Windows 7 File Copy Speed

LazyLion

LazyLion

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Having just moved about ten terabytes of stuff, all sizes of files across all types of drives (but mostly SATA), on about 6 different computers over the last week, I think I can say with confidence that Windows 7 file copy speed maxes out around 20 MB/second, frequently far less.

The copy speed in Windows XP was far superior. But at least Windows 7 copies don't bomb out when they come across a file they can't handle.

I'm gonna give Teracopy another try and see if a third party program can improve on the default transfer speed.

Here are some other copy options...

http://www.techyard.net/tools-to-replace-windows-default-copy-paste/
 
The free program Richcopy (robocopy with a GUI) is very good for improving the copy process. The problem is that a file copy is a very complicated process. Microsoft has the rather tough task of having to optimise the process for millions of different types of file transfer and different types of client PC.

Third party applications can offer some benefit in terms of increased performance, but it is usually small (average of a few % faster) - and that performance will usually have negative impact on another area of your system, such as RAM usage....
 
Copy Speed

Got 61mb/s today from one SATA to another SATA drive.... in Windows 7...
 
Denon101 said:
Got 61mb/s today from one SATA to another SATA drive.... in Windows 7...
Click to expand...

sure, it can burst up to a higher speed for smaller files and short copies. But the moment you start copying tons of files on fairly full hard drives and you will see that speed drop fast.
 
sorry to go OT here.

But why does it take soo much longer for many smaller files than one big file?

I don't understand how that works or am i just slow? or don't understand the whole process of copying?
 
Garyvdh said:
Having just moved about ten terabytes of stuff, all sizes of files across all types of drives (but mostly SATA), on about 6 different computers over the last week, I think I can say with confidence that Windows 7 file copy speed maxes out around 20 MB/second, frequently far less.

The copy speed in Windows XP was far superior. But at least Windows 7 copies don't bomb out when they come across a file they can't handle.
Click to expand...
I concur. Have you tried turning remote differential compression off? You can find it in the turn windows features on or off app. It's meant to help speed up file transfers. I haven't actually measured the impact it has (if any) but perhaps you could.
 
Peder said:
sorry to go OT here.

But why does it take soo much longer for many smaller files than one big file?

I don't understand how that works or am i just slow? or don't understand the whole process of copying?
Click to expand...

Interesting question. Basically there are a series of commands that take place every time you perform a file copy routine. If the file is 1k then you would perform these commands (lets say 40 steps), and a single read/write command to copy the file.

If your file was 100MB then you would still do the 40 steps previously mentioned, and an additional 100 read/write commands to actually copy the file. Thus, 100000 small files of 1k (totalling 100MB rounded off) comprises 100000 mandatory steps, and 100000 "copy" steps. 1 x 100mb file comprises 40 mandatory steps and 100 "copy steps".

So the difference is between 200000 steps versus 140.

The output below is what happens when you copy a 2MB jpeg. This is just the file copy portion, you also have additional steps such as AV scans, ACL updates, thumbnail creation, RAM cache etc.

Time of Day Process Name PID Operation Path Result Detail Sequence
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryAttributeInformationVolume C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "FileSystemAttributes: Case Preserved, Case Sensitive, Unicode, ACLs, Compression, Named Streams, EFS, Object IDs, Reparse Points, Sparse Files, Quotas, Transactions, 0x3c00000, MaximumComponentNameLength: 255, FileSystemName: NTFS" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryBasicInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "CreationTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:03 PM, LastAccessTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:03 PM, LastWriteTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:04 PM, ChangeTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:04 PM, FileAttributes: N" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 CreateFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Desired Access: Generic Read/Write, Write DAC, Disposition: Create, Options: Sequential Access, Synchronous IO Non-Alert, Non-Directory File, Attributes: N, ShareMode: None, AllocationSize: 0, OpenResult: Created" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryBasicInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "CreationTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, LastAccessTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, LastWriteTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, ChangeTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, FileAttributes: A" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "AllocationSize: 1Â*802Â*240, EndOfFile: 0, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryAttributeInformationVolume C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "FileSystemAttributes: Case Preserved, Case Sensitive, Unicode, ACLs, Compression, Named Streams, EFS, Object IDs, Reparse Points, Sparse Files, Quotas, Transactions, 0x3c00000, MaximumComponentNameLength: 255, FileSystemName: NTFS" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryBasicInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "CreationTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, LastAccessTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, LastWriteTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, ChangeTime: 2009/11/29 09:07:52 PM, FileAttributes: A" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryStreamInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS 0: ::$DATA n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryEaInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS EaSize: 0 n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryBasicInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "CreationTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:03 PM, LastAccessTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:03 PM, LastWriteTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:04 PM, ChangeTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:04 PM, FileAttributes: N" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QueryStandardInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "AllocationSize: 1Â*802Â*240, EndOfFile: 1Â*798Â*713, NumberOfLinks: 1, DeletePending: False, Directory: False" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QuerySizeInformationVolume C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "TotalAllocationUnits: 19Â*535Â*032, AvailableAllocationUnits: 339Â*917, SectorsPerAllocationUnit: 8, BytesPerSector: 512" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 QuerySizeInformationVolume C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "TotalAllocationUnits: 19Â*535Â*032, AvailableAllocationUnits: 339Â*917, SectorsPerAllocationUnit: 8, BytesPerSector: 512" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 SetEndOfFileInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS EndOfFile: 1Â*798Â*713 n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 ReadFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 0, Length: 262Â*144, Priority: Normal" n/a
07:52.1 Explorer.EXE 1852 ReadFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop
07:52.3 Explorer.EXE 1852 ReadFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*310Â*720, Length: 262Â*144" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*310Â*720, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*376Â*256, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*441Â*792, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*507Â*328, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 ReadFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*572Â*864, Length: 225Â*849" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*572Â*864, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*638Â*400, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*703Â*936, Length: 65Â*536" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 WriteFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "Offset: 1Â*769Â*472, Length: 29Â*241" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 CloseFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 SetBasicInformationFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS "CreationTime: 1601/01/01 02:00:00 AM, LastAccessTime: 1601/01/01 02:00:00 AM, LastWriteTime: 2009/11/23 12:22:04 PM, ChangeTime: 1601/01/01 02:00:00 AM, FileAttributes: n/a" n/a
07:52.4 Explorer.EXE 1852 CloseFile C:\Users\PC\Desktop\100CANON - Copy (3)\IMG_0262.JPG SUCCESS n/a
 
sandmanm34 said:
I concur. Have you tried turning remote differential compression off? You can find it in the turn windows features on or off app. It's meant to help speed up file transfers. I haven't actually measured the impact it has (if any) but perhaps you could.
Click to expand...

Trying that now. Thanks
 
Garyvdh said:
Having just moved about ten terabytes of stuff, all sizes of files across all types of drives (but mostly SATA), on about 6 different computers over the last week, I think I can say with confidence that Windows 7 file copy speed maxes out around 20 MB/second, frequently far less.
Click to expand...

I also had to copy 2TB data between SATA drives this weekend (2x 1TB drives), and my average transfer rate was 40MB/second over each - does it get slower the more smaller files copied - my average file size for these drives ranged between 500MB and 5GB.
 
Out of interest...

Should you sit for say 15min waiting for a copy process to complete (and the estimate on the process window has a phone number with 'days to completion' following it) and then decide that your life is worth living and hit cancel... does Win7 do the same thing as Vista used to do and physically roll back the process i.e.: make you wait another 15min (or how ever long you lasted) to 'uncopy' what it had copied so far?

I clearly remember plotting to end lives when that happened on Vista...
 
SlinkyMike said:
Out of interest...

Should you sit for say 15min waiting for a copy process to complete (and the estimate on the process window has a phone number with 'days to completion' following it) and then decide that your life is worth living and hit cancel... does Win7 do the same thing as Vista used to do and physically roll back the process i.e.: make you wait another 15min (or how ever long you lasted) to 'uncopy' what it had copied so far?

I clearly remember plotting to end lives when that happened on Vista...
Click to expand...

no, it does not roll back. Didn't do that on Windows XP either. Dunno about Vista.
 
Garyvdh said:
Having just moved about ten terabytes of stuff, all sizes of files across all types of drives (but mostly SATA), on about 6 different computers over the last week, I think I can say with confidence that Windows 7 file copy speed maxes out around 20 MB/second, frequently far less.

The copy speed in Windows XP was far superior. But at least Windows 7 copies don't bomb out when they come across a file they can't handle.

I'm gonna give Teracopy another try and see if a third party program can improve on the default transfer speed.

Here are some other copy options...

http://www.techyard.net/tools-to-replace-windows-default-copy-paste/
Click to expand...


I have vista, and it's a really nice feature as you mentioned. I even had a situation where i copied stuff to another pc ( a cable was connected between the two) and the one pc lost connectivity and it didn't bomb out. When connectivity was restored, copying resumed.
 
SlinkyMike said:
Out of interest...

Should you sit for say 15min waiting for a copy process to complete (and the estimate on the process window has a phone number with 'days to completion' following it) and then decide that your life is worth living and hit cancel... does Win7 do the same thing as Vista used to do and physically roll back the process i.e.: make you wait another 15min (or how ever long you lasted) to 'uncopy' what it had copied so far?

I clearly remember plotting to end lives when that happened on Vista...
Click to expand...

The copy function on the original Vista was drastically changed with Vista SP1 (moved from a non-cached to cached copy mode) - with Vista having changed from XP file copy. Windows 7 does not do what you described....
 
I frequently copy large files between 2 serial ATA drives on my Win 7 PC and I get 80MB/s transfer speeds.
One drive is a Seagate 500GB 7200.12 and the other is a Samsung 1TB (Kalahari special).
 
Garyvdh said:
Having just moved about ten terabytes of stuff, all sizes of files across all types of drives (but mostly SATA), on about 6 different computers over the last week, I think I can say with confidence that Windows 7 file copy speed maxes out around 20 MB/second, frequently far less.
Click to expand...

Mac OSX 10.5.8 (Leopard) - 70MB/sec on a FW800 Connected Seagate 1.5TB 7200RPM Drive.
 
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