Copy files on Windows Command Line with Progress

Question

I need to copy files using Windows command-line (available on XP Pro or later by default) and show progress during the process.

The progress indicator could be in a terminal or a GUI window. It is intended to be used during batch file scripting.

Answer 1

I used the copy command with the /z switch for copying over network drives. Also works for copying between local drives. Tested on XP Home edition.

Answer 2

robocopy:

Robocopy, or "Robust File Copy", is a command-line directory and/or file replication command. Robocopy functionally replaces Xcopy, with more options. It has been available as part of the Windows Resource Kit starting with Windows NT 4.0, and was first introduced as a standard feature in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. The command is robocopy...

Answer 3

The Esentutl /y option allows copyng (single) files with progress bar like this :

the command should look like :

esentutl /y "FILE.EXT" /d "DEST.EXT" /o

The command is available on every windows machine but the y option is presented in windows vista. As it works only with single files does not look very useful for a small ones. Other limitation is that the command cannot overwrite files. Here's a wrapper script that checks the destination and if needed could delete it (help can be seen by passing /h).

Answer 4

Some interesting timings regarding all these methods. If you have Gigabit connections, you should not use the /z flag or it will kill your connection speed. Robocopy or dism are the only tools that go full speed and show a progress bar. wdscase is for multicasting off a WDS server and might be faster if you are imaging 5+ computers. To get the 1:17 timing, I was maxing out the Gigabit connection at 920Mbps so you won't get that on two connections at once. Also take note that exporting the small wim index out of the larger wim file too longer than just copying the whole thing.

Model  Exe       OS       switches     index    size    time   link speed 
8760w  dism      Win8     /export-wim  index 1  6.27GB  2:21   link 1Gbps
8760w  dism      Win8     /export-wim  index 2  7.92GB  1:29   link 1Gbps
6305   wdsmcast  winpe32  /trans-file  res.RWM  7.92GB  6:54   link 1Gbps
6305   dism      Winpe32  /export-wim  index 1  6.27GB  2:20   link 1Gbps
6305   dism      Winpe32  /export-wim  index 2  7.92GB  1:34   link 1Gbps
6305   copy      Winpe32  /z           Whole    7.92GB  25:48  link 1Gbps
6305   copy      Winpe32  none         Wim      7.92GB  1:17   link 1Gbps
6305   xcopy     Winpe32  /z /j        Wim      7.92GB  23:54  link 1Gbps
6305   xcopy     Winpe32  /j           Wim      7.92GB  1:38   link 1Gbps
6305   VBS.copy  Winpe32               Wim      7.92    1:21   link 1Gbps
6305   robocopy  Winpe32               Wim      7.92    1:17   link 1Gbps

If you don't have robocopy.exe available, why not run it from the network share you are copying your files from? In my case, I prefer to do that so I don't have to rebuild my WinPE boot.wim file every time I want to make a change and then update dozens of flash drives.

Answer 5

This technet link has some good info for copying large files. I used an exchange server utility mentioned in the article which shows progress and uses non buffered copy functions internally for faster transfer.

In another scenario, I used robocopy. Robocopy GUI makes it easier to get your command line options right.

Answer 6

Here is the script I use:

@ECHO off
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION
mode con:cols=210 lines=50
ECHO Starting 1-way backup of MEDIA(M:) to BACKUP(G:)...
robocopy.exe M:\ G:\ *.* /E /PURGE /SEC /NP /NJH /NJS /XD "$RECYCLE.BIN" "System Volume Information" /TEE /R:5 /COPYALL /LOG:from_M_to_G.log
ECHO Finished with backup.
pause

Answer 7

If you want to copy files and see a "progress" I suggest the script below in Batch that I used from another script as a base

I used a progress bar and a percentage while the script copies the game files Nuclear throne:

@echo off
title NTU Installer
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion

@echo Iniciando instalacao...
if not exist "C:\NTU" (
    md "C:\NTU
)
if not exist "C:\NTU\Profile" (
    md "C:\NTU\Profile"
)
ping -n 5 localhost >nul

for %%f in (*.*) do set/a vb+=1
set "barra="
::loop da barra
for /l %%i in (1,1,70) do set "barra=!barra!Û"
rem barra vaiza para ser preenchida
set "resto="
rem loop da barra vazia
for /l %%i in (1,1,110) do set "resto=!resto!"
set i=0
rem carregameno de arquivos
for %%f in (*.*) do (
    >>"log_ntu.css" (
        copy "%%f" "C:\NTU">nul
        echo Copiado:%%f
    )
    cls
    set /a i+=1,percent=i*100/vb,barlen=70*percent/100
    for %%a in (!barlen!) do echo  !percent!%% /                         
    [!barra:~0,%%a!%resto%]
    echo Instalado:[%%f] / Complete:[!percent!%%/100%]
    ping localhost -n 1.9  >nul
)
xcopy /e "Profile" "C:\NTU\Profile">"log_profile.css"              

@echo Criando atalho na area de trabalho...
copy "NTU.lnk" "C:\Users\%username%\Desktop">nul
ping localhost -n 4  >nul

@echo Arquivos instalados!
pause