What is a better file copy alternative than the Windows default? *

Question

I need to copy hundreds of gigs of random files around on my computer and am pretty leery of using the vanilla file copy built into Windows.

I don't want it to hang on a "Are you sure?", "Are you really sure?", "Even zip files?", "Surely not read-only files too!" loop as soon as I step away.

I don't want it to work for hours and then stop unexpectedly: "Someone once opened this file and so I won't copy it!" and then cancel the whole copy or just quit with no indication of what was done and what work remains.

What file management programs do you have experience with? Which do you recommend?

This question is related to my other question: How can I use an old PATA hard disk drive on my newer SATA-only computer?

Answer

How about good old Command-Line Xcopy? With S: being the source and T: the target:

xcopy /K /R /E /I /S /C /H /G /X /Y s:\*.* t:\

/K Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes.

/R Overwrites read-only files.

/E Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.

/I If destination does not exist and copying more than one file, assumes that destination must be a directory.

/S Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.

/C Continues copying even if errors occur.

/H Copies hidden and system files also.

/Y Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.

/G Allows the copying of encrypted files to destination that does not support encryption.

/X Copies file audit settings (implies /O).

(Edit: Added /G and /X which are new since a few years)

< br > via < a class="StackLink" href=" http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1329/" >What is a better file copy alternative than the Windows default?< /a>

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