Re: USB drive problem

"Bob Davis" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:hstsj.527$aj7.250@xxxxxxxxxxxx:

I have a Vipower USB mobile rack with a 300gb IDE drive enclosed
that's formatted NTFS, used to backup important files for storage
off-site. Once per month I update the files using a batch file (4NT)
using this context for the copy command:

COPY D:\TIFBAK\*.* L:\TIFBAK /U /S

The problem is that it hasn't updated the files since 09/2007 even
though it would show file-copy progress and lots of disk activity as
if it was being done. Thus, I thought I was backing up the files but
in fact was not, and it seems to be unable to hold more than 118gb in
that folder. After running the batch file, which appears to be adding
files, the total used capacity of the drive does not change,
suggesting that no files are being added. However, if I repeat a given
copy command manually (e.g., COPY D:\TIFBAK\FILENAME.ZIP L:\TIFBAK)
I'm told the file exists and asks if I want to overwrite it. It in
fact doesn't exist, as it doesn't show up using DOS DIR command, in
Windows Explorer, or Windows file search. The files copied are
typically 20mb-1gb in size.

This problem persists whether using the batch file, doing a COPY
command in DOS, or using Windows Explorer to copy the files. OTOH, if
I move all 118gb existing in the \TIFBAK folder to the root of that
drive (L:\) there is no such problem going beyond 118gb and all files
are copied successfully.

My D: drive, a 500gb SATA drive in the computer also has a \TIFBAK
folder which is the first-level storage device for these files, and
there is no such limitation--so I'm convinced it isn't an NTFS
capacity problem. Is there a USB interface or driver issue that
prevents >118gb in a folder under the root directory? I've solved the
problem by changing the batch-file commands to L:\ as the destination
folder, but I would like to know what's going on with this. I've been
thinking I've been backing up my files and for five months have not!

The first problem I see is that there is no U or S switch for COPY.
COPY switches:
http://www.computerhope.com/copyhlp.htm

There is a U and S switch for XCOPY.
XCOPY switches:
http://www.computerhope.com/xcopyhlp.htm

But that doesn't explain why Explorer can't copy files totaling more
than 118GB to a subdirectory on an external USB HD.

--
pcbldrNinetyEight
.

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