Cannot copy file to external harddisk

[Sonnich Jensen]

Hi

I have a 320 GB external HD for backup.
I want to save a file of 6.55GB, but that is not possible, it claims
there are not enough space.
However there are now 41,7GB free, I just deleted some old backups and
so, before I had 23GB free.

Usually my backups are 1.2 - 3GB, but this large one is a problem

What can cause this?
With 41GB free then 6.55 GB should fit?

Sonnich

 

[Nil]

I have a 320 GB external HD for backup.
I want to save a file of 6.55GB, but that is not possible, it
claims there are not enough space.
However there are now 41,7GB free, I just deleted some old backups
and so, before I had 23GB free.

Usually my backups are 1.2 - 3GB, but this large one is a problem

What can cause this?
With 41GB free then 6.55 GB should fit?

My guess is that your external drive is formatted with a FAT or FAT32
file system, which has a file size limit of 4 GB. You're going to need
to break your file into smaller chunks (there are utilities that can do
that) or reformat the drive as NTFS.

 

[David H. Lipman]

My guess is that your external drive is formatted with a FAT or FAT32
file system, which has a file size limit of 4 GB. You're going to need
to break your file into smaller chunks (there are utilities that can do
that) or reformat the drive as NTFS.

One does not have to reformat a FAT32 drive, one only has to open a Command Prompt and use
the CONVERT command.

convert /?
Converts FAT volumes to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:NTFS Specifies that the volume is to be converted to NTFS.
/V Specifies that Convert should be run in verbose mode.
/CvtArea:filename
Specifies a contiguous file in the root directory to be
the place holder for NTFS system files.
/NoSecurity Specifies the converted files and directories security
settings to be accessible by everyone.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid.

Example assuming the drive is "F:"

convert f: /fs:ntfs

 

[Sonnich Jensen]

From: "Nil" <[email protected]>

microsoft.public.windows.vista.general:

My guess is that your external drive is formatted with a FAT or FAT32
file system, which has a file size limit of 4 GB. You're going to need
to break your file into smaller chunks (there are utilities that can do
that) or reformat the drive as NTFS.

One does not have to reformat a FAT32 drive, one only has to open a Command Prompt and use
the CONVERT command.

convert /?
Converts FAT volumes to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V] [/CvtArea:filename] [/NoSecurity] [/X]

  volume      Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
              mount point, or volume name.
  /FS:NTFS    Specifies that the volume is to be converted to NTFS.
  /V          Specifies that Convert should be run in verbosemode.
  /CvtArea:filename
              Specifies a contiguous file in the root directory to be
              the place holder for NTFS system files.
  /NoSecurity Specifies the converted files and directories security
              settings to be accessible by everyone.
  /X          Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
              All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid.

Example assuming the drive is "F:"

convert f: /fs:ntfs

Thanks, that seems to work

However, there is a cyclic error Need to find that at some time.


Sonnich

 

[Nil]

One does not have to reformat a FAT32 drive, one only has to open
a Command Prompt and use the CONVERT command.

True, I forgot about that. I had CONVERT go bad on me once and lose the
contents of the drive, and I've been gun shy about it since, preferring
to back up and restore after reformatting.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

True, I forgot about that. I had CONVERT go bad on me once and lose the
contents of the drive, and I've been gun shy about it since, preferring
to back up and restore after reformatting.

Or backup and if necessary, restore after converting

I'd pretty much forgotten about conversion, so this thread helps.

 

[GabrielNar]

if the external drive is formatted with a FAT or FAT32 then you probably need to edit your files. The Long Path Tool helped me in this situation. http://PathTooDeep.com

Try it and tell us how it went!