Moving files to copy them

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ChrisGreaves
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Moving files to copy them

Post by ChrisGreaves »

I am used to the concept of moving a file by copying it to the new destination and then deleting the original, but I noticed yesterday that dragging a collection of files produces a weird message:-
MovingVsCopying.png
Win7 Starter on a little Acer netbook.
I am dragging a set of files from the camera (USB cable) to a DOS SUBSTituted drive B: which is a folder on my TruCrypet-ed drive.
There are several links here any one of which might fool Windows into thinking that it is a Move or a Copy.
The camera/smartphone OS is novel (Android), I am using a SUBST command for the drive. The parent drive in decrypted on the fly, and so on.

I didn't expect to see "Moving", though.

(signed) "Open to experiment" of Toronto
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John Gray
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Re: Moving files to copy them

Post by John Gray »

The important question is whether the files were actually moved or copied!
Were the files removed from the source location after the copy operation?
If Yes, then you can ignore the (apparently incorrect) message.

Are you really using all the drive letters available such that you have to use SUBST and B: ?
Perhaps there is a connection between these unusualities and the message you got...
John Gray

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Moving files to copy them

Post by ChrisGreaves »

John Gray wrote:Were the files removed from the source location after the copy operation?
Hi John, no apologies for the delay in responding. Much more interesting things to do!(grin)

Each day I have been taking photos on the camera's SD card and copying the camera's folder DCIM/Camera to drive B:, then copying images from B:\DCIM\CAMERA to B:\ where I Re-size them for the web. Thus I end up with three copies of the files:-
(1) the original images captured on the camera
(2) the B:\DCIM\CAMERA set which functions as a backup against mechanical failure (but not against the theft of my laptop and phone) and
(3) a set which ultimately will be resized, edited, enhanced etc.

To the best of my knowledge (and I'd be aware of a failure-to-COPY) these two actions have always resulted in copies being made; I haven't issued a command and then not seen the new copies in place. It's hard to lose sight of each day's 100 to 150 photos!

Since you posted your response, I have been checking that the files are indeed copied each day, but have NOT been staring at the pop-up message. I will start doing that now. (I have just copied from the camera to B:\DCIM\CAMERA and then from B:\DCIM\CAMERA to B:\, and the pop-up says "Copying" at all times.)
Are you really using all the drive letters available such that you have to use SUBST and B: ?
No, John, not at all.
The "subst B: T:\Blotter\%Daily%" is a lamentable throwback to my fountain-pen-and-paper days. Drive B: is always my desktop blotter (today the SUBST maps to T:\Blotter\20160920) so that each day my drive B: serves as a short-term archive for work-in-progress, and is effectively emptied (actually hidden from sight) on the following day.

This ACER has one physical hard drive with two partitions. The second partition is a TrueCrypt encrypted partition which blossoms into T: during the boot process.

The ACER is beginning to have problems with the file system. Both Win7 and Defraggler refuse to perform any defragmentation on drive T:, which has 14.1GB free and 85.9GB in use. Defraggler reports many fragmented files.

I suspect that I was lucky and caught a glance at a rare aberration with the file system, or, more likely, that in a fatigued state I did something odd, such as selecting all in B:\DCIM\CAMERA with Ctrl-A, issuing a Ctrl-C (which would make me think I was copying) and then electing to drag the selected files, instead of Ctrl-V, or using Ctrl with the drag and missing the Ctrl key.

I remain mystified that I can't recall files NOT being copied, and also at the apparent duplicity of the pop-up message.

I will keep a more vigilant eye on my copy operations over the next few days.
Cheers
Chris
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Moving files to copy them

Post by ChrisGreaves »

It happened again this evening.

The smartphone camera is hooked up by USB to the ACER netbook. In Win7 explorer, the camera folder looks like "XT1563\SD Card\DCIM\Camera\"
I sort the entries (photographs) in date sequence then select today's photos with Click-Shift-Click.
I use Ctrl-C to copy the 95 files to the clipboard.

On the Acer netbook I have a drive B in which I have previously used Windows Explorer to create a new folder DCIM and within that folder a new folder Camera.
I open this folder B:\DCIM\Camera and use Ctrl-V to paste the 95 files.
The pop-up box shows both "Copying" and "Moving"; this is the second time i have seen this, and I believe I will be able to reproduce it at will.

The wrinkles:

(1) Drive T is an TrueCrypt-ed partition.
(2) Drive B is a SUBSTituted drive that maps to T:\Blotter\20160925.
(3) The procedure outlined above was performed shortly after noon this day. Then I had a nap, then took more photos. It was during the second execution of the procedure that I witnessed the Copying/Moving anomaly.
(4) Since 20 of the 95 files already existed in B:\DCIM\Camera by virtue of the lunchtime procedure, I was not surprised to be prompted to "Don't Copy; Do this for all", which I did. That is, I was copying in only those files created since noontime, but this (duplicate files) prompt came along well after the anomalous prompt.

Tomorrow (or Tuesday) I will repeat today's scenario with a new batch of photos and observe closely.
Cheers
Chris
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Rudi
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Re: Moving files to copy them

Post by Rudi »

1. Does this phenomenon occur if you copy it to your PC's OS drive? (Standard C:\ IOW (whatever that might be on your PC?)
2. What happens if you copy from the T;\ to an external drive (or a flash drive)?
3. Also, does it occur if you copy from a folder to another folder within this T:\ drive or from the T:\ to the actual OS drive (reverse of #1)?

I'm just trying to determine if this mapped drive is causing this phenomenon, or if it is a feature within the OS itself.
Regards,
Rudi

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Moving files to copy them

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Rudi wrote:I'm just trying to determine if this mapped drive is causing this phenomenon, or if it is a feature within the OS itself.
Good questions, Rudi, and thanks. I'll be exploring in more detail what happens over the next few days.
Much has not happened in my neighbourhood while I've been away (road still not rebuilt, sidewalk still not started, north face of my building still not completed etc) so I'll be out and about snapping pics day after day as I try to resume a normal life.
I'll use these fresh batches of images to duplicate and narrow down the cause.
My first essays I plan to carry out on the NetBook, just as if I were in France.

Meanwhile I have to focus on essentials. My fridge and freezer were bare when I got home last night so I had to make a run to Loblaws to pick up a two-litre block of Chapman's ice-cream. Today I have to get some serious grocery shopping done - a four-litre tub for example.


More later ...
Cheers
Chris
An expensive day out: Wallet and Grimace