Can You Control File Copy Priority?

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

I basically copied 276 GB from my hard drive to another external backup drive that is connected via eSATA on my computer. My motherboard and the hard drive support SATA II. File transfer took, I don't know how long I'm guessing 1 1/2 hours.

During the file transfer, my whole system halted to a crawl, well, worse than that. According to my resource manager, the CPU usage wasn't too high, and the RAM usage was 100%, with 15%-25% of my memory being used for "Standby" memory. The Disk usage was 100%. I was unable to open or close applications while the file transfer was in progress. I couldn't even type.

Is there a way to set priority while you're doing file transfers, thus leaving resources open to still use your computer?

karlsnooks · May 13, 2012

Use Robocopy.

run cmd.exe and type robocopy x: y: to backup all of x to y.

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

karlsnooks said:
Use Robocopy.

run cmd.exe and type robocopy x: y: to backup all of x to y.

How do I set it so it's not monopolizing my computer while copying?

karlsnooks · May 13, 2012

just run it and be pleasantly surprised.

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

I completely agree with Karlsnooks.

Since discovering Robocopy and all it's different commands I use nothing else for copying now.

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

Please help me understand how to use Robocopy.

I want to set up a batch file for backing up my data. Instead of 'recopying' old data, I'd like to make sure only new files get backed up. Again, this is onto a 500 GB HDD.

That said, I watched a YouTube video on Robocopy. The person that made the video used the /MIR switch. I don't know what that really means. He then went on and created a batch file. I've modified the batch file to suit my needs and have saved it as a "CMD" file. (Note: I've never used the CMD extension, only BAT).

Code:

robocopy "C:\Users\Josh\Documents\Backup Files" "F:\Backup Files" MIR
robocopy "C:\Users\Public\Libraries\RecordedTV.library-ms" "F:\Recorded TV" MIR

The example in the video did not have quotations, but the paths used in the example also did not include spaces. Based on what I know about using the "CD" command, I added in the quotations.

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

Hello JOSHSKORN,
Have a look at this tutorial.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/187346-robocopy-create-backup-script.html

Just read it thoroughly and take your time. Be careful when using the /mir command. It will tell you about it on the tutorial.

Also if you don't like using commands there is another programme called freefilesync which works well.

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

It may look a bit confusing at first with all the commands but once you're used to them you'll realise how good robocopy is!

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

Burdus32 said:
Hello JOSHSKORN,
Have a look at this tutorial.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/187346-robocopy-create-backup-script.html

Just read it thoroughly and take your time. Be careful when using the /mir command. It will tell you about it on the tutorial.

Also if you don't like using commands there is another programme called freefilesync which works well.

I actually saw that a couple hours ago. I setup a robocopy but I noticed that it didn't copy my Recorded TV directory. Apparently, Robocopy ignores hidden folders. Is there a way around this? I tried searching the thread you mentioned, no luck. Any suggestions?

This is the exact line of code that isn't being executed:

Code:

robocopy "C:\Users\Public\Libraries\RecordedTV.library-ms" "F:\Recorded TV" /e /mir /np /log+:backup_log.txt

Whereas Libraries is a hidden folder.

karlsnooks · May 13, 2012

What are you doing hiding the libraries?

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

karlsnooks said:
What are you doing hiding the libraries?

I didn't hide or unhide them. Should I just change the file attribute through Windows to make it not Hidden? This directory is used for recorded TV. I have an InfiniTV 4 tuner installed on my computer. Not sure if making the directory Not Hidden would make an impact or not.

logicearth · May 13, 2012

Ummm...RecordedTV.library-ms does not contain your files. Its just the configuration of the library in question.

Sir George · May 13, 2012

JOSHSKORN said:
Please help me understand how to use Robocopy.

I want to set up a batch file for backing up my data. Instead of 'recopying' old data, I'd like to make sure only new files get backed up. Again, this is onto a 500 GB HDD.

That said, I watched a YouTube video on Robocopy. The person that made the video used the /MIR switch. I don't know what that really means. He then went on and created a batch file. I've modified the batch file to suit my needs and have saved it as a "CMD" file. (Note: I've never used the CMD extension, only BAT).

Code:

robocopy "C:\Users\Josh\Documents\Backup Files" "F:\Backup Files" MIR robocopy "C:\Users\Public\Libraries\RecordedTV.library-ms" "F:\Recorded TV" MIR

The example in the video did not have quotations, but the paths used in the example also did not include spaces. Based on what I know about using the "CD" command, I added in the quotations.

The following link will provide a pretty detailed list of command switches;

http://ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html

HTH

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

logicearth said:
Ummm...RecordedTV.library-ms does not contain your files. Its just the configuration of the library in question.

Can you help me find the correct path?

logicearth · May 13, 2012

It would be whatever you set the path to in the library...I'm not sitting in front of your computer to tell you.

karlsnooks · May 13, 2012

I posted an answer. Don't know what happened. Here goes again:

go to a command prompt;
type:
CD /D %SYSTEMDRIVE%\USERS\PUBLIC\"RECORDED TV"

and hit Enter

type:
DIR /AH /AS /AR /S

and hit enter.
Post the result please.

JOSHSKORN · May 13, 2012

karlsnooks said:
I posted an answer. Don't know what happened. Here goes again:

go to a command prompt;
type:
CD /D %SYSTEMDRIVE%\USERS\PUBLIC\"RECORDED TV"

and hit Enter

type:
DIR /AH /AS /AR

and hit enter.
Post the result please.

Ah, I did a Google search a few minutes ago and came up with the same answer. I'm curious what those parameters are. Anyway, I've modified my script and it seems to be working now.

Since you asked, the source directory for my recordings is C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV

The script lives! I've changed the robocopy process on my computer to a low priority. It's still slow, but not nearly as bad as I experienced with a Windows file copy. I'll have to remember this tool. Thanks.

Now, what if I wanted to delete a file in the source that was already in the destination?

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

You could either delete it manually or reverse the command so that F is the source and C the destination and use the /mir command again. Pretty sure that will work.

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

Create a couple of test folders on each drive with blank text files and play around with the commands until you're sure they work. That's what I do

Brds7t7 · May 13, 2012

Here are some other useful commands I use:
/E : Copy Subfolders, including Empty Subfolders.
/DCOPY:T : Copy Directory Timestamps.
/COPYALL : Copy ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY: DATSOU).
/Z : Copy files in restartable mode (survive network glitch).
/R:n : Number of Retries on failed copies - default is 1 million. (Replace n with number, I use 20)
/W:n : Wait time between retries - default is 30 seconds. (Replace n with number I use 10)
/MT[:n] : Multithreaded copying, n = no. of threads to use (1-128) default = 8 threads, The use of /LOG is recommended for better performance.

Sorry if my posts look a little rough as I'm trying to write them on a phone at the moment!

Can You Control File Copy Priority?

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