Erroneous Message: Cannot Copy _ There is not enough free disk spa

I have a possibly damaged 500GB HDD (giving sporadic problems) and purchased
a new 750GB WD drive to remove/archive some files. I have copied some
smaller files, but am now getting a message on the larger files “Cannot copy
[file name]. There is not enough free disk space. Delete one or more files…�

The file that I’m trying to copy is a 7 GB AVI video file and plays fine
from the questionable drive. The questionable 500GB drive has 30GB free
space and the drive that I’m copying to has 702GB free. My Windows C:\ drive
has 16 GB free.

The error message is obviously wrong. Is this a Windows glitch when working
with large files? If so, what’s a workaround.

On Mar 25, 8:02 am, Lee Beck <LeeB...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> I have a possibly damaged 500GB HDD (giving sporadic problems) and purchased
> a new 750GB WD drive to remove/archive some files. I have copied some
> smaller files, but am now getting a message on the larger files "Cannot copy
> [file name]. There is not enough free disk space. Delete one or more files..."
>
> The file that I'm trying to copy is a 7 GB AVI video file and plays fine
> from the questionable drive. The questionable 500GB drive has 30GB free
> space and the drive that I'm copying to has 702GB free. My Windows C:\ drive
> has 16 GB free.
>
> The error message is obviously wrong. Is this a Windows glitch when working
> with large files? If so, what's a workaround.

What type of "filesystem" is the 750GB drive formatted as? If the
drive is formatted as FAT32, then XP has a physical limit of 4GB per
file. You will need to "convert" the 750GB WD to NTFS.

Yep, It's formatted as FAT32. I can't believe that a new model WD drive came
packaged as FAT rather than NTFS. I just assumed....

I'll try partitioning the drive so that I can retain the information that I
already have copied to it. Is there a way to convert the entire HDD to NTFS
and retain the stuff that was placed on it while it was FAT 32?

Thanks

"smlunatick" wrote:

> On Mar 25, 8:02 am, Lee Beck <LeeB...@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
> > I have a possibly damaged 500GB HDD (giving sporadic problems) and purchased
> > a new 750GB WD drive to remove/archive some files. I have copied some
> > smaller files, but am now getting a message on the larger files "Cannot copy
> > [file name]. There is not enough free disk space. Delete one or more files..."
> >
> > The file that I'm trying to copy is a 7 GB AVI video file and plays fine
> > from the questionable drive. The questionable 500GB drive has 30GB free
> > space and the drive that I'm copying to has 702GB free. My Windows C:\ drive
> > has 16 GB free.
> >
> > The error message is obviously wrong. Is this a Windows glitch when working
> > with large files? If so, what's a workaround.
>
> What type of "filesystem" is the 750GB drive formatted as? If the
> drive is formatted as FAT32, then XP has a physical limit of 4GB per
> file. You will need to "convert" the 750GB WD to NTFS.
>

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:41:01 -0700, Lee Beck
<LeeBeck@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> Yep, It's formatted as FAT32. I can't believe that a new model WD drive came
> packaged as FAT rather than NTFS. I just assumed....
>
> I'll try partitioning the drive so that I can retain the information that I
> already have copied to it. Is there a way to convert the entire HDD to NTFS
> and retain the stuff that was placed on it while it was FAT 32?


To convert to NTFS, you use the CONVERT command. But first read
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm because there's an issue regarding
cluster size that isn't obvious.

Also note that conversion is a big step, affecting everything on your
drive. When you take such a big step, no matter how unlikely, it is
always possible that something could go wrong. For that reason, it's
prudent to make sure you have a backup of anything you can't afford to
lose before beginning.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

Lee Beck wrote:
> Yep, It's formatted as FAT32. I can't believe that a new model WD
> drive came packaged as FAT rather than NTFS. I just assumed....
<snipped>

Why would it come formatted with a file system that is only fully supported
by one operating system manufacturer and not one supported by most?

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

On Mar 25, 10:07*am, "Shenan Stanley" <newshel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Lee Beck wrote:
> > Yep, It's formatted as FAT32. *I can't believe that a new model WD
> > drive came packaged as FAT rather than NTFS. *I just assumed....
>
> <snipped>
>
> Why would it come formatted with a file system that is only fully supported
> by one operating system manufacturer and not one supported by most?
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> * * *MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Wayhttp://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Fat32 seems to be supported by more operating systems than NTFS. This
seem to let the external drive to be used with Windows 9x, ME, 2000,
XP, Linux and Mac (???.) NTFS is mainly supported by Windows 2000 /
XP / Vista / Server(s) As for Linux, additional modules seems to be
needed. As for Mac, not sure (was OS X based off a Linux???)

Lee Beck wrote:
> Yep, It's formatted as FAT32. I can't believe that a new model WD
> drive came packaged as FAT rather than NTFS. I just assumed....
<snipped>

Shenan Stanley wrote:
> Why would it come formatted with a file system that is only fully
> supported by one operating system manufacturer and not one
> supported by most?

smlunatick wrote:
> Fat32 seems to be supported by more operating systems than NTFS.
> This seem to let the external drive to be used with Windows 9x, ME,
> 2000, XP, Linux and Mac (???.) NTFS is mainly supported by Windows
> 2000 / XP / Vista / Server(s) As for Linux, additional modules seems
> to be needed. As for Mac, not sure (was OS X based off a Linux???)

Thanks for the supporting information to my question to the OP.

OSX is based on the Mach kernel and is derived from the Berkeley Software
Distribution (BSD) implementation of Unix in Nextstep. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X )

Yes - as is inferred - FAT32 is used because of cross-platform capabilities.
NTFS is not because it is only fully supported by one OS manufacturer. Thus
my question to the OP.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

I used the DOS convert command and everything seemed to go well. I'm copying
the large files now.

Like some of the other responders I'm surprised that the default for this
new WD 750GB HDD is FAT32. I'm especially disappointed that it didn't have a
note promanently displayed to that effect given that most of us have been
using NTFS for a decade or so. this is the 750GB "My Book" drives which I
think is a new line by WD - I got it at Best Buy about a month ago (it's not
a legacy drive). Also, I would think that MSFT would update their eror
messages. I'm running XP SP2 and of course XP is NTFS.

Anyway, thanks for all the help. I'm looking into the cluster size issue
but I'm thinking that it'll be okay.

"smlunatick" wrote:

> On Mar 25, 8:02 am, Lee Beck <LeeB...@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
> > I have a possibly damaged 500GB HDD (giving sporadic problems) and purchased
> > a new 750GB WD drive to remove/archive some files. I have copied some
> > smaller files, but am now getting a message on the larger files "Cannot copy
> > [file name]. There is not enough free disk space. Delete one or more files..."
> >
> > The file that I'm trying to copy is a 7 GB AVI video file and plays fine
> > from the questionable drive. The questionable 500GB drive has 30GB free
> > space and the drive that I'm copying to has 702GB free. My Windows C:\ drive
> > has 16 GB free.
> >
> > The error message is obviously wrong. Is this a Windows glitch when working
> > with large files? If so, what's a workaround.
>
> What type of "filesystem" is the 750GB drive formatted as? If the
> drive is formatted as FAT32, then XP has a physical limit of 4GB per
> file. You will need to "convert" the 750GB WD to NTFS.
>

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:15:01 -0700, Lee Beck
<LeeBeck@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I used the DOS convert command and everything seemed to go well.


But if that's all you did, you probably have 512-byte clusters and
will take a big performance hit.


> I'm copying
> the large files now.

> Like some of the other responders I'm surprised that the default for this
> new WD 750GB HDD is FAT32.


I don't agree. The default should be the most universally-supported
file system, not one that only some operating systems support


> I'm especially disappointed that it didn't have a
> note promanently displayed to that effect


I'm with you there.


> given that most of us have been
> using NTFS for a decade or so. this is the 750GB "My Book" drives which I
> think is a new line by WD - I got it at Best Buy about a month ago (it's not
> a legacy drive). Also, I would think that MSFT would update their eror
> messages.


And I'm very much with you there. The error message is incredibly
misleading.


> I'm running XP SP2 and of course XP is NTFS.


No, it's not. NTFS is entirely optional. Windows XP, whether Home or
Professional, can access NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, in any
combination at all, and regardless of what file system it's installed
on.



> Anyway, thanks for all the help. I'm looking into the cluster size issue
> but I'm thinking that it'll be okay.


It is very unlikely to be OK, and you needed to address that issue
*before* doing the conversion. Did you read the link I cited?

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Mar 25, 4:15*pm, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<kbl...@this.is.an.invalid.domain> wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:15:01 -0700, Lee Beck
>
> <LeeB...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > I used the DOS convert command and everything seemed to go well.
>
> But if that's all you did, you probably have 512-byte clusters and
> will take a big performance hit.
>
> > I'm copying
> > the large files now.
> > Like some of the other responders I'm surprised that the default for this
> > new WD 750GB HDD is FAT32.
>
> I don't agree. The default should be the most universally-supported
> file system, not one that only some operating systems support
>
> > I'm especially disappointed that it didn't have a
> > note promanently displayed to that effect
>
> I'm with you there.
>
> > given that most of us have been
> > using NTFS for a decade or so. *this is the 750GB "My Book" drives which I
> > think is a new line by WD - I got it at Best Buy about a month ago (it'snot
> > a legacy drive). *Also, I would think that MSFT would update their eror
> > messages. *
>
> And I'm very much with you there. The error message is incredibly
> misleading.
>
> > I'm running XP SP2 and of course XP is NTFS.
>
> No, it's not. NTFS is entirely optional. Windows XP, whether Home or
> Professional, can access NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12, in any
> combination at all, and regardless of what file system it's installed
> on.
>
> > Anyway, thanks for all the help. *I'm looking into the cluster size issue
> > but I'm thinking that it'll be okay.
>
> It is very unlikely to be OK, and you needed to address that issue
> *before* doing the conversion. Did you read the link I cited?
>
> --
> Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
> Please Reply to the Newsgroup

XP has had limits placed (by Microsoft) so it can not create / format
FAT32 partitions greater than 32Gb nor be able to use files greater
than 4GB each.