• XXCOPY & Robocopy barf on files bigger than 100 Mb

    From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jun 16 06:21:27 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    Recently, however, one of my data files, for the Rootsmagic genealogy
    program, started getting corrupted in the transfer.

    This is the command I use to transfer it from the flash drive to the
    desktop computer (which runs WinXP):

    XXCOPY J:\Dropbox\*.* G:\Stevedoc\Dropbox\ /BN /s /y

    Where J: is the flash drive and G: is a hard drive on my computer.

    That command is part of a batch file which I run every time I need to
    transfer the files. I use similar commands copy files to the flash
    drive.

    When the Rootsmagic V7 data file reached 100 Mb, however, it started
    being corrupted.

    It seems to be corrupted only when copying from the flash drive to the
    hard drive, on both computers. It does not seem to be corrupted when
    copying from the hard drive to the flash drive. When I notice it is
    corrupted, I copy it manually, using FlashCommander, and that seems to
    copy the file without corruption.

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?



    --
    Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
    Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
    Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
    E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David E. Ross@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Thu Jun 15 22:40:47 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 6/15/2023 9:21 PM, Steve Hayes wrote:
    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    Recently, however, one of my data files, for the Rootsmagic genealogy program, started getting corrupted in the transfer.

    This is the command I use to transfer it from the flash drive to the
    desktop computer (which runs WinXP):

    XXCOPY J:\Dropbox\*.* G:\Stevedoc\Dropbox\ /BN /s /y

    Where J: is the flash drive and G: is a hard drive on my computer.

    That command is part of a batch file which I run every time I need to transfer the files. I use similar commands copy files to the flash
    drive.

    When the Rootsmagic V7 data file reached 100 Mb, however, it started
    being corrupted.

    It seems to be corrupted only when copying from the flash drive to the
    hard drive, on both computers. It does not seem to be corrupted when
    copying from the hard drive to the flash drive. When I notice it is corrupted, I copy it manually, using FlashCommander, and that seems to
    copy the file without corruption.

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
    Robocopy 5.1.10.1027 (inherent in Windows 7)
    RoboCopy GUI 3.1.2.0 (downloaded in 2016, archived along with documentation)

    I have no problem using robocopy to copy 16Gb encrypted backup files
    from my PC's hard drive to a portable drive for remote storage.

    Instead of using RoboCopy GUI, I created a script that copies only one
    file per execution. The script checks whether there is an encrypted
    file (extension .pgp) and then whether the portable drive is present.
    If both are okay, the script then executes
    C:\Windows\system32\robocopy source-path destination-path *.pgp
    /COPY:DT /V /NP /R:10 /W:30 /Tee
    /Log+:logs\log_logname.atxt
    Having three hard drives -- each with its own encrypted backup -- I have
    three such scripts, where "source-path", "destination-path", and
    "logname" are specific to one of those drives. The extension .atxt I
    created via Nirsoft's FileTypesMan for use on what are actually .txt
    files that open in Wordpad instead of Notepad. After copying, the
    script pauses with a request to delete the source encripted file from
    its hard drive.

    NOTE: Followup-To set to alt.windows7.general.

    --
    David E. Ross
    <http://www.rossde.com/>

    For 30 years, I was a software test engineer, testing the
    software used by the U.S. military to operate its space
    satellites. The missions of most of those satellites were
    highly classified, so I had a very high security clearance.
    If I were convicted of what Donald Trump has been accused,
    I would have been sentenced to decades in prison. Thus, I
    indeed support the concept of equal treatment under the law.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Ian Goddard@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Fri Jun 16 08:52:35 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Steve Hayes wrote:
    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Could it be a problem with the flash drive itself? Have you tried a
    second flash drive or a disk drive in a USB adapter?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Fri Jun 16 06:18:48 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 6/16/2023 12:21 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:
    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    Recently, however, one of my data files, for the Rootsmagic genealogy program, started getting corrupted in the transfer.

    This is the command I use to transfer it from the flash drive to the
    desktop computer (which runs WinXP):

    XXCOPY J:\Dropbox\*.* G:\Stevedoc\Dropbox\ /BN /s /y

    Where J: is the flash drive and G: is a hard drive on my computer.

    That command is part of a batch file which I run every time I need to transfer the files. I use similar commands copy files to the flash
    drive.

    When the Rootsmagic V7 data file reached 100 Mb, however, it started
    being corrupted.

    It seems to be corrupted only when copying from the flash drive to the
    hard drive, on both computers. It does not seem to be corrupted when
    copying from the hard drive to the flash drive. When I notice it is corrupted, I copy it manually, using FlashCommander, and that seems to
    copy the file without corruption.

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Would the Rootsmagic V7 data file (sqlite), currently be open
    by the program ? Does any part of the program run, even when
    the GUI is not visible ?

    Sometimes a service, or even some sort of license enforcement, may
    be meddling with the file.

    If you boot any other OS on the machine, you may be able to
    make a copy from there, because at that point, any tricky
    Rootsmagic protections will be "at rest".

    If you boot the Win7 installer DVD, use the Troubleshooting section,
    then Command Prompt, there may be a copy of "robocopy" in there.
    On an OS like WinXP, you had to install Robocopy XP026 yourself.
    But later OSes, the utility became "supported" and issued on
    the system partition.

    *******

    You have the option of creating "duff" files for test.

    fsutil can create files, but they are "sparse" on NTFS and
    don't take space on the source drive.

    On other OSes, they had a "mkfile" utility which I liked for this.

    On Windows, we can use a third party tool. When the window appears, wait
    about 15 seconds, and the 200KB file will download.

    http://www.chrysocome.net/downloads/dd-0.6beta3.zip

    The thing is portable and does not install. Just unpack "dd.exe" for usage.
    I just copied mine to my scratch partition which is D:

    D:
    md results # Make a place to examine the results of the copy test.

    dd.exe --list # This is how you discover the names of partitions
    # for usage when crafting commands. We are just working with
    # a single file, so do not need this info right now. The
    # existence of virtual device "/dev/zero" will be listed there.

    dd.exe if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.bin bs=1M count=1024 # Make a 1GB file of zeroes
    dd.exe if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.bin bs=1M count=100 # Make a 100MB file of zeroes

    dd.exe if=/dev/random of=rand.bin bs=1M count=100 # Make a 100MB file of random data

    sha1sum zeroes.bin # record the checksum of a test file, which will be copied
    sha1sum rand.bin # record the checksum of a test file, which will be copied

    copy zeroes.bin K:\zeroes.bin # copy to the USB drive
    copy K:\zeroes.bin D:\results\zeroes.bin # copy back to a system disk
    sha1sum D:\results\zeroes.bin # compare checksum to original

    That's just to illustrate a quick way to make files. The "dd.exe"
    can make files as fast as the storage can go (about 2.5GB/sec). This
    run took four seconds. The random file would take eight seconds.

    06/16/2023 06:00 AM 10,737,418,240 zeroes.bin

    7ZIP has a context menu and SHA1 and SHA256 sums are offered.

    Name: zeroes.bin
    Size: 10737418240 bytes (10 GiB)
    SHA1: A0B6E2CA4E28360A929943E8EB966F703A69DC44

    Now if I copy that file around, I can check for corruption by
    running the SHA1SUM again.

    Even MD5SUM is sufficient for checking for file corruption
    (any sort of hash like that can be used as a signature). If
    all you had, was an ancient copy of MD5SUM.exe, that's OK as
    a tool for corruption testing as well. The only algo which is
    too weak, is "sum.exe", which is an arithmetic sum of all bytes.

    You can disable system write caching on individual devices
    (such as a USB stick). I could not find the setting to
    disable it for the entire W7 computer.

    But first, I want to see you copy a representative test file,
    one which RootsMagic will not have open.

    I don't think this is a write caching issue. That particular
    file is affected, because some executable has the file open
    and has not told you that. The Sysinternals utility "handle.exe"
    or Process Explorer has a copy of Handle inside, these can be
    used to detect an executable has a file open. I'm not recommending
    that as a first step at the moment, because I just want to test
    your USB stick is working OK with benign test files. It is sometimes
    hard to get handle.exe working properly.

    Paul

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Java Jive@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Fri Jun 16 13:28:40 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 16/06/2023 05:21, Steve Hayes wrote:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    I'm not going to try to help out with the problem you actually face, but suggest an alternative method. Why not use sync software over a
    network? Others may also suggest other software, but I use DeltaCopy to
    copy data between Win7 and XP machines without too much difficulty,
    although there are some gotchas, the two most important being:

    1) DeltaCopy is a Linux program that in Windows runs in the CygWin environment, and at the time I downloaded DeltaCopy, many years ago now,
    CygWin didn't handle filenames with accented characters properly.
    However, someone had compiled an alternative cygwin1.dll that fixed this problem, though it may well be that more modern versions of CygWin don't
    need this patch.

    2) You might have to reset permissions on any files or folders copied.
    I do this by just re-applying the parent folders settings all the way
    down through the heirarchy - all my data is kept on the D: partition
    outside the normal Windows User directories, so this is perfectly safe.
    On Win7, I have a BATch file to do it, but it doesn't work in XP -
    seemingly because my Administrator accounts have been renamed to
    something else as a security measure - so there I do it from the
    normal File Manager, Properties GUI. I can give further details of both methods if requested.

    Beside copying over the network between PCs and for backing up to my
    NAS, I also use DeltaCopy to back up to a USB drive.

    I originally downloaded DeltaCopy so long ago that now I can't remember
    where from, however, remembering the usual caveats about download
    sources, I would hope Softpedia would be pukka:

    https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/DeltaCopy.shtml

    For the replacement DLL, as previously stated, it may be that more
    recent versions of CygWin do not require it. Today I can only find
    these two links about it, but the link given in the first neither finds anything, nor, long as I waited, even a 404. The second is a more
    complicated read which I don't have time for right now, as I'm on my way
    out.

    https://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Backing_up_Your_Music.html#Part_3b:_Install_cygwin_patch_for_correct_file_name_translation
    https://josephlo.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/rsync-and-buffalo-linkstation-quad-pro-ls-qvlr5/

    For reference, my version of cygwin1.dll has the following details:
    1,834KB, 2008-11-18 06:24
    File Description: Cygwin POSIX? emulation DLL
    File Version: 1005.25.0.0
    Product Name: Cygwin
    Product Version: 1.5.25
    Copyright: Copyright ? Red Hat Inc 1996-2003
    Size: 1.79MB
    Date Modified: 2008-11-18 06:24 (ISO format to avoid ambiguity)

    Note: ? were probably meant to be trade or copyright marks, but they
    don't display properly.

    I can make this available if requested, but, if possible, you'd do
    better to find the most up-to-date versions of the original Red Hat
    programs.

    --

    Fake news kills!

    I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
    www.macfh.co.uk

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Denis Beauregard@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Jun 16 16:12:04 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    <[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    What about reducing the size of the file by zipping it before the
    transfer since it is for backuping ?


    Denis

    --
    Denis Beauregard - généalogiste émérite (FQSG)
    Les Français d'Amérique du Nord - http://www.francogene.com/gfan/gfan/998/ French in North America before 1722 - http://www.francogene.com/gfna/gfna/998/ Sur cédérom/DVD/USB à 1790 - On CD-ROM/DVD/USB to 1790

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Paul on Sun Jun 18 17:51:27 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Paul <[email protected]d> wrote:

    Steve Hayes wrote:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    Recently, however, one of my data files, for the Rootsmagic genealogy
    program, started getting corrupted in the transfer.

    This is the command I use to transfer it from the flash drive to the
    desktop computer (which runs WinXP):

    XXCOPY J:\Dropbox\*.* G:\Stevedoc\Dropbox\ /BN /s /y

    Where J: is the flash drive and G: is a hard drive on my computer.

    That command is part of a batch file which I run every time I need to
    transfer the files. I use similar commands copy files to the flash
    drive.

    When the Rootsmagic V7 data file reached 100 Mb, however, it started
    being corrupted.

    It seems to be corrupted only when copying from the flash drive to the
    hard drive, on both computers. It does not seem to be corrupted when
    copying from the hard drive to the flash drive. When I notice it is
    corrupted, I copy it manually, using FlashCommander, and that seems to
    copy the file without corruption.

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Would the Rootsmagic V7 data file (sqlite), currently be open
    by the program ? Does any part of the program run, even when
    the GUI is not visible ?

    Sometimes a service, or even some sort of license enforcement, may
    be meddling with the file.

    If you boot any other OS on the machine, you may be able to
    make a copy from there, because at that point, any tricky
    Rootsmagic protections will be "at rest".

    If you boot the Win7 installer DVD, use the Troubleshooting section,
    then Command Prompt, there may be a copy of "robocopy" in there.
    On an OS like WinXP, you had to install Robocopy XP026 yourself.
    But later OSes, the utility became "supported" and issued on
    the system partition.

    *******

    You have the option of creating "duff" files for test.

    fsutil can create files, but they are "sparse" on NTFS and
    don't take space on the source drive.

    On other OSes, they had a "mkfile" utility which I liked for this.

    On Windows, we can use a third party tool. When the window appears, wait about 15 seconds, and the 200KB file will download.

    http://www.chrysocome.net/downloads/dd-0.6beta3.zip

    The thing is portable and does not install. Just unpack "dd.exe" for usage. I just copied mine to my scratch partition which is D:

    D:
    md results # Make a place to examine the results of the copy test.

    dd.exe --list # This is how you discover the names of partitions
    # for usage when crafting commands. We are just working with
    # a single file, so do not need this info right now. The
    # existence of virtual device "/dev/zero" will be listed there.

    dd.exe if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.bin bs=1M count=1024 # Make a 1GB file of zeroes
    dd.exe if=/dev/zero of=zeroes.bin bs=1M count=100 # Make a 100MB file of zeroes

    dd.exe if=/dev/random of=rand.bin bs=1M count=100 # Make a 100MB file of random data

    sha1sum zeroes.bin # record the checksum of a test file, which will be copied
    sha1sum rand.bin # record the checksum of a test file, which will be copied

    copy zeroes.bin K:\zeroes.bin # copy to the USB drive
    copy K:\zeroes.bin D:\results\zeroes.bin # copy back to a system disk
    sha1sum D:\results\zeroes.bin # compare checksum to original

    That's just to illustrate a quick way to make files. The "dd.exe"
    can make files as fast as the storage can go (about 2.5GB/sec). This
    run took four seconds. The random file would take eight seconds.

    06/16/2023 06:00 AM 10,737,418,240 zeroes.bin

    7ZIP has a context menu and SHA1 and SHA256 sums are offered.

    Name: zeroes.bin
    Size: 10737418240 bytes (10 GiB)
    SHA1: A0B6E2CA4E28360A929943E8EB966F703A69DC44

    Now if I copy that file around, I can check for corruption by
    running the SHA1SUM again.

    Even MD5SUM is sufficient for checking for file corruption
    (any sort of hash like that can be used as a signature). If
    all you had, was an ancient copy of MD5SUM.exe, that's OK as
    a tool for corruption testing as well. The only algo which is
    too weak, is "sum.exe", which is an arithmetic sum of all bytes.

    You can disable system write caching on individual devices
    (such as a USB stick). I could not find the setting to
    disable it for the entire W7 computer.

    But first, I want to see you copy a representative test file,
    one which RootsMagic will not have open.

    I don't think this is a write caching issue. That particular
    file is affected, because some executable has the file open
    and has not told you that. The Sysinternals utility "handle.exe"
    or Process Explorer has a copy of Handle inside, these can be
    used to detect an executable has a file open. I'm not recommending
    that as a first step at the moment, because I just want to test
    your USB stick is working OK with benign test files. It is sometimes
    hard to get handle.exe working properly.

    NOTE: I get an icon in my NNTP client saying the parent article by Hayes
    is no longer available or cancelled on my NNTP server (individual.net),
    so I cannot retrieve the article nor reply to it. I'll reply to you
    because you might know the answers to the following suggestions.


    I do not see an option in robocopy that has it do a compare between
    source and destination files to verify they are the same after the copy operation. I'm wondering if Hayes should add a 'fc /b' command after
    the robocopy command to verify the hash values of the two files are
    equal, and follow in the batch script with a check on ERRORLEVEL to see
    if 'fc' succeeded or not.

    xxcopy is a 3rd-party copy tool, I haven't used it in a long time, so I
    don't know if it is more reliable than robocopy, or has an option to do
    a file compare on source and destination files. I found xxcopy at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/xxcopy.html, but the link to
    the author's site fails with showing MajorGeek's "bad author" error page
    (that the site no longer exists, or never existed). Also found xxcopy
    at https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/XXCOPY.shtml,
    but that results in "server not found" on www.xxcopy.com. Looks like it
    got discontinued about mid-2019, or earlier. I found a command-line
    reference for xxcopy at:

    https://fekete.x10host.com/xxtb3000.htm#xxtb_01

    Maybe I missed the parameter, but I don't see XXCOPY does a binary file
    compare between the contents of the source and destination files.

    The problem is when Hayes copies the copied file off the USB drive, but
    there is no problem noticed when copying to the USB drive. Perhaps it's
    time to format (full) the USB drive, or do a chkdsk on the USB drive and
    add the /r option to test the sectors are readable (but that's not the
    same as a write test). Perhaps better is to use a test/diagnostic tool
    to verify writes are okay to the USB drive, like Check Flash.

    https://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Boot-Manager-Disk/Check-Flash.shtml
    Last update: 2017 Jan 16
    (the author's site is dead, so can't get if from there)

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Paul@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Mon Jun 19 05:17:53 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 6/18/2023 6:51 PM, VanguardLH wrote:

    NOTE: I get an icon in my NNTP client saying the parent article by Hayes
    is no longer available or cancelled on my NNTP server (individual.net),
    so I cannot retrieve the article nor reply to it. I'll reply to you
    because you might know the answers to the following suggestions.

    Using the missing MID returned by the error, you can look
    for the original article on Howard. That's if you just
    want to see the text.

    <[email protected]>

    http://al.howardknight.net/

    http://al.howardknight.net/?STYPE=msgid&MSGI=%3Cghnn8i1a3jrmo8d8vbee3jc8f1v17llnir%404ax.com%3E

    There's also news.mixmin.net:563 . It does not offer port 119.
    That's how I post to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general , is via mixmin.
    (In the past, AIOE was the backup.)

    Paul

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Enno Borgsteede@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jun 19 15:10:00 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    I'm doing all my backups with FreeFileSync, because it runs on Linux,
    and Windows, and according to the site, there are older versions that
    still run on Windows XP:

    https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#operating-systems

    I have external hard drives and flash drives, and in my experience, the
    hard drives are more reliable, and often faster too, especially when I
    want to copy loads of small files, or a few big ones.

    FreeFileSync has no problems with big files, like the Windows 10 virtual machine that I run in Linux, which relies on a disk image that is bigger
    than 20 GB. It only copies files when their sizes or timestamps differ,
    so it's much safer for flash memory, which is very sensitive to wear, especially when written to.

    And like the name says, it is free.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Jul 27 08:03:39 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 08:52:35 +0100, Ian Goddard
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    Steve Hayes wrote:
    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Could it be a problem with the flash drive itself? Have you tried a
    second flash drive or a disk drive in a USB adapter?

    Yes, I've used different flash drives, and when I usde a different app
    (File Commander) to copy the file, it copies correctly.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Jul 27 08:13:14 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:10:00 +0200, Enno Borgsteede
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    I'm doing all my backups with FreeFileSync, because it runs on Linux,
    and Windows, and according to the site, there are older versions that
    still run on Windows XP:

    https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#operating-systems

    I have external hard drives and flash drives, and in my experience, the
    hard drives are more reliable, and often faster too, especially when I
    want to copy loads of small files, or a few big ones.

    FreeFileSync has no problems with big files, like the Windows 10 virtual >machine that I run in Linux, which relies on a disk image that is bigger
    than 20 GB. It only copies files when their sizes or timestamps differ,
    so it's much safer for flash memory, which is very sensitive to wear, >especially when written to.

    And like the name says, it is free.

    Thanks very much, I'll have a look at that.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jul 27 08:17:27 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 13:28:40 +0100, Java Jive <[email protected]d>
    wrote:

    On 16/06/2023 05:21, Steve Hayes wrote:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    I'm not going to try to help out with the problem you actually face, but >suggest an alternative method. Why not use sync software over a
    network? Others may also suggest other software, but I use DeltaCopy to
    copy data between Win7 and XP machines without too much difficulty,
    although there are some gotchas, the two most important being:

    I find networks very unreliable, and anyway they don't work when the
    power is off, which happens several times a day. One of the reasons
    for needing to copy the files is so that I can continue working on the
    laptop when the power is off.

    But if find that even wehn the network is working, sometimes I can see
    the other machines on it, and sometimes I cant, and sometimes it asks
    for a password (there isn't one) and sometimes it doesn't. But when it
    asks for a password I can't use it.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to All on Thu Jul 27 08:09:11 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:18:48 -0400, Paul <[email protected]d>
    wrote:

    On 6/16/2023 12:21 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    Would the Rootsmagic V7 data file (sqlite), currently be open
    by the program ? Does any part of the program run, even when
    the GUI is not visible ?

    Sometimes a service, or even some sort of license enforcement, may
    be meddling with the file.

    If you boot any other OS on the machine, you may be able to
    make a copy from there, because at that point, any tricky
    Rootsmagic protections will be "at rest".

    I've now found that it works 3 ways out of 4.

    The only one that doesn't work is copying from the flash drive to the
    XP computer hard drive (XXCOPY).

    XP hard drive to flash works fine, as do copying both ways on the Win
    7 laptop.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Jul 27 08:21:08 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 16:12:04 -0400, Denis Beauregard <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    <[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running >>Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    What about reducing the size of the file by zipping it before the
    transfer since it is for backuping ?

    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From wasbit@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Thu Jul 27 10:35:16 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 27/07/2023 07:13, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:10:00 +0200, Enno Borgsteede
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    I'm doing all my backups with FreeFileSync, because it runs on Linux,
    and Windows, and according to the site, there are older versions that
    still run on Windows XP:

    https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#operating-systems

    I have external hard drives and flash drives, and in my experience, the
    hard drives are more reliable, and often faster too, especially when I
    want to copy loads of small files, or a few big ones.

    FreeFileSync has no problems with big files, like the Windows 10 virtual
    machine that I run in Linux, which relies on a disk image that is bigger
    than 20 GB. It only copies files when their sizes or timestamps differ,
    so it's much safer for flash memory, which is very sensitive to wear,
    especially when written to.

    And like the name says, it is free.

    Thanks very much, I'll have a look at that.


    Don't see the OP but +1 for FreeFileSync

    Using it for years to back up to external USB HDDs.

    --
    Regards
    wasbit

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  • From john@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Thu Jul 27 13:50:29 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 27/07/2023 08:21, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 16:12:04 -0400, Denis Beauregard <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    <[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    What about reducing the size of the file by zipping it before the
    transfer since it is for backuping ?

    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.




    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Java Jive@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Thu Jul 27 13:50:28 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 27/07/2023 07:17, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 13:28:40 +0100, Java Jive <[email protected]d>
    wrote:

    On 16/06/2023 05:21, Steve Hayes wrote:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    I'm not going to try to help out with the problem you actually face, but
    suggest an alternative method. Why not use sync software over a
    network? Others may also suggest other software, but I use DeltaCopy to
    copy data between Win7 and XP machines without too much difficulty,
    although there are some gotchas, the two most important being:

    I find networks very unreliable,

    IME, if properly set up to begin with, they're far more reliable than
    USB sticks, as your OP and subsequent posts show.

    and anyway they don't work when the
    power is off, which happens several times a day. One of the reasons
    for needing to copy the files is so that I can continue working on the
    laptop when the power is off.

    Perhaps you'd do better to fix your power supply problems? Anyway, as explained, I use DeltaCopy to do that too.

    But if find that even wehn the network is working, sometimes I can see
    the other machines on it, and sometimes I cant, and sometimes it asks
    for a password (there isn't one) and sometimes it doesn't. But when it
    asks for a password I can't use it.

    Then either you've not configured your network properly, or your router
    may be faulty, or perhaps you're referring to recent versions of Windows
    often failing to find something under 'Network' even when the network is actually working properly. I'm afraid the latter problem is just
    Microsoft networking, the network is there, and usually choosing Refresh
    from the View menu in Explorer will find it, or if it doesn't, the
    desired machine can be accessed by entering the UNC path directly into Explorer, but no-one would deny it's a PITA. I still prefer the XP
    method of creating shortcuts to the other machine shares that you
    commonly access.

    If the first is the problem, I posted instructions for how to share over
    a network between Windows PCs here. However, if you're running
    Microsoft Security Essentials on W7 or later, you won't be able to share
    stuff with XP and earlier, possibly Vista and earlier, without an
    additional registry hack, which I can look up if required by don't
    recall OOTTOMH:

    https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.os.windows-xp/c/Ygj5tIKQgsE/m/4rQJlmX5AQAJ

    --

    Fake news kills!

    I may be contacted via the contact address given on my website:
    www.macfh.co.uk

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From J. P. Gilliver@21:1/5 to john on Thu Jul 27 16:28:02 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    In message <u9tlm6$1schm$[email protected]> at Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:50:29,
    john <[email protected]> writes
    On 27/07/2023 08:21, Steve Hayes wrote:
    []
    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.
    []
    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

    Or find the 8.3 name - "dir /x" will show them. Though if doing so loses
    the longer version, you might have to rename it back to actually use it
    after a restore, which could be a pain.
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    There's only so much you can do... with gravel.
    - Charlie Dimmock, RT 2016/7/9-15

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From J. P. Gilliver@21:1/5 to wasbit on Thu Jul 27 17:14:25 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    In message <u9tdol$1rko2$[email protected]> at Thu, 27 Jul 2023 10:35:16,
    wasbit <[email protected]d> writes
    On 27/07/2023 07:13, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Mon, 19 Jun 2023 15:10:00 +0200, Enno Borgsteede
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    I'm doing all my backups with FreeFileSync, because it runs on
    []
    https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#operating-systems
    []
    And like the name says, it is free.
    Thanks very much, I'll have a look at that.

    Don't see the OP but +1 for FreeFileSync

    Using it for years to back up to external USB HDDs.

    Thanks for the recommendation. (I was initially put off by the
    bidirectional arrow on the Synchronise button, but I now see it has a
    mirror mode. Though only the video tutorial mentions - and that only in
    passing - the deletion of files on the target, which I'd want.)

    It looks good: any thoughts (ideally from people who've used both) on
    how it varies - for mirror mode use, i. e. ending up with an exact copy, including deletions and renames - from the old Microsoft (Russinovitch,
    I think) SyncToy? (Which I now see is no longer available from MS, but
    the last version [2.1] is at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_synctoy_for_windows_xp.html [ignore the xp in the URL, it's actually 11/10/8/7 according to the
    actual page].)
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    No sense being pessimistic. It wouldn't work anyway.
    - Penny Mayes, UMRA, 2014-August

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Jul 28 08:23:47 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:50:29 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 27/07/2023 08:21, Steve Hayes wrote:
    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.

    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

    How easy is it to get 7Zip to work from a batch file?


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Jul 28 08:46:21 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 17:14:25 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver"
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    In message <u9tdol$1rko2$[email protected]> at Thu, 27 Jul 2023 10:35:16, >wasbit <[email protected]d> writes

    I'm doing all my backups with FreeFileSync, because it runs on
    []
    https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#operating-systems
    []
    And like the name says, it is free.
    Thanks very much, I'll have a look at that.

    Don't see the OP but +1 for FreeFileSync

    Using it for years to back up to external USB HDDs.

    Thanks for the recommendation. (I was initially put off by the
    bidirectional arrow on the Synchronise button, but I now see it has a
    mirror mode. Though only the video tutorial mentions - and that only in >passing - the deletion of files on the target, which I'd want.)

    It looks good: any thoughts (ideally from people who've used both) on
    how it varies - for mirror mode use, i. e. ending up with an exact copy, >including deletions and renames - from the old Microsoft (Russinovitch,
    I think) SyncToy? (Which I now see is no longer available from MS, but
    the last version [2.1] is at >https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_synctoy_for_windows_xp.html >[ignore the xp in the URL, it's actually 11/10/8/7 according to the
    actual page].)

    I use a thing called AllwaySync, which as far as I can see does much
    the same thing. I use it to back up certain directories to an external
    hard drive.

    I'm not sure how well it would work for copying working files from one
    computer to another and back again.




    --
    Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
    Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
    Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
    E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Jul 28 08:26:03 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:28:02 +0100, "J. P. Gilliver"
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    In message <u9tlm6$1schm$[email protected]> at Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:50:29,
    john <[email protected]> writes

    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

    Or find the 8.3 name - "dir /x" will show them. Though if doing so loses
    the longer version, you might have to rename it back to actually use it
    after a restore, which could be a pain.

    The trouble is that before I could do that Dropbox would pick it up
    and create a duplicate, one with the short name and one with the long
    one.


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From john@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Fri Jul 28 11:20:18 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 28/07/2023 08:23, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:50:29 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 27/07/2023 08:21, Steve Hayes wrote:
    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.

    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

    How easy is it to get 7Zip to work from a batch file?



    Easy

    plenty of help and examples on the internet e.g. https://www.dotnetperls.com/7-zip-examples https://www.get-itsolutions.com/script-to-zip-file-using-cmd-batch-file/ https://7ziphelp.com/7zip-command-line

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Denis Beauregard@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Jul 28 08:10:22 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 28 Jul 2023 08:23:47 +0200, Steve Hayes
    <[email protected]> wrote in soc.genealogy.computing:

    How easy is it to get 7Zip to work from a batch file?

    "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z" a -r target.zip C:\...source\*.*

    using the relevant place where is the 7z.exe software,
    source to be zipped and result file.

    "" required because my 7z.exe is in a directory with a
    blank in its name.


    Denis

    --
    Denis Beauregard - généalogiste émérite (FQSG)
    Les Français d'Amérique du Nord - http://www.francogene.com/gfan/gfan/998/ French in North America before 1722 - http://www.francogene.com/gfna/gfna/998/ Sur cédérom/DVD/USB à 1790 - On CD-ROM/DVD/USB to 1790

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  • From Enno Borgsteede@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jul 28 14:06:56 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Don't see the OP but +1 for FreeFileSync

    Using it for years to back up to external USB HDDs.

    Thanks for the recommendation. (I was initially put off by the
    bidirectional arrow on the Synchronise button, but I now see it has a
    mirror mode. Though only the video tutorial mentions - and that only in passing - the deletion of files on the target, which I'd want.)

    It looks good: any thoughts (ideally from people who've used both) on
    how it varies - for mirror mode use, i. e. ending up with an exact copy, including deletions and renames - from the old Microsoft (Russinovitch,
    I think) SyncToy? (Which I now see is no longer available from MS, but
    the last version [2.1] is at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_synctoy_for_windows_xp.html [ignore the xp in the URL, it's actually 11/10/8/7 according to the actual page].)

    I've used SyncToy but at that time my external drives were much smaller,
    and I don't remember whether it gave me a full preview of the files that
    it planned to sync. It was also Windows only, so I had to abandon it at
    the moment that I migrated my tree to Gramps running in Linux.

    I use Linux and Windows 10 and 11 in multi boot configurations, and
    because I often change files on either, I use the two way sync, with an external hard drive formatted as NTFS. This means that any change made
    in Linux, will make it to Windows via that external drive and vice versa.

    And when I change the same file on both sides between sync sessions, the program will also warn me about a possible conflict, and let me choose
    what to do.

    Enno

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  • From Enno Borgsteede@21:1/5 to All on Fri Jul 28 16:11:28 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Op 28-07-2023 om 08:46 schreef Steve Hayes:

    I use a thing called AllwaySync, which as far as I can see does much
    the same thing. I use it to back up certain directories to an external
    hard drive.

    I'm not sure how well it would work for copying working files from one computer to another and back again.

    I'm not either, but I do know that FreeFileSync does that quite well,
    even between Linux and Windows, using external drives, or Google Drive,
    and maybe some other cloud services too.

    I like it, because it has the same UI on Linux and Windows, and because
    the free version has no limits on the amount of files or GB's that you
    can synchronize. This means that you know what it can handle before you
    decide to donate.

    I have more than 70,000 files in my home folder, and the program can
    handle those easily.

    Regards,

    Enno

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  • From J. P. Gilliver@21:1/5 to Enno Borgsteede on Sat Jul 29 03:08:11 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    In message <ua0b10$286oe$[email protected]> at Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:06:56,
    Enno Borgsteede <[email protected]> writes
    Don't see the OP but +1 for FreeFileSync

    Using it for years to back up to external USB HDDs.

    Thanks for the recommendation. (I was initially put off by the
    []
    It looks good: any thoughts (ideally from people who've used both)
    on how it varies - for mirror mode use, i. e. ending up with an exact >>copy, including deletions and renames - from the old Microsoft >>(Russinovitch, I think) SyncToy? (Which I now see is no longer
    []
    I've used SyncToy but at that time my external drives were much
    smaller, and I don't remember whether it gave me a full preview of the
    files that it planned to sync. It was also Windows only, so I had to
    abandon it at the moment that I migrated my tree to Gramps running in
    Linux.
    []
    Thanks all for the recommendation. I did suspect SyncToy wasn't always
    copying everything (I haven't installed either on this machine yet -
    I've just been using explorer, and copying everything). I've had a look
    at the FreeFileSync website, and it _looks_ somewhat more informative
    than SyncToy, so I'll give it a go next time I do a backup. (Obviously
    it won't save any time the first time.)
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    I admire you British: when things get tough, you reach for humour. Not firearms. - Sigourney (Susan) Weaver, RT 2017/11/4-10

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  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Jul 29 05:56:17 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    I use a USB flash drive to transfer my working data files between by
    dsktop computer (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running
    Windows 7.

    I used to do most of this this using Dropbox, but Dropbox stopped
    working on Windows XP, so I've done it with a flash drive since then.

    Recently, however, one of my data files, for the Rootsmagic genealogy >program, started getting corrupted in the transfer.

    This is the command I use to transfer it from the flash drive to the
    desktop computer (which runs WinXP):

    XXCOPY J:\Dropbox\*.* G:\Stevedoc\Dropbox\ /BN /s /y

    Where J: is the flash drive and G: is a hard drive on my computer.

    That command is part of a batch file which I run every time I need to >transfer the files. I use similar commands copy files to the flash
    drive.

    When the Rootsmagic V7 data file reached 100 Mb, however, it started
    being corrupted.

    It seems to be corrupted only when copying from the flash drive to the
    hard drive, on both computers. It does not seem to be corrupted when
    copying from the hard drive to the flash drive. When I notice it is >corrupted, I copy it manually, using FlashCommander, and that seems to
    copy the file without corruption.

    Does anyone know of any limitation of both XXCOPY and ROBOCOPY that
    would cause them to produce errors when copying files over 100 Mb?

    Or could the problem be in the use of the command in a batch file, so
    that the batch file tries to run the next command before the computer
    has finished copying the file to the hard drive? If so, is there way
    of delaying it until the copying is finished?

    After more playing around with this, it seems that the problem may not
    lie with the copying programs, but with RootsMagic itself.

    So here is a restatement of the problem:

    I frequently have to copy my RM data file from my desktop computer
    (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running Windows 7).

    A while back the file reached the size of 100 Mb, and I began to have
    problems with the copying, which I do with XXCOPY on the XP machine
    and Robocopy on the Win 7 machine.

    I copy the files to a USB flash drive, along with several other files,
    using a batch file. But when the data file is copies from the flash
    drive to the XP computer, when I try to open it, it reports that the
    data file is malformed.

    When I look at it with the File Commander program (which compares
    files in different directories and allows one to copy them etc) it
    shows that the data file has been truncated to 100Mb on the XP
    machine, but on the flash drive it is shown as the original size. I
    manually copy it again, using File Commander, and then RM 6 or RM 7
    opens it OK.

    At first I thought the problem was with the copying programs, but it
    appears that it is not. The file is copied just fine, but the first
    time I try to open it RM (6 or 7) on the XP computer it seems to
    truncate it to 100Mb and then reports it as malformed. But when I
    manually copy it a second time, it seems to open it correctly.

    Any suggestions about what might be causing such a problem, and how to
    overcome it?

    (Follow-ups reset)


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

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  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Jul 29 05:30:23 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Fri, 28 Jul 2023 11:20:18 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 28/07/2023 08:23, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Thu, 27 Jul 2023 13:50:29 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 27/07/2023 08:21, Steve Hayes wrote:
    I do that with a lot of the files, all in the same batch files. But
    for those I use MS DOS PkZip or ARJ from the command line, and they
    can only cope with 8:3 file names. The RootsMagic data file has a
    four-letter extension, and so won't copy or compress like that.

    Why not use the modern free archive program 7-Zip which does not have
    those filename limitations. It allows splitting the archive
    automatically into volumes of 10Mb, which should copy without the
    problems you have noticed, and then to put them back together when you
    open the archive.

    How easy is it to get 7Zip to work from a batch file?

    plenty of help and examples on the internet e.g. >https://www.dotnetperls.com/7-zip-examples >https://www.get-itsolutions.com/script-to-zip-file-using-cmd-batch-file/ >https://7ziphelp.com/7zip-command-line

    Thank you!


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

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  • From john@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Sat Jul 29 13:44:50 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 29/07/2023 05:56, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes

    big snip


    So here is a restatement of the problem:

    I frequently have to copy my RM data file from my desktop computer
    (running Windows XP) and my laptop computer (running Windows 7).

    A while back the file reached the size of 100 Mb, and I began to have problems with the copying, which I do with XXCOPY on the XP machine
    and Robocopy on the Win 7 machine.

    I copy the files to a USB flash drive, along with several other files,
    using a batch file. But when the data file is copies from the flash
    drive to the XP computer, when I try to open it, it reports that the
    data file is malformed.

    When I look at it with the File Commander program (which compares
    files in different directories and allows one to copy them etc) it
    shows that the data file has been truncated to 100Mb on the XP
    machine, but on the flash drive it is shown as the original size. I
    manually copy it again, using File Commander, and then RM 6 or RM 7
    opens it OK.

    At first I thought the problem was with the copying programs, but it
    appears that it is not. The file is copied just fine, but the first
    time I try to open it RM (6 or 7) on the XP computer it seems to
    truncate it to 100Mb and then reports it as malformed. But when I
    manually copy it a second time, it seems to open it correctly.

    Any suggestions about what might be causing such a problem, and how to overcome it?

    (Follow-ups reset)



    Trying to find solutions for problems for software which is over 10
    years old is difficult, especially without full information.

    An exact copy of the RM error message and any possible error code might
    help in identifying the problem (is it the same for both RM6 and RM7?)

    Have you updated to the latest versions of your copying software?
    Robocopy is available for WinXP (but you will need to get it from a copy
    of Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit)

    Are your versions of WinXP and Win 7 fully patched to the final versions?

    Are you running the final version of RM on WinXP (is it the RM full
    version or Essentials?)

    Do you run the RM database integrity checks and re-index the database routinely?

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  • From Enno Borgsteede@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jul 29 16:14:46 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Op 29-07-2023 om 04:08 schreef J. P. Gilliver:

    Thanks all for the recommendation. I did suspect SyncToy wasn't always copying everything (I haven't installed either on this machine yet -
    I've just been using explorer, and copying everything). I've had a look
    at the FreeFileSync website, and it _looks_ somewhat more informative
    than SyncToy, so I'll give it a go next time I do a backup. (Obviously
    it won't save any time the first time.)

    Well, I think that it will, if you copied everything with explorer. And
    that is, because at its 1st run, it will compare timestamps and sizes,
    and assume that all files with equal sizes and timestamps are the same,
    and also assume that files with newer timestamps should overwrite older
    ones. It will also assume that files that don't exist on either side
    need to be copied from the other (in two-way mode).

    When synchronization is done, names, sizes, and timestamps are saved in
    a hidden database file, so that the program can detect deletions, and
    files that have changed on both sides between sessions.

    Note that timestamps may differ when you have a FAT file system on one
    side, because that doesn't know anything about daylight savings. In such
    a case you may see lots of files with a 1 hour difference, and if you
    want, the program can correct for that too.

    Regards,

    Enno

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  • From J. P. Gilliver@21:1/5 to Enno Borgsteede on Sat Jul 29 20:07:22 2023
    XPost: alt.windows7.general, microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    In message <ua36sm$2kmit$[email protected]> at Sat, 29 Jul 2023 16:14:46,
    Enno Borgsteede <[email protected]> writes
    Op 29-07-2023 om 04:08 schreef J. P. Gilliver:

    Thanks all for the recommendation. I did suspect SyncToy wasn't
    always copying everything (I haven't installed either on this machine
    yet - I've just been using explorer, and copying everything). I've
    had a look at the FreeFileSync website, and it _looks_ somewhat more >>informative than SyncToy, so I'll give it a go next time I do a
    backup. (Obviously it won't save any time the first time.)

    Well, I think that it will, if you copied everything with explorer. And
    that is, because at its 1st run, it will compare timestamps and sizes,
    and assume that all files with equal sizes and timestamps are the same,
    and also assume that files with newer timestamps should overwrite older
    ones. It will also assume that files that don't exist on either side

    The first time, there won't be anything in the destination.

    need to be copied from the other (in two-way mode).

    You're worrying me talking about "either side" and "two-way mode" - but
    I think probably unnecessarily. I just want a copy, with no chance of
    anything changing the source side. But I think selecting mirror mode
    will do that.

    When synchronization is done, names, sizes, and timestamps are saved in
    a hidden database file, so that the program can detect deletions, and
    files that have changed on both sides between sessions.

    That will certainly change things on the second and subsequent backups.

    Note that timestamps may differ when you have a FAT file system on one
    side, because that doesn't know anything about daylight savings. In
    such a case you may see lots of files with a 1 hour difference, and if
    you want, the program can correct for that too.

    Useful to know. I _think_ I have NTFS on both my internal and external
    HDs. (Certainly on the internal, as "Everything" works well, and IIRR it
    either doesn't work at all, or works very slowly, on FAT.)
    []
    --
    J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

    Where [other presenters] tackle the world with a box of watercolours, he
    takes a spanner. - David Butcher (on Guy Martin), RT 2015/1/31-2/6

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  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Mon Jul 31 13:05:28 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:44:50 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 29/07/2023 05:56, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    At first I thought the problem was with the copying programs, but it
    appears that it is not. The file is copied just fine, but the first
    time I try to open it RM (6 or 7) on the XP computer it seems to
    truncate it to 100Mb and then reports it as malformed. But when I
    manually copy it a second time, it seems to open it correctly.

    Any suggestions about what might be causing such a problem, and how to
    overcome it?

    Trying to find solutions for problems for software which is over 10
    years old is difficult, especially without full information.

    An exact copy of the RM error message and any possible error code might
    help in identifying the problem (is it the same for both RM6 and RM7?)

    RM7 Error Message:

    Application Error

    Exception ESQLite3 in module Rootsmagic.exe at 00064907
    SQLite error 11 - database disk image is malformed.

    RM6 Error Message

    Rootsmagic has encountered an unexpected error.
    SQLite error 11 - database disk image is malformed.

    Have you updated to the latest versions of your copying software?
    Robocopy is available for WinXP (but you will need to get it from a copy
    of Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit)

    Are your versions of WinXP and Win 7 fully patched to the final versions?

    I'm pretty sure they are.

    Are you running the final version of RM on WinXP (is it the RM full
    version or Essentials?)

    It is the final full version in both RM6 & RM 7.

    Do you run the RM database integrity checks and re-index the database >routinely?

    Yes, usually with RM6, which does it faster in both Win XP and Win 7.

    Also doing it in Win 7, as well as taking longer it also produces some
    strange behaviour.




    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

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  • From john@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Mon Jul 31 14:00:43 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 31/07/2023 13:05, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:44:50 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 29/07/2023 05:56, Steve Hayes wrote:
    On Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:21:27 +0200, Steve Hayes
    At first I thought the problem was with the copying programs, but it
    appears that it is not. The file is copied just fine, but the first
    time I try to open it RM (6 or 7) on the XP computer it seems to
    truncate it to 100Mb and then reports it as malformed. But when I
    manually copy it a second time, it seems to open it correctly.

    Any suggestions about what might be causing such a problem, and how to
    overcome it?

    Trying to find solutions for problems for software which is over 10
    years old is difficult, especially without full information.

    An exact copy of the RM error message and any possible error code might
    help in identifying the problem (is it the same for both RM6 and RM7?)

    RM7 Error Message:

    Application Error

    Exception ESQLite3 in module Rootsmagic.exe at 00064907
    SQLite error 11 - database disk image is malformed.

    RM6 Error Message

    Rootsmagic has encountered an unexpected error.
    SQLite error 11 - database disk image is malformed.

    Have you updated to the latest versions of your copying software?
    Robocopy is available for WinXP (but you will need to get it from a copy
    of Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit)

    Are your versions of WinXP and Win 7 fully patched to the final versions?

    I'm pretty sure they are.

    Are you running the final version of RM on WinXP (is it the RM full
    version or Essentials?)

    It is the final full version in both RM6 & RM 7.

    Do you run the RM database integrity checks and re-index the database
    routinely?

    Yes, usually with RM6, which does it faster in both Win XP and Win 7.

    Also doing it in Win 7, as well as taking longer it also produces some strange behaviour.



    "Also doing it in Win 7, as well as taking longer it also produces some
    strange behaviour" does seem to imply there is a corruption which you
    may be perpetuating

    If you haven't already done so, it would be sensible to create a new
    database and to try copying that.

    see the para on "Backups may not help" in https://sqlitetoolsforrootsmagic.com/corrupt-database-recovery/ and then
    for some suggestions on building a new database from your existing database

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  • From Enno Borgsteede@21:1/5 to All on Mon Jul 31 20:54:30 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    Hello Steve,

    At first I thought the problem was with the copying programs, but it
    appears that it is not. The file is copied just fine, but the first
    time I try to open it RM (6 or 7) on the XP computer it seems to
    truncate it to 100Mb and then reports it as malformed. But when I
    manually copy it a second time, it seems to open it correctly.

    Any suggestions about what might be causing such a problem, and how to
    overcome it?

    At first sight, I would also think that it's a problem caused by using
    an old RM version on an old Windows, but when I test this combination
    here, running RM 7 Essentials on Windows XP on a virtual machine, inside
    Linux, after importing a 300,000 person GEDCOM, which creates a RMGC
    file of 222.5 MB, I see no error or truncation, so it looks like there
    is some issue with your desktop that I can't simulate here.

    Have you tried the RootsMagic community forum?

    https://community.rootsmagic.com/

    I'm on that forum myself too, and it works quite well.

    Regards,

    Enno

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Aug 3 07:08:41 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Mon, 31 Jul 2023 14:00:43 +0200, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 31/07/2023 13:05, Steve Hayes wrote:
    Do you run the RM database integrity checks and re-index the database
    routinely?

    Yes, usually with RM6, which does it faster in both Win XP and Win 7.

    Also doing it in Win 7, as well as taking longer it also produces some
    strange behaviour.



    "Also doing it in Win 7, as well as taking longer it also produces some >strange behaviour" does seem to imply there is a corruption which you
    may be perpetuating

    Except that in recopying the file with File Commander the corruption
    seems to disappear and the file opens normally again.

    I use RM with Win 7 on the laptop because RM6 no longer accesses
    FamilySearch on any platform, and on the XP computer access comes and
    goes -- some features of FamilySearch (at the moment Search) stop
    working for a while, then they come back).

    See here: <https://hayesgreene.blogspot.com/2023/02/farewell-to-familysearch.html>

    But on the Win 7 laptop I use a more recent and therefore more bloated
    version of the Firefox browswer, which hogs memory, is much slower,
    and sometimes takes 5 minutes or more to load a page, but I continue
    to use it because some websites (like FamilySearch) don't work, or
    work eratically, on older and more compact browsers). I suspect that
    some of the erros I get with RM7 are because I run it with Firefox to
    access FamilySearch, and it hogs disk access. Firefox not only takes 5
    minutes or longer to load, it seems to take just as long to unload,
    and I suspect that that is what may be causing the weird behaviour of
    RM 7 when I try to run the integrity check. I wish someone would
    produce a Firefox Lite, which just does basic browsing without the
    bells and whistles.

    If you haven't already done so, it would be sensible to create a new
    database and to try copying that.

    see the para on "Backups may not help" in >https://sqlitetoolsforrootsmagic.com/corrupt-database-recovery/ and then
    for some suggestions on building a new database from your existing database

    Thanks, I'll check that.

    Gedcom export/import?


    --
    Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
    Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
    Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
    E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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  • From john@21:1/5 to Steve Hayes on Wed Aug 9 10:53:48 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On 03/08/2023 06:08, Steve Hayes wrote:

    On Mon, 31 Jul 2023 14:00:43 +0200, john wrote:

    snip.


    If you haven't already done so, it would be sensible to create a new
    database and to try copying that.

    see the para on "Backups may not help" in
    https://sqlitetoolsforrootsmagic.com/corrupt-database-recovery/ and then
    for some suggestions on building a new database from your existing database

    Thanks, I'll check that.



    As you have not given any follow-up, can you report on whether have you
    tried rebuilding the database and then copying.

    If you have, has your problem been solved? If it hasn't, do you get the
    same or a different error?

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  • From Steve Hayes@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Sat Aug 12 09:24:40 2023
    XPost: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general, soc.genealogy.computing

    On Wed, 9 Aug 2023 10:53:48 +0100, john
    <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 03/08/2023 06:08, Steve Hayes wrote:

    On Mon, 31 Jul 2023 14:00:43 +0200, john wrote:

    snip.


    If you haven't already done so, it would be sensible to create a new
    database and to try copying that.

    see the para on "Backups may not help" in
    https://sqlitetoolsforrootsmagic.com/corrupt-database-recovery/ and then >>> for some suggestions on building a new database from your existing database >>
    Thanks, I'll check that.



    As you have not given any follow-up, can you report on whether have you
    tried rebuilding the database and then copying.

    If you have, has your problem been solved? If it hasn't, do you get the
    same or a different error?

    I tried a few things, but not that -- I assume that would mean
    exporting to GEDCOM and re-importing.

    But in any case, yesterday the problem disappeared. The file copied
    and opened correctly, even though I had made no changes to the setup
    since the previous time I'd had to re-copy the file manually.

    But thanks to everyone who replied and tried to help!


    --
    Steve Hayes
    Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/
    http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

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  • From =?UTF-8?B?4Liq4Lih4Lix4LiE4Lij4LiH4@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 9 03:04:09 2023
    UmU6IFhYQ09QWSAmIFJvYm9jb3B5IGJhcmYgb24gZmlsZXMgYmlnZ2VyIHRoYW4gMTAwIE1iDQri nIUg4LmA4LiC4LmJ4Liy4LmA4Lin4LmH4Lia4LmE4LiL4LiV4LmMDQpodHRwczovL2JpdC5seS9j dXA4OHNpdGU/N3FxeT11ZmENCg0K4pyFIOC4quC4oeC4seC4hOC4o+C4quC4oeC4suC4iuC4tOC4 gQ0KaHR0cHM6Ly9iaXQubHkvY3VwODhnZz83cXF5PXVmYQ0KDQrinIUg4LiV4Li04LiU4LiV4LmI 4Lit4LmA4Lij4LiyDQpodHRwczovL2JpdC5seS9jdXA4OGxnZz83cXF5PXVmYQ0KDQrinIUg4Lij 4Lix4Lia4LmC4Lib4Lij4LmC4Lih4LiK4Lix4LmI4LiZDQpodHRwczovL2JpdC5seS9jdXA4OGhs aW5rZ2c/N3FxeT11ZmENCg0KDQo=

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