Summary: Issues copying files are most often traceable to hard disk issues, but there are many other potential causes as well.
In Windows XP, 250 GB Harddrive, 1GB Ram, I am experiencing a bog down / hang-up when copying files larger than 10 MB; the PC will have to be restarted to clear this. Any idea what could cause this annoying problem?
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These types of problems are very difficult to diagnose, even with access to the machine. So what I'll offer is the list of things that come to mind and what I'd look at in your shoes.
I'll also ask readers to contribute ideas as well.
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Hard Disk Errors
The very first thing that comes to mind is a hard disk issue. Not a failure, per se, and perhaps not even something that Windows will notice.
What can happen is that the magnetic media of a hard disk can become "slightly" damaged. I say slightly, because even though it's damaged, the disk drive itself can actually still read and/or write the data if it tries hard enough.
The reason that this comes to mind is that "hard enough" usually means trying again and again and again until it works. That takes time, and that can manifest as an unexplained slowdown.
Running chkdsk (with the "/r" repair option) might help, but in all honesty probably not. Chkdsk, like Windows, doesn't really operate at the low level that's required to really address this type of failure. SpinRite, which is not free, does.
So, even though it came to mind first, I'd save purchasing SpinRite until we've ruled out other options (unless, of course, you already own it).
How do I fix errors on my hard disk? has more ideas on this direction of investigation.
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Free Space and Fragmentation
An exceptionally fragmented disk, or a disk that is nearly full can often also show signs of slowing down. Defragging regularly - perhaps once a week - and taking care to stay on top of disk usage to make sure that you have lots of free space on the drive are the obvious ways to avoid this issue.
How should I keep my hard drive clean and working at its best? has more tips and tricks on keeping your hard drive running smoothly.
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Software
Another reason that things could potentially slow down is simply the amount of other software running on your machine. Now, a gigabyte should be plenty for WIndows XP to run quite happily, but if you have lots of other things running at the same time it's possible for that to have an impact.
The most common scenario is disk access. If your disk light is flashing continuously before you even start the copy, then something is already accessing the hard disk, and that's going to slow down your disk access. Sometimes it's hard to determine exactly what programs are accessing the hard disk, but tools like FileMon, or Process Monitor can help diagnose.
The copy program itself can sometimes be "at fault", in a way, if you're low on RAM. Some copy programs work by first reading the entire file into memory, and then writing the entire file to its destination. 10 megabytes seems like a relatively small file as files go, but if your system is low on memory that could be enough to cause the system to start swapping memory to disk, which in turn would interfere with the very disk copying operation you're attempting to perform.
You can use process explorer to monitor your computer's memory usage file you're copying files to see if this might be the case.
(As a side note, there is a specific and very similar memory related problem and error message that can often result when copying huge files; for example, it's something I see when copying 60 gigabyte files. This knowledgebase article discusses the symptom for Windows 2000, though I've seen similar in Windows XP.)
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Hardware
Finally, we do at least have to mention the various pieces of hardware involved when you're copying files around. The disk controller, the hard disk itself, the system board and interface(s) to the disk controller and more. Typically, problems in these areas show up as something slightly more severe than just a slowdown, but since you indicate that it also appears to hang, it's something else that we need to put on the table for investigation.
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About the file size
I'm assuming that files significantly smaller than the 10 megabytes you mention copy without a problem. This is an interesting tidbit of information, but it doesn't necessarily pin down exactly what's happening. For example:
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Occasionally hardware related problems don't appear until some continuous threshold has been reached. For example, a disk controller might be having problems, but those problems might actually not manifest until it tries to transfer something over 10 megabytes (in your case).
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The process of creating a larger file might cause areas of the file system's directory structure to be accessed where smaller files might not. If the problem is with that area of the disk, it might not show for smaller copies.
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I mentioned the memory issues above where a copy program might use more memory to copy a larger file.
As you can see, it's difficult to say "here's your problem" because there are so many possibilities. Hopefully, one or more of the items I've mentioned will help resolve it.
I'd also like to ask readers to contribute additional ideas or things that they might have seen that result in the kind of behavior you're seeing. It's possible, for example, that combinations of software or specific software packages might have this result. (I wonder, for example, if perhaps some anti-malware software might be involved.) So please contribute and/or browse the comments to this article when they appear.
Related:
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How should I keep my hard drive clean and working at its best? Hard drives can last a long time if properly cared for. More often than not issues result not from hardware, but from easily managed data and software.
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How do I fix errors on my hard disk? Hard disk errors come from several different sources, and as a result there are several different approaches to resolving them.
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Your hard disk is more likely to fail than you think. A recently released report from Google has some disturbing information.
Article C3578 - November 29, 2008
I'm wondering if the reader has multiple computers. If they do, then they can try copying a large file on another computer to find out if the problem exists across multiple computers? If it does, then the issue is most likely with the network or file server. If the issue is limited to one computer, I'd first open up the case and clean out the dust bunnies.
Posted by: Jim Fogle at December 2, 2008 11:59 AMAnother issue relevant to the source and destination of the files. If the two are separate partitions of the same physical disk, then the process can slow down significantly due to the movement to and fro of the magnetic head that reads and writes from/to the surface of the disk.
Posted by: Dinos Solomonides at December 2, 2008 2:22 PMSo if the slow-down appears when copying from another partition of the same physical disk but not from one physical disk to another then that is very likely the issue.
Also, keep in mind that when two mediums with different transfer rates are used, the rate is determined by the slowest
"SpinRite" might -- or it might not -- be a great product, BUT I checked out your "SpinRite" link, and quickly found one thing conspicuous by its absence. I'm extremely leery of people who don't put the price of their product up front. Do a text search for a dollar sign (in MSIE, click "Edit" then "Find (on this page)...", then type "$" without the quotes, and click "Find next"). Result? Nada! As soon as I see THAT on the homepage of a product, I quickly go looking for another product. It's like with restaurants -- if you actually have to ASK how much the bill is going to be, you can be sure you can't afford to pay it! :(
For the record, as of this writing, Spinrite is $89 - less if you have an earlier version, and there's site licensing available as well.
To me, worth every penny.
03-Dec-2008
Try copying the files in SAFE (F5 boot) mode. This would be an easier test to see if the problem is with the operating system, hardware or competing software. Also test while temporarily disabling your anti virus software in Windows if the file copy in SAFE mode works OK.
Posted by: Computer Doctor at December 3, 2008 3:32 AMEvery contributor is right. But if you want to make a one minute tentative install Teracopy (http://www.codesector.com/teracopy.php). Once installed, it works unobtrusively as a better copy function than Windows's copy. And it's free for home use. Good luck.
Posted by: George at December 3, 2008 3:42 AMhello every one.....
i give one solution try it.... and i am sure u will success... regarding this problem
first copy data what ever....then pest in to another drive ..
as data in d: drive then copy to e: or f: drive then after cut that data and pest in pen drive / another hdd
u get maximum speed
i hope u are happy.
by the way have a good day.
enjoy
Posted by: patel bhai at December 3, 2008 9:53 AMI noticed slowdown while copying to and from usb flash memory (or so) MANY + SMALL files! (e g you copy a whole site 3 G with many small files, gifs, js etc). It relates both to a new comp (Quad Intel, SATA HDD) and old (Pen 4, IDE HDD).
My experiment in Win Xp SR1 was with TotalCommander (ver. 7 + up, go to http://www.ghisler.com/): they allow several possibilities in options : a/ small files + changes for buffer size; b/ big files c/ usb
Posted by: bob at December 3, 2008 10:19 AMOutcome: regime a/ really much-much better if one copies manyyyy small files (I changed buffer size: "on the same disk" -- 256, "on diff disks" -- 128 [NB: I have plenty of RAM, 4 G]
In case of big files (like CD/DVD or so) -- just switch to b/ and determine the size of the buffer (I tried 10240 and resp. 64 -- now it is really better).
I also experimented with turning off Antiviruses (helps -- if the source was clean).
Speed is a bit higher in Linux.
I too had the same problem, but only when I copied files from a CD. The process named "system" in my task manager would go to 99%. However, after formatting the C: drive everything is ok.
Posted by: Amit at December 3, 2008 10:04 PMOK..first off lemme say that this is a suggestion that all techs, even myself, immediately wish to dismiss out of their own pride of workmanship. So, with that said, let us all put that aside for this situation as it may help this poor user in a copying jam out.
My suggestion is very simple. From my own experience I have found that this can be caused by a misaligned or bent pin that is not making contact within the data cable connection. Sounds like it would cause total failure but, it doesn't always. I had a 160GB Seagate Barracuda IDE 7200RPM drive that would copy files VERY slow at times. Other times it would do ok but never at the speed it should've been. I also had other strange errors happen with DVD burners never wanting to work solidly. When trying to add another new HDD to the mix, I became extremely frustrated that none of the configurations were working no matter what drive got slaved or which one got set as master etc. Thinking it was my motherboard becoming a POC, I yanked out all the drives and when doing so realized that one little IDE/PATA pin on the Seagates interface was pressed completely flat. And I mean perfectly flat as though it happened at Seagate because if it had happened during install it would not have been so perfectly flat. I immediately set up an RMA return ticket and Seagate was happy to replace it. However, I being the always curious tech, got out a pair of my tech hemostats and gently pried the pin back into an upright position keeping it from breaking off. Plugged it back in gently and WHAM BANG! it's been working with great xfer speeds ever since. Something that simple and easy to over look can cause this problem and many others as aforementioned. I canceled the RMA with Seagate and have been happily using the drive to this day with flawless performance. Seagates have never let me down, ever, and though this one probably left Seagate in it's condition, it's not letting me down now so, it's a keeper as they say. Thanks and I hope that helps you and/or others who may be having the same strange unexplainable trouble(s). -SamusLife
Posted by: SamusLife at December 5, 2008 8:07 PMThe only times I've had problems like this is after installing a new USB 2 PCI adapter. Sometimes the adapters are just bad but most of the time just changing the PCI slot corrects the problem.
Posted by: Dave at December 6, 2008 12:41 PMI've found that USB 2.0 PCI adapters can be very sensitive about which PCI slot they're in as well as what PCI cards (sound, video, wireless, etc) are next to them.
Good luck.