How is copying files in Windows 10?

lehnerus2000 said:

I also believe that an "Advanced Copy" GUI tool could be handy (especially when copying 1000s of files in a single operation).

W10 doesn't seem to have one.

Robocopy is built into windows 10 (as it was in 8 and 7 and before that for all I know). The GUI you need to get from TechNet (if you don't like command line). It is also faster than copy paste.

As @Slartybartfast said though Copy Paste is perhaps the wrong tool. Copy Paste is not the same as backup - there are too many considerations. If you want to backup and have a pre-defined strategy for existing files then use File History, or xcopy or robocopy or any of the hundreds of 3rd party backup softwares there are. If you don't know what you want to do with existing files on the backup you can think about it at the time.

Making copy/paste more complicated would not make anything better for anyone and if I was in charge of MS development I'd quite simply not do it.

I use robocopy to backup my important stuff to a Ironkey secure usb disk.
Each time in Windows 10 it re creates all the files. I don't understand why it date changing on my D: drive. Kinda strange

Code:

robocopy D:\_Backup %~dp0_Backup /E /COPY:DT /PURGE

I use the free utility called Teracopy, it copies using high memory so it does not slow down your system much during copy. But I like the way Explorer shows the speed of the copy. But Teracopy does this as well. Don't use the Beta of Teracopy, use only the official version.

In the past many users used a program from Microsoft called Windows Easy Transfer. Windows 10 does not have the Windows Easy Transfer program anymore. You will need to use a tool like PCmover from Laplink to get your apps, data and setting from your old PC to your new Windows 10 computer. Microsoft recommended it and provides a limited use free copy on their site at Free data transfer.

This program transfers files, and setting only. You can upgrade to the Pro version of PCmover for a discounted price of $19.95 (it is usually priced at $60).

Delicieuxz said:

In Windows 7, it can be a real bother to leave a folder to copy to another drive, with some files in the folder being new versions to replace versions already existing in a same-name folder on the drive that's being copied to... and at some point into the transfer a dialogue will pop up asking whether to merge folders, and then whether to copy and replace, or rename some files, and then the same question for some archives... and there's no telling at what point of the transfer these prompts will appear.

When the transfer is 50+ GB, it's often convenient to leave it to copy and walk away to do another thing while it copies. Course, if a user isn't there to tell the prompts what to do when they show, the whole transfer sits and waits, and when the user returns, expecting things to be done, they might find they still have to wait nearly the entire time that was remaining when they left.

This issue would be resolved if there were checkboxes in the transfer window to designate what to do with certain types of conflicts that may or may not arise:

x merge same-named folders
x replace same-named files
x make backup / duplicate of same-named files


Something to that effect.

If Windows 10 hasn't already improved the transfer management, I'd like to see it done before its official release.

Terry, Easy Transfer was specifically for transferring your entire system over to a new system, apps, docs and even reg items. I've seen two different versions of it, it's basically Windows Back up and Restore. What it does is create a huge backup set in a gigantic archive which is stored as a huge executable file. If the Easy Transfer you created under one system is not put back into a system which is relatively similar to the one that made it, it will fail to initialize.

Basically we were discussing Copy Tools, which was why I suggested Teracopy, it's quick, checks for errors, and does not abuse your system resources. However, the built-in explorer can handle copying huge amounts of data relatively Well. The only Problem I have is with one HD of mine which has bad sectors, I have not replaced it yet. Explorer seems to stall up when copying to or from that drive. It will eventually finish after several hours, so that's why I use Teracopy, if Teracopy fails, it will allow you to try again and it will pick up from where it failed and resume, finishing the copy job with no dropped bits, It's pretty good that way.