I am trying to copy a file from one hard (C:) drive to another hard drive (F:) on the same machine, a Dell running XP Home. The file is about 13G (video capture). The F: drive has a capacity of 57.2G with 33.1G available, according to the Properties. But when I try to move it I get the message that there is no enough free disk space. I have emptied the Recycle bin. I have done a disk cleanup.
Why doesn’t a 13G file fit into 33G of disk?
I’m not sure about Windows, but on some Unix systems, copying files from one partition to another can be a two-stage process. The file is first copied into some temporary space and then that copy is moved over to the new file system.
I can’t remember, exactly, which situation is which. For example, a copy might go directly to the other file system but a move might hit the two-stage process.
If you are using Copy, try Move. If you are using Move, try Copy.
Or, I could be completely wrong.
Do you have Norton Utilities installed by any chance? I once ran into a similar problem with the Norton Protected Recycle Bin. A large number of files (several GB worth) were being kept safe in the “protected” recycle bin, which had the effect of taking up disk space while not actually appearing to take up disk space. I ended up getting the “disk full” warning even though it looked like I had several GB free.
How much space is available on the C: drive? This is a guess, but its based on 20 years of working with computers. When copying a file, Windows probably makes a copy of the file on the source drive, and then moves the copy to the destination drive. So if your C: drive doesn’t have 13 GB of free space, it won’t work.
Incidentally, this would be true of moving the file as well; then the sequence goes: make copy of file > move copy to destination > delete original version of file.
Try “Cut” and “Paste.”
What file system is C: ?
What file system is F: ?
Agree with Jonathon - here are the file size limits for various file systems.
As soon as I saw the size of the file, I said to myself “that other drive is FAT32”
For those that don’t want to read all the Microsoftese, the maximum size for any one file in FAT32 is 4GB.
Convert your F: drive to NTFS so you can fit files as big as a smudge under 16 terabytes. Of course, you might want to back it up first in case anything goes boink.
CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V]
volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:NTFS Specifies that the volume to be converted to NTFS.
/V Specifies that Convert should be run in verbose mode.
Just for the heck of it, and to put complete information in this thread, I looked up the maximum files sizes for Mac OS X. From Apple:
Terabytes = 10[sup]12[/sup] bytes
Millions of terabytes = over 10[sup]18[/sup] bytes
That’s a big file.
In Windows, a move between partitions is a copy-and-delete.
Before advising OP to do anything dramatic, we need to know the file system type of both partitions (drives) involved and preferably the OS.
There are a couple of things I know of in Windows that will consume gross amounts of hard disk space without reporting it as used. One is the temporary internet files and the other is the system restore feature. To clean up temporary internet files, go into tools/options. To clean up restore data, go to the root of the system drive and delete files in the “recovery data” folder.
Warning - if you rely on Microsoft system restore to make restore points, you lose that data. In my experience, system restore sucks up a tremendous amont of resources and doesn’t take restore images at the times that would be helpful. I personally just turn off the service… my PC runs faster and uses less disk space. YMMV.