them compressed?
> Does it slow their processing?
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
> > >> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
> > >> this.

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Sandy D - 29 Jun 2007 05:50 GMT

I had that same problem and reformated my WD Book drive to NTSC. But now I
am having a different problem with the WD Book. It constantly gives me a
delayed write file error and locks up the WD Book. I have to unplug and
disconnect it from my computer, wait a few minutes then replug it and
reconnect. It happens whether I use the USB port or the Firewire port and
mostly happens on large files when I am trying to transfer it. I looked up
the problem on Microsoft Support and there is a knowledge base writeup saying
I need a hotfix to correct the problem. The knowledge base does not give a
link to the hot fix download. When I click on the support link, it takes me
to the MS website contacts page. It says I have to call them for the hot
fix. Why don't they just have the hotfix available to download, why do I
have to call them? I do not have time to be waiting on the phone for someone
to help.
Sandy D

> One more question:
> If I right click on the compressed drive and go to 'properties' it looks
[quoted text clipped - 34 lines]
> > > >> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
> > > >> this.

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Sandy D - 29 Jun 2007 05:56 GMT

Sorry, I meant NTFS reformatting not NTSC.

Signature

Sandy D

> I had that same problem and reformated my WD Book drive to NTSC. But now I
> am having a different problem with the WD Book. It constantly gives me a
[quoted text clipped - 49 lines]
> > > > >> You would need to format/convert the drive to NTFS to take advantage of
> > > > >> this.

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Lil' Dave - 30 Jun 2007 05:23 GMT

>I had that same problem and reformated my WD Book drive to NTSC. But now I
> am having a different problem with the WD Book. It constantly gives me a
[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]
>> > > >> advantage of
>> > > >> this.

Something the respondents left out (not unusual) is that there is a matter
of user rights/security attached to the file data now. Not present in
FAT32.

Maybe they will tell you how to access that data when the removable drive is
attached to another XP PC.

There's a way, from the outset, to leave the security portion of NTFS files
nonsecure. All have access, including on another PC. A more real life
example if your PC is destroyed, burned, damaged beyond use. You need
another PC for example. How are you going to access that data?
Dave

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loren - 29 Jun 2007 12:36 GMT

Sandy, I didn't have your problem so I can't comment on it. Reformatting
went very quickly for me, and the WD ebook seems to be working flawlessly, so
far.

But FYI there was one more action I took after receiveing the above posts:

After reformatting, I had just finished reading an article in the Aug 2007
issue of PC World, that said adding a page file to the external drive would
speed up it's processing. I followed the article's instructions, and the
drive does *seem* to be processing much faster. But I wouldn't even attempt
it until you fix your current problem first.

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