Help me move files from my iPhone to my PC
December 10, 2022 11:04 AM Subscribe
For some reason, when I copy my photos and videos from my iPhone 13 running OS 15.6.1 to my Windows computers (both running versions of Windows 10 Pro), the process never fully works. I have no idea why, but I'd like to resolve the problem.
Normally, I only ever use the camera function in my phone to take pictures for work, and when I need to do that, I end up taking dozens and dozens at a time. This time, I took videos instead of photos.
The videos I want to transfer are consequently numbered between 19 and 43. When I hooked the phone up to my computer via USB cable, I was able to transfer 19-29 and 43. The rest didn't copy.
This is what always happens. I end up trying to transfer (copy not move) whole batches and I end up missing all kinds of files in the middle.
After I realized I was missing files, I tried to do them individually which resulted in two separate error messages: "A device attached to the system is not functioning" and The device is unreachable."
The files in question are video files ranging from 500 kb to 85 MB. I thought maybe the large-sized files could be pointed to as the problem, but it won't even transfer the tiny files. (Also one of the files that did transfer--#43 is 130 MB, so it's not that large files can't be transferred.)
Why does this keep happening? What can I do to prevent it? How can I transfer the stubborn files that don't seem to want to move?
And no, I don't use iCloud. I don't want to get sucked into that system, as I can't install that on my work computer, and there are times when I need to transfer photos directly to that system.
Normally, I only ever use the camera function in my phone to take pictures for work, and when I need to do that, I end up taking dozens and dozens at a time. This time, I took videos instead of photos.
The videos I want to transfer are consequently numbered between 19 and 43. When I hooked the phone up to my computer via USB cable, I was able to transfer 19-29 and 43. The rest didn't copy.
This is what always happens. I end up trying to transfer (copy not move) whole batches and I end up missing all kinds of files in the middle.
After I realized I was missing files, I tried to do them individually which resulted in two separate error messages: "A device attached to the system is not functioning" and The device is unreachable."
The files in question are video files ranging from 500 kb to 85 MB. I thought maybe the large-sized files could be pointed to as the problem, but it won't even transfer the tiny files. (Also one of the files that did transfer--#43 is 130 MB, so it's not that large files can't be transferred.)
Why does this keep happening? What can I do to prevent it? How can I transfer the stubborn files that don't seem to want to move?
And no, I don't use iCloud. I don't want to get sucked into that system, as I can't install that on my work computer, and there are times when I need to transfer photos directly to that system.
Does the problem happen consistenly with a given file, or will a specific file eventually copy over given enough attempts? If so, it sounds like a USB communications error. I would try a few things:
* if you are using a USB hub, don't. Plug in directly to the computer's USB port.
* if you have other USB devices plugged in, remove them.
* try a different USB to lightning cable
* reboot both devides
* update both devices
posted by soylent00FF00 at 12:17 PM on December 10, 2022
* if you are using a USB hub, don't. Plug in directly to the computer's USB port.
* if you have other USB devices plugged in, remove them.
* try a different USB to lightning cable
* reboot both devides
* update both devices
posted by soylent00FF00 at 12:17 PM on December 10, 2022
Response by poster: I've tried:
--rebooting both devices
--switching cables out from lightning to standard USB to lightning to USB-C (or whatever the tiny one is called) and plugging into different ports on the computer (no hubs involved)
--manually copying over different files individually, all resulting in failures and one of the error messages listed above
In the past when I've encountered this with photos, I've been able to select the missing pictures and copy them over, but the videos seem to provide an extra stumbling block.
I'm downloading the latest iOS now, but I'm not hopeful it will work.
posted by sardonyx at 12:29 PM on December 10, 2022
--rebooting both devices
--switching cables out from lightning to standard USB to lightning to USB-C (or whatever the tiny one is called) and plugging into different ports on the computer (no hubs involved)
--manually copying over different files individually, all resulting in failures and one of the error messages listed above
In the past when I've encountered this with photos, I've been able to select the missing pictures and copy them over, but the videos seem to provide an extra stumbling block.
I'm downloading the latest iOS now, but I'm not hopeful it will work.
posted by sardonyx at 12:29 PM on December 10, 2022
Response by poster: Nope. Updating the iOS made no difference. I still get the error messages.
posted by sardonyx at 1:51 PM on December 10, 2022
posted by sardonyx at 1:51 PM on December 10, 2022
Best answer: You can email the smaller videos to yourself. Many email systems will not allow files over 10MB though.
How are you doing the copying? Once your phone is plugged in, try opening the Photos app on the computer and importing the videos one by one. Do not try copying them from the phone's file system. Make sure the phone does not go to sleep while the transfer is happening.
Can you install anything in your work computer? I also use CopyTrans and it works well, but that is not going to help you if you can't get permission to use it.
posted by soelo at 6:48 PM on December 10, 2022
How are you doing the copying? Once your phone is plugged in, try opening the Photos app on the computer and importing the videos one by one. Do not try copying them from the phone's file system. Make sure the phone does not go to sleep while the transfer is happening.
Can you install anything in your work computer? I also use CopyTrans and it works well, but that is not going to help you if you can't get permission to use it.
posted by soelo at 6:48 PM on December 10, 2022
Response by poster: Okay, I've tried CopyTrans on my personal computer. It's still not working. Here's a screenshot. The highlighted images are two of the ones that didn't transfer and that seem to be problematic. Even on this screenshot, you can see they have the rotational arrow and they don't seem to load in the computer's file directory.
All of the videos do play on the iPhone--both those that I was able to copy and those I wasn't.
posted by sardonyx at 7:17 PM on December 10, 2022
All of the videos do play on the iPhone--both those that I was able to copy and those I wasn't.
posted by sardonyx at 7:17 PM on December 10, 2022
Response by poster: Okay, importing them from the Photo program (which I never actually use) mostly worked. There were a couple that just didn't come in, but it's a lot better than nothing. And it should be a method that will work on the company computer without me having to install software.
posted by sardonyx at 8:02 PM on December 10, 2022
posted by sardonyx at 8:02 PM on December 10, 2022
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posted by Hardcore Poser at 11:51 AM on December 10, 2022