What is filling up my local hard disk?

July 9, 2007 3:56 AM

Does Windows create temp files on the local disc when copying a large file from an external drive to a network share?

I'm trying to copy a large Windows Backup file (65Gb) from my external USB hard drive to a network share on my employer's network. I reckoned this might take a while so I left it overnight. When I came in to work this morning, my local (C:) drive was full. I'm not copying the file to C:, so does Windows create some kind of temp file when copying from an external drive to a network share? When I cancel the copy, my hard disk returns to 10Gb free......

posted by DZ-015 to computers & internet (2 comments total)

It might. Use the xcopy command if you want to be absolutely sure it's a direct transfer.
posted by effugas at 4:15 AM on July 9, 2007

I think it might do this if you have Offline Files enabled and the network share concerned is one you've told Windows it should make available offline. Try turning Offline Files off (Tools->Options->Offline Files, IIRC) and see if it makes a difference.
posted by flabdablet at 4:52 AM on July 9, 2007