xcopy problem from one mem card > PC > new mem card

[NorrinRadd]

Hi,

New to this forum. Came by when looking for help with copying contents of an old smartphone memory card to a new smartphone memory card.

I referred to http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?topic=132416.0 which was helpful, but each I time ran it, only some files and dirs got copied, even though the output said all got copied. I tried this 3 times same results.

I xcopied the old memory card to my PC to a folder 8gb, and see all the ~25k files / 269 folders / 6.7gb.

D:\8gb>dir
 Volume in drive D has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 6266-B611

 Directory of D:\8gb

07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          .
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          ..
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          .adobe-digital-editions
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          .android_secure
05/27/2013  09:13 PM                84 .avg
03/19/2012  12:42 PM    <DIR>          .bookmark_thumb1
07/10/2014  01:49 PM               236 .config_c38
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          .data
03/25/2013  11:07 AM                 7 .enref
11/06/2011  10:01 PM    <DIR>          .fdhttpd
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          .jota
04/30/2013  09:04 AM    <DIR>          .mmsyscache
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          .remove_ad
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          .showme
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          .youversion
12/04/2010  12:10 PM                 0 354855021447221.ndif
12/04/2010  05:27 PM    <DIR>          Activenotes
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          aedict
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          AK_Notepad_Exported_Notes
04/04/2012  01:53 PM    <DIR>          Alarms
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          Android
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          aquery
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          astrid
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          Battery Savior
10/05/2012  03:20 PM            17,141 battery_history.txt
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          BeyondPod
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          bugreports
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          CallRecorder
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          clusb
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          ColorWallpaper
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          com.appyet.feedplus
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          com.good.android.gfe
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          data
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          dcim
04/29/2013  10:17 AM    <DIR>          Documents
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          Download
07/21/2015  10:17 PM    <DIR>          EasyVoiceRecorder
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          Evernote
11/28/2013  07:23 PM    <DIR>          Facebook
07/21/2015  10:09 PM    <DIR>          GOLauncherEX
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          Images
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          InkPad_Notepad
07/09/2015  10:27 AM    <DIR>          iTunesTopPodcastPlayer
07/21/2015  10:17 PM    <DIR>          JA_Sensei
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          jed
12/14/2014  05:22 PM    <DIR>          LINE_Backup
07/08/2011  07:32 PM    <DIR>          LOST.DIR
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          media
04/04/2012  01:53 PM    <DIR>          Movies
07/21/2015  09:54 PM    <DIR>          Music
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          My Documents
11/21/2013  07:53 PM    <DIR>          myalbum
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          myrecord
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          noteeverything
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          Notifications
09/27/2012  08:22 AM    <DIR>          opera
12/04/2008  04:12 PM    <DIR>          Others
11/07/2011  09:31 AM           151,262 pcsc_pcsc_00001.vcf
07/21/2015  10:09 PM    <DIR>          Pictures
12/05/2010  08:55 AM    <DIR>          Playlists
04/04/2012  01:53 PM    <DIR>          Podcasts
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          Power Toggles
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          private
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          resource
07/21/2015  10:09 PM    <DIR>          Ringtones
07/12/2011  11:45 PM    <DIR>          rosie_scroll
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          sg_transport
05/01/2012  02:42 PM    <DIR>          SMSBackupRestore
07/21/2015  10:09 PM    <DIR>          SmsContactsBackup
07/21/2015  10:09 PM    <DIR>          sms_backup
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          Sounds
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          SwitchWidget
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          sys
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          system
07/21/2015  10:18 PM    <DIR>          tapeatalk_records
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          Themecert
12/19/2011  07:42 AM    <DIR>          TitaniumBackup
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          tmp
07/21/2015  09:55 PM    <DIR>          Videos
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          WhatsApp
07/21/2015  09:56 PM    <DIR>          Yahoo!
               6 File(s)        168,730 bytes
              75 Dir(s)  26,563,760,128 bytes free

Then I copied from that dir to the new card:

C:\Windows\system32>xcopy /S /I /E /H /Y /O D:\8gb  L  >d:\output.txt

The tail of output.txt has:
......<truncated output>
D:\8gb\WhatsApp\Media\WhatsApp Voice Notes\.nomedia
D:\8gb\WhatsApp\Profile Pictures\.nomedia
25844 File(s) copied

But checking the contents of the new 16gb card L:

L:\>dir
 Volume in drive L has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is ECE5-E17F

Directory of L:\

04/04/2012  01:53 PM    <DIR>          Alarms
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          LOST.DIR
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .android_secure
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .data
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          My Documents
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Yahoo!
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Android
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          BeyondPod
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          tmp
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Notifications
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .adobe-digital-editions
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          dcim
07/22/2015  04:57 AM    <DIR>          data
07/22/2015  08:58 AM    <DIR>          com.good.android.gfe
07/21/2015  09:54 PM    <DIR>          Music
               0 File(s)              0 bytes
              15 Dir(s)  12,455,051,264 bytes free

and

L:\>dir /ad-h
 Volume in drive L has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is ECE5-E17F

 Directory of L:\

04/04/2012  01:53 PM    <DIR>          Alarms
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          LOST.DIR
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .android_secure
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .data
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          My Documents
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Yahoo!
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Android
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          BeyondPod
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          tmp
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          Notifications
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          .adobe-digital-editions
01/01/1980  12:00 AM    <DIR>          dcim
07/22/2015  04:57 AM    <DIR>          data
07/22/2015  08:58 AM    <DIR>          com.good.android.gfe
07/21/2015  09:54 PM    <DIR>          Music
               0 File(s)              0 bytes
              15 Dir(s)  12,455,051,264 bytes free

L:\>dir /a/s
.......<truncated output>
     Total Files Listed:
             273 File(s)  3,460,960,116 bytes
             234 Dir(s)  12,455,051,264 bytes free

So a lot of files and folders are missing - this comes to about 3.2gb vs. the 6.6 on the original card and on the PC transfer dir.

My question is, have I used the wrong command or parameters to copy?

Or better yet, what's the best ways to simply copy all of the contents and permissions including hidden files from the old 8gb memory card to the new 16gm memory card?

[patio]

See Here...

[NorrinRadd]

Thanks, I referred to a similar reference on the xcopy parameters when I ran those commands.

That does not help me as I don't know what I've done wrong, and, I don't know what to do.

If this is a forum for experts only let me know and I'll seek help elsewhere and sorry to waste your time;

if this is a forum where an average user can ask questions and get help then I hope someone can advise what I've done wrong or how I can get the job done.

[patio]

It's a place where we help everyone...it's not a waste of time and sorry you got that impression...

There may be a good utility tool for this task at the smartphone manuf. site though...

[NorrinRadd]

Thanks again, and I think it is more of a DOS noob issue than an smartphone one, the file & dir copy situation would be the same.

Is there a missing or incorrect parameter in the xcopy command I used? 

Is it not copying subdirs, or large files, or aborting?

It's puzzling to me that the output says all files were copied but DIR says otherwise.

[Geek-9pm]

This post on another forum may be of some help:
http://www.cnet.com/news/help-im-confused-about-storage-on-my-smartphone/
Here is the essence of the answer giver.

In general, apps that either offer core functionality built into Android or that a carrier bundles with the phone cannot be moved to a microSD. Unless you root your phone, you don't have permission to access these folders. Apps that you have to pay for are also generally restricted. And you cannot save them to a microSD, because app developers don't want you distributing the app to another user via your microSD.

This means most modern Operating Systems (OS)require an application to be registered into a data table know to the OS. The location and name of such tables my vary a lot between even versions of the same OS. Most Smart Phones use some form of Android, which has a number of active versions out there.

This does no mean it is always imposable.  Rather, such simple functionality was not built into the system design.  Forum rules prohibit the posting of links to smartphone hacking sites. All I can say is they are out there and you can find them.

[foxidrive]

Or better yet, what's the best ways to simply copy all of the contents and permissions including hidden files from the old 8gb memory card to the new 16gm memory card?

Code: [Select]

robocopy e:\ f:\ /mir
E: drive is the source drive with the files - don't get either drive letter wrong or kaboom!

F: drive will have any extra files and folders deleted.

The /mir switch makes a mirror backup.

[NorrinRadd]

Sorry to say that nothing proved useful, and some responses indicate the points were missed.

Thanks foxidrive but didn't try your suggestion as I saw it after the one below, which worked.

On forums sometimes people don't know and say they don't know, which is ok; others send links or short answers to obfuscate their lack of knowledge to be dismissive or snarky; other times suggestions actually work.  When well-described points get glossed over or simply not answered it just wastes everyone's time.

This was on tomsguide and simply explains what to do. It worked.


Switched off then phone and took the existing 2GB microSD card out, and mounted it using an SD-adapter into my Windows PC, which added it as drive G: in the system.
Opened a command prompt, and ran following commands:
C:
cd /
md sd-card
cd sd-card
xcopy G:\*.* /S /E /V
Ejected the old microSD, and mounted the new one in the SD adapter, again, as drive G:, and re-opened a new command prompt window, and ran:
C:
cd /
cd sd-card
xcopy *.* G:\ /S /E /V


http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/id-1607981/moving-data-microsd-card-android-smartphone.html

So now you know too.

There is actually a little more to this solution aside from the copying, if there is interest.

[foxidrive]

When well-described points get glossed over or simply not answered it just wastes everyone's time.

You got an answer that you didn't try, and you're now complaining?

My answer won't work on every version of Windows either - but you didn't say which version you are using and it may be Windows XP or Windows NT4 etc

[Geek-9pm]

foxidrive,
Many here like your good work. 

Some people are frustrated and vent the anger. 

[BC_Programmer]

I wondered at the conclusion why one command would work, and the other would not. It seemed like they would behave very similarly. But I think it was something we all overlooked or dismissed as a typo. But it is repeated in a copy-paste from cmd, so I suspect it is the problem.

The cause? L is specified as the destination- that is, "L" and not "L:" as a drive specifier. It copies all the source files to an L folder in the current directory. My guess would be that you (reasonably) tried to copy using another means, such as Windows Explorer, first, and then found that didn't work, so moved to xcopy, and found that it didn't do anything differently than Windows Explorer. However the contents of L:\ were never changed because it was going to a directory. I was able to reproduce this pretty easily with the exact same command. No files were ever copied to the flash Drive I had as L:\, and they were all copied to an "L" directory within whichever directory I ran the command. Of course the version that fixes the issue specifies the drive root folder specifically, so it wouldn't have the same issue.

[patio]

I suspect he was never for a solution...

[NorrinRadd]

I wondered at the conclusion why one command would work, and the other would not.

It seemed like they would behave very similarly. But I think it was something we all overlooked or dismissed as a typo. But it is repeated in a copy-paste from cmd, so I suspect it is the problem.

The cause? L is specified as the destination- that is, "L" and not "L:" as a drive specifier. It copies all the source files to an L folder in the current directory.

My guess would be that you (reasonably) tried to copy using another means, such as Windows Explorer, first, and then found that didn't work, so moved to xcopy, and found that it didn't do anything differently than Windows Explorer.

However the contents of L:\ were never changed because it was going to a directory.

I was able to reproduce this pretty easily with the exact same command. No files were ever copied to the flash Drive I had as L:\, and they were all copied to an "L" directory within whichever directory I ran the command. Of course the version that fixes the issue specifies the drive root folder specifically, so it wouldn't have the same issue.

Thanks for the effort and your response, BC.

In the first attempt which I didn't post here, I used Teracopy in a straight copy&paste or drag&drop copy, and that is when I saw not all the files came over.

Also when I tried this a few weeks back by painstakingly copying dir by dir then fired up the phone with the new card, apps like Line didn't work so I knew something was missing and that kind of copy wouldn't work.

This time was via xcopy, which I hadn't used before, and using various reference sites and other forums, for the xcopy parameters, tried what I did above.

It was never that nothing (double-negative) was copied over, it was that not all was copied over, despite what the output said (above, "25844 File(s) copied" - which is all files vs. 273 File(s) / 234 Dir(s) or 6.6gb vs. 3.2gb). 

That is when this became an xcopy question and not memory card situation.

I had also experimented with "L" vs. "L:" and "\L" and  "\L:" and probably other permutations, but they either didn't work or had the same result.

This was all done in an Admin cmd window.

It was only the command string from tom's link that copied every folder and every file into the transfer dir, so from there it worked as well to the new card, which I had mounted on the phone.

I think it was the wildcard syntax as that was not in any of my previous xcopy attempts.

So, in summary, what I would think to be a fairly common need or problem, as many people change their memory cards, and there are a lot of forums with people experiencing this situation, but there appear to be few with solutions.

[foxidrive]

So, in summary, what I would think to be a fairly common need or problem, as many people change their memory cards, and there are a lot of forums with people experiencing this situation, but there appear to be few with solutions.

The issue is that files have attributes and some are system and hidden files. 
xcopy will not copy them if you don't use the right switches.

Robocopy with the switch you saw will copy them.

Many here like your good work. 

Thanks mate.  Many nice people here too.

[NorrinRadd]

The issue is that files have attributes and some are system and hidden files. 
xcopy will not copy them if you don't use the right switches.

Thankfully the guy on the tomsguide site knew them. And now we all do.