Solved What's the best way to copy flash drives?

Dru2 said:

There's no magic formula that requires a deep dive and exotic procedures. A simple copy will do. Have done this quite a few times

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No it doesn't. I've been running into a "file name is too long to copy" or some such nonsense, so it won't copy over.

cheaterslick said:

No it doesn't. I've been running into a "file name is too long to copy" or some such nonsense, so it won't copy over.

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Now we get into specifics

I've not run up across this issue, but: Microsoft - Maximum Path Length Limitation - Win32 apps.

Perhaps @Brink has a more applicable tutorial?

Dru2 said:

I've not run up across this issue, but: Microsoft - Maximum Path Length Limitation - Win32 apps.

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Yup, I know all abut that.

Dru2 said:

Perhaps @Brink has a more applicable tutorial?

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That would be good.

Ya there, @Brink?

~

This thread reminded me about copying files from a failed drive using a HD enclosure back during Windows 7.

Drag and drop / copy and paste were disrupted by prompts for:

a) file names too long

b) duplicate file names

etc.


Like you I'm interested in options.

In a quick search these were some references and possible google search options for: "files that have names that are too long to copy"

I just tried robocopy d:\ e:\ /s and it seemed to work, although at the end when the summary came up, it said two directories were ignored.

It seemed like everything was still intact although further searches and testing will be required.

Again, I need to copy/clone all files from one USB drive to another. That includes:

1. hidden files
2. files that have names that are too long to copy.

Will FastCopy do both? I didn't see anything at their website that says that it does.

cheaterslick said:

Again, I need to copy/clone all files from one USB drive to another. That includes:

1. hidden files
2. files that have names that are too long to copy.

Will FastCopy do both? I didn't see anything at their website that says that it does.

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Yes, it will. On the page I linked, you can see that it supports UNICODE and over MAX_PATH (260 characters) file pathnames. Attributes (such as 'hidden') will be preserved for files/folders that are copied, but also be aware that the default operation mode is 'Diff (Size/date)' so, by default, existing files/folders are not overwritten if they have the same size and date in the Source. Not a problem if your DestDir is pointing to an empty folder. If you want existing files/folders in DestDir to be overwritten, you can switch operation mode to 'Copy (Overwrite)' by selecting that option from the listbox below DestDir. It works that way to help you avoid making bad mistakes, i.e. to prevent accidental overwriting your existing data.

cheaterslick said:

Yup, I know all abut that.



That would be good.

Ya there, @Brink?

~

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I have this below that's the same in W11 if it may help.

cheaterslick said:

No it doesn't. I've been running into a "file name is too long to copy" or some such nonsense, so it won't copy over.

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I've same problem

Brink said:

I have this below that's the same in W11 if it may help.

Enable or Disable Win32 Long Paths in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Win32 Long Paths in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

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It didn't work on W10 x64 Pro for Word 2010 & Excel 2010. Any workaround?

ProgEngi said:

It didn't work on W10 x64 Pro for Word 2010 & Excel 2010. Any workaround?

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Not that I'm aware of other than shortening the path. You could see if using an environmental variable in the path may help shorten it enough.

Brink said:

Not that I'm aware of other than shortening the path. You could see if using an environmental variable in the path may help shorten it enough.

Complete List of Environment Variables in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you a complete list of default environment variables that can be used to reference standard directories and parameters in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values that can affect the way running processes will behave on a...

www.elevenforum.com

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Thanks for lightening fast response, I sure would give it a shot

hdmi said:

Yes, it will. On the page I linked, you can see that it supports UNICODE and over MAX_PATH (260 characters) file pathnames. Attributes (such as 'hidden') will be preserved for files/folders that are copied, but also be aware that the default operation mode is 'Diff (Size/date)' so, by default, existing files/folders are not overwritten if they have the same size and date in the Source.

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I'd need overwritten, most of the time, but not always.

hdmi said:

Not a problem if your DestDir is pointing to an empty folder. If you want existing files/folders in DestDir to be overwritten, you can switch operation mode to 'Copy (Overwrite)' by selecting that option from the listbox below DestDir.

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Ok, that's on the main menu. I see it.





Here's the thing:

1. For new files from the source, yes I'd want them copied over to the destination.

2. For files with the same file names, I'd want them overwritten.

Not entirely set in stone, but that's generally how I'd want to proceed.

hdmi said:

It works that way to help you avoid making bad mistakes, i.e. to prevent accidental overwriting your existing data.

FastCopy Help (en)

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Oh yeah, I get that.

And unlike TeraCopy, it doesn't try to take over Explorer's default copy & paste functions, which is also what I want. I only want to call on it when I need it, without having to use it all the time.

~

Two more questions:

If I want to cut & paste using it, how would I do that?

Are UNICODE and over MAX_PATH (260 characters) file pathnames - - set by default?


-----

Best way for usb or sdcards

This ALWAYS works perfectly.

cheaterslick said:

If I want to cut & paste using it, how would I do that?

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You could decide to choose the 'Move (Overwrite)' mode for that, but I think a safer method is to do it in two separate steps by copying the data first (with the mode that does the copying the way you want), then deleting the data from the Source with the 'Delete all' mode only after the copy job finished successfully. Optionally, the copying can be done with verification enabled through settings, which is slower due to reading back the data after it is written and comparing it to the original data from the Source.

This optional verification comes in handy when you are copying important data, e.g. backups. The same also applies to the option to let it calculate file hash codes and to let it write these hash codes to the log. In settings, it is possible to configure the logging capabilities for this and a few other things. If there are errors, the errors are logged on a per-file basis so it will be possible to pinpoint them with the kind of precision that can sometimes help to save the day.

cheaterslick said:

Are UNICODE and over MAX_PATH (260 characters) file pathnames - - set by default?

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FastCopy natively supports these features on NTFS volumes because NTFS also natively supports them. Various parts of the Windows operating system (e.g., File Explorer) have added restrictions that can sometimes be a royal pain especially to those who don't know these shortcomings, like not being able to let you access a folder if the name of the folder ends with a space character. As ridiculous as this may sound, NTFS supports such foldernames perfectly fine, but File Explorer pops open an error dialog window when you double-click on the folder. FastCopy is among those specific software tools that do not have these kinds of extra limitations.

PCUser said:

Best way for usb or sdcards

This ALWAYS works perfectly.

How I cloned my phone’s old 32gb micro SD card to a new 64gb micro SD card

The short answer: Kris Baudemprez April 11, 2013 12:35:59 AM Here is what worked when I got my son a larger (from 2GB to 32GB microSDHC) memory card for his Android (Samsung Galaxy TXT). Switched o…

scootercomputers.wordpress.com

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Thanks for posting that link.... I had Tabs Outliner with that site as a tab and Tabs Outliner's database somehow broke so it's blank. That was the site I was trying to remember when reading this thread a few days ago as I always used it to clone the MicroSD on the old phone to a new MicroSD for the new phone which is always the biggest capacity at that moment in time available.

hdmi said:

FastCopy natively supports these features on NTFS volumes because NTFS also natively supports them. Various parts of the Windows operating system (e.g., File Explorer) have added restrictions that can sometimes be a royal pain especially to those who don't know these shortcomings, like not being able to let you access a folder if the name of the folder ends with a space character. As ridiculous as this may sound, NTFS supports such foldernames perfectly fine, but File Explorer pops open an error dialog window when you double-click on the folder. FastCopy is among those specific software tools that do not have these kinds of extra limitations.

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What about exFat? Most of my USBs are formatted that way. Any issues with UNICODE and over MAX_PATH (260 characters) file pathnames with that?

I know I had some errors when I tried just copying & pasting (CTRL+C, CTRL+V) from one exFat-formatted USB to another.

Robocopy should be able to make short work of this, but since your preference is for not using command line, don't forget to check your disk imaging software. I know that Macrium Reflect is one such program that specifically supports the imaging of USB flash drives.

Also, Passmark Software has a free utility for making and restoring images specifically for USB flash drives.

hsehestedt said:

Robocopy should be able to make short work of this, but since your preference is for not using command line, don't forget to check your disk imaging software.

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Actually I did use it in post #25 and those were the results.

hsehestedt said:

Also, Passmark Software has a free utility for making and restoring images specifically for USB flash drives.

OSForensics - Write an image to USB Drives

ImageUSB is a free utility designed for use with OSForensics. ImageUSB is an effective tool for writing an image to multiple USB Flash Drives for mass duplication. Download PassMark ImageUSB from this page for free!

www.osforensics.com

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I suppose I could make an .ISO image of the USB locally and then restore it to another flash drive, but that looks like an extra step.