Windows problems while copying files

[drchronic]

I have had this problem for as long as I can remember using windows, but not in Linux installed on my same computers. The problem is that when I transfer any files larger than say 1GB from 1 disk to another it will cause Windows to choke to where I can't watch the video file that was already playing or open any program or folder. I open resource manager (which takes over 1min if I try after starting a transfer) and notice that it's using 100% of my bandwidth for the drives and leaves nothing for windows functions.

Is there a way to tell my computer to only use say 80% of the bandwidth on my SATAII drives, limiting it so windows can still function right? Before anyone asks the simple questions, yes I have up to date drivers for everything including chipsets & Win7 updates. Also this is not a new problem, I always assumed it was just a inherent Windows problem.

Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
Intel Core i5 750 @ 3.01GHz
4GB RAM OCZ PC3 10666 @ 1500Mhz
nVidia GeForce GTX260
WD Caviar 160GB SATAII
WD Caviar 500GB eSATAII
Kingwin 550W Power Supply

 

[KSoD]

Well i can vouch that it is not an inherent Windows problem. Cause i have not, nor have had this issue since the Beta of Vista. All of my copies of Win7 can easily move files of 1GB and over without having a single hiccup and i continue on as if nothing was being moved at all. I have selected over 100GB worth of data and moved it to a new drive without causing an issue.

I have not heard of anything to limit bandwidth for drive use. I have heard of it for Internet aspects, but never for hard drives.

 

[Slaymate]

Are there any bios updates for your motherboard?

I see your cpu is overclocked, what are you using to keep it cool? It could very well be a heat issue. Or you may need to increase the voltage to your Southbridge.

 

[Lexluethar]

I'm with the other guys, i have almost the exact same setup (quad core, 3.0 ghz, win7 64 bit) and i have no issues. In recent weeks i've copied 250 to 400 gb worth of data without issue (yes it took a few hours but it didn't slow my system down, i was playing left for dead 2 while doing it).

Check your bios, ensure you have the latest windows updates, also may want to run a disk check on the drives in question.

 

[KSoD]

Copy your files faster with TeraCopy

Try TeraCopy. Does it still persist?

 

[drchronic]

It happened even without having my cpu overclocked. I've ran disk checker and defraged all my drives. I have gotten bios and driver updates and everything else I can think of. Something else strange is that my memory usage will climb pretty high and then drop really low instead of staying steady. It'll go up to 90%+ then drop to 25% and repeat this.

Oh one more thing I only meant "larger than 1gb" as a minimum, I'm really talking about files or folders in the range of 10-20 and it seems to be only when copying from one physical drive to another, copying across a partition doesn't have this effect.

 

[Lexluethar]

I see you have SATA drives - are they plugged directly into the MB or are they using a RAID controller? Have you updated those drivers?

 

[KSoD]

You have to understand 2 things. 1. This condition you are talking about was known and addressed back in the early Vista days. I have not seen it since. 2. Both Lex and myself have talked of moving files much larger than the 10-20GB you are. Lex just moved 400GB and i recently moved 157GB+ and neither of us experienced this issue you talked about and we both run the same OS.

I moved from my 320GB HDD to my 1TB HDD. So it was not a transfer between partitions. It was between drives, just as you said. It was much larger than 1GB and each file size was larger than 1GB upwards of 4-5GB Each and a total of over 157GB in files was moved.

I was playing games while listening to music and having a browser open all during the move. If it was a flaw with Windows, we all would experience it. Since you are the only one, that makes it something specific to your system. Not an inherit flaw in the OS itself.

Was this a clean install of Win7 or an upgrade from Vista?