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

[Lee Beck]

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…â€

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.

 

[smlunatick]

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.

 

[Lee Beck]

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

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.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

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.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

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?

 

[smlunatick]

<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?

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???)

 

[Shenan Stanley]

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?

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.

 

[Lee Beck]

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.

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.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

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?

 

[smlunatick]

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


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


I'm with you there.


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


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.


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?

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.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

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.

Both of those statements are correct, but I'm not sure what either has
to do with the message to which you replied. Did I say anything any
different?

 

[Mike]

Here's text directly from the Western Digital manual that came with my USB
hard drive. It explains why it doesn't write files larger than 4GB and how to
change it. I ran into the same problem trying to make a backup of file just
over 4GB.

Drive Format:

This WD device is preformatted as a single FAT32 partition for compatibility
with all updated Windows and Macintosh operating systems. The FAT32 file
system has a maximum individual file size limit of 4 GB.

To create partitions larger than 32 GB in FAT32 when reformatting the drive,
download the External USB/FireWire FAT32 Formatting Utility from
support.wdc.com/download.

Windows 2000 and XP users can overcome file size limitations by reformatting
the
drive to NTFS using the Disk Management utility. See answer ID 1287 at
support.wdc.com and article IDs 314463 and 184006 at support.microsoft.com for
further details.

Reformatting the Drive:

1. Go to support.wdc.com.
2. See Knowledge Base Answer ID 207 for formatting instructions.
After formatting, go to Downloads, find your product, download the My Passport
utility, and follow instructions as prompted.

-Mike