Member Avatar for hetixo

I have done a sweeping search on my PC to find all files with an mp3 extension on one drive only. I want to copy these files into a folder on either my desktop or onto an external hard drive but it won't let me do either. It just comes up with the error box 'cannot copy file: cannot read from the source file or disk'

Any ideas why this is or if there is a way round it?


I'm using Windows XP Home Edition service pack 3

Thanks in advance

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by cguan_77

Dani AI

Generated

Quick practical checklist for , building on points from and .

First, verify the real source and lock state. From the search results right-click a file and choose "Open containing folder" (or Properties) and then try copying that single file from its folder. Close any music players or indexing tools so the file is not held open. Try playing the file once to confirm readability.

If a single-file copy fails, check the drive and filesystem. Run this from a command prompt (replace X: with the source drive letter):

chkdsk X: /f /r

Allow it to run; if it asks to schedule for next boot on the system drive, accept and reboot. After chkdsk finishes, re-test a copy.

If Explorer still fails, use command-line copy tools (they sometimes give better error detail). Examples:

xcopy "C:\*.mp3" "E:\MP3Backup\" /S /I /Y

or (recursively copy each file)

for /r "C:\" %i in (*.mp3) do copy "%i" "E:\MP3Backup\"

(If placed in a .bat file, use %%i instead of %i.)

Also check permissions and media: on XP Home toggle off Simple File Sharing (Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> uncheck "Use Simple File Sharing") to view the Security tab and ensure the account has Read access. For removable drives, try a different USB port/cable or test the drive on another PC. Check Event Viewer (Start -> Run -> eventvwr.msc, System log) for disk I/O errors.

If chkdsk reports many bad sectors or the System log shows I/O errors, avoid writing to that drive and try to image or copy readable files first—hardware failure may be the root cause. Follow the steps above in order: open containing folder, copy a single file, run chkdsk, try command-line copy, then investigate permissions and hardware.

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Member Avatar for lucky4you

are the files still in used?
forgive me asking this stupid question

Member Avatar for cguan_77

is the file able to play? if able to play, then it should copy normally. if it doesn't play then maybe the file maybe corrupted or bad sector maybe...

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