Copied files don't total correctly?

teckneeculler · 25 Jan 2017

I'm cleaning up some SATA drives and moving files around.

I've just copied 70GB of folders and files from drive X to drive Y.

Before I deleted the files from the source HDD, I checked to see that the sizes and numbers tallied.

The source drive holds 75,263,104,898 bytes. 3525 files in 776 folders.
The target drive holds 75, 263,169,454 bytes. 3539 files in 776 folders.

So the target drive has somehow ended up with 14 files more (65k) than the source.

(Note, I'm talking about actual size here, not 'size on disk', which can vary)

OK, there's a discrepancy. So I ran Folder Compare, a very helpful little app I've used for years.

But Folder Compare can find absolutely no difference between the collections!

This is very odd. In the past this app has detected differences between files of only a few bytes.

This is really no BFD but I'd like to know why this is happening.

Any ideas, guys?

lehnerus2000 · 25 Jan 2017

teckneeculler said:

Before I deleted the files from the source HDD, I checked to see that the sizes and numbers tallied.

The source drive holds 75,263,104,898 bytes. 3225 files in 776 folders.
The target drive holds 75, 263,169,454 bytes. 3539 files in 776 folders.

So the target drive has somehow ended up with 14 files more (65k) than the source.

A discrepancy:

3539 - 3225 = 14?

The only suggestion I have (at the moment) is:

Create hashes of the folders (it will take a long time)
Check the ones that aren't identical

teckneeculler · 25 Jan 2017

Sorry, my bad. I corrected my first post.
Cheers.

teckneeculler · 25 Jan 2017

Heads up: Looks like a Windows error.

TreeSize agreed with Folder Compare - no differences between the two collections at all.

Odd that, Windows is generally infallible. Yeah, right

Actually, the score was 3 to 1 against Windows. I used TeraCopy 3 to do the copying and it would have reported an error if there had actually been any.

Megahertz07 · 26 Jan 2017

Remember that Windows will create recover files on the new disk, unless you disable it.
Instead of disk properties, select all files and folders BUT System Volume Information and then look their properties.

teckneeculler · 26 Jan 2017

Megahertz, there may be something in what you've said, but I'm just looking at the TreeSize printout of both disks that I did yesterday, and the descriptions of the System Volume Information folders are identical.

(I can't re-compare the actual folders because once I'd satisfied myself that the copying had worked, I deleted the original source files and wiped the disk. And I can't access the target disk right now.)

Printout says: 100KB - System Volume Information - Size=63KB Actual=100KB Files=14 Folders=10 0.0% 31/07/2011

I agree that the size seems to match the disparity I'd noted earlier - ie, 63k. As do the folder numbers-14. But both printouts show these values, so I don't see how this could have boosted the target result so that Windows Properties saw the amounts as differences.

Sometimes I wish I'd done the Microsoft Certification exams, back when my brain was more capable of deep study. As Fox might have said, 'The truth is in there, Scully. Just read the manual.'

UIO · 02 Feb 2017

Maybe on the source he's not counting hidden/system/special files, but he's disabling the property when he does copy them ?

teckneeculler · 02 Feb 2017

UIO, I've no idea what you just said. Did you actually read post #6?

UIO · 03 Feb 2017

Hidden and system files, they sometimes do not get copied, depending on method of copying