Files Disappear when copying to a CD

I am copying files from my hard drive to a CD (through Windows Explorer, drag and drop). The files that I am copying disappear from the hard drive. The name still appears, but the size is showing as 0 KB. In the list of files waiting to be copied to CD, the file also appears as 0 KB. Any idea what could be wrong, or what I do to prevent this?

Try this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

Raj

"Barbara G" wrote:

I am copying files from my hard drive to a CD (through Windows Explorer, drag and drop). The files that I am copying disappear from the hard drive. The name still appears, but the size is showing as 0 KB. In the list of files waiting to be copied to CD, the file also appears as 0 KB. Any idea what could be wrong, or what I do to prevent this?

Yes, I understand how to copy files to a CD, and on some of our laptops, this works fine. However, I also have several laptops where the file disappears from the hard drive once it is dragged to the CD. I'm trying to find out what the problem is on these PCs.

"Raj" wrote:

Try this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

Raj

"Barbara G" wrote:

I am copying files from my hard drive to a CD (through Windows Explorer, drag and drop). The files that I am copying disappear from the hard drive. The name still appears, but the size is showing as 0 KB. In the list of files waiting to be copied to CD, the file also appears as 0 KB. Any idea what could be wrong, or what I do to prevent this?

On Mon, 2 Aug 2004 06:21:06 -0700, Barbara G
wrote:

Yes, I understand how to copy files to a CD, and on some of our laptops, this works fine. However, I also have several laptops where the file disappears from the hard drive once it is dragged to the CD. I'm trying to find out what the problem is on these PCs.

"Raj" wrote:

Try this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

Raj

"Barbara G" wrote:

I am copying files from my hard drive to a CD (through Windows Explorer, drag and drop). The files that I am copying disappear from the hard drive. The name still appears, but the size is showing as 0 KB. In the list of files waiting to be copied to CD, the file also appears as 0 KB. Any idea what could be wrong, or what I do to prevent this?

Anytime things happen that appear to be out of the "X Files", it's
time to scan for a virus or malware. Have you done that?

It almost appears that instead of copying you're attempting to move
the files - and they aren't going anywhere, except to the "bit
bucket". Look for viruses on those laptops where the problem exists.

Hi, Barbara.

Maybe it didn't disappear from the HD. Maybe it was moved to the "staging
area", ready for the CD-writing program to complete the move.

See if you have a folder called "CD Burning". It's probably several levels
deep in the Documents and Settings folder for the particular user. The path
for mine is:
D:\Documents and Settings\R. C. White\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

Yours is probably similar; just change the name and drive letter. You
should find all your "missing" files there.

In my opinion, Microsoft owes us an explanation, an apology and a fix for
this behavior! We are at serious risk of losing data because WinXP tells us
it was written to CD when it actually was not. We could easily backup to
CD, then destroy our original files by deleting the D&S folder - or even
reformatting our HD - without realizing that our "backup" was still NOT on
the CD. The exact behavior varies with the CD burning software we use, but
the bottom line is that we are deceived into thinking our data is safe when
it really is not. (Quicken 2004 (Revision 5), for example, cheerily reports
that our financial files are successfully backed up, but the files are NOT
on the CD unless we manually take the further step of copying them from CD
Burning to the CD.) :(

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"Barbara G" wrote in message
...
Yes, I understand how to copy files to a CD, and on some of our laptops,
this works fine. However, I also have several laptops where the file
disappears from the hard drive once it is dragged to the CD. I'm trying
to find out what the problem is on these PCs.

"Raj" wrote:

Try this link

http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp

Raj

"Barbara G" wrote:

I am copying files from my hard drive to a CD (through Windows
Explorer, drag and drop). The files that I am copying disappear from
the hard drive. The name still appears, but the size is showing as 0
KB. In the list of files waiting to be copied to CD, the file also
appears as 0 KB. Any idea what could be wrong, or what I do to prevent
this?

R. C. White wrote:

Maybe it didn't disappear from the HD. Maybe it was moved to the "staging
area", ready for the CD-writing program to complete the move.

See if you have a folder called "CD Burning". It's probably several levels
deep in the Documents and Settings folder for the particular user. The path
for mine is:
D:\Documents and Settings\R. C. White\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

Yours is probably similar; just change the name and drive letter. You
should find all your "missing" files there.

But Barbara says it appears in the 'Files waiting to be written' on
opening the CD drive in My Computer. The problem is that size has
changed to zero. My suspicion is that what has been done -
unintentionally - is a Move rather than Copy, and it has fallen over
in a way it should not. This may arise from it having put a shortcut
pointer rather than an actual file in the staging area (I have seen it
suggested that this can happen with NTFS) or may have arisen because the
disk there has run out of space. IMHO if the inbuilt burning works,
well and good, but if there is *any* trouble one is better to cut losses
and get a third party package. But if getting the files to the burn
area by dragging to the CD icon, I would *always* do a right drag and
copy here to be sure



--
Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows Technologies)
Bournemouth, U.K. (remove the D8 bit)

Upon further investigation, it appears that this happens only when there is already a copy of a file on the CD or in the holding area. User is asked whether he/she wants to replace the existing file. If the answer is Yes, the file size changes to 0 KB in all locations, including the source.

I also tried right clicking and using Copy, with the same results.

"Alex Nichol" wrote:

R. C. White wrote:

Maybe it didn't disappear from the HD. Maybe it was moved to the "staging
area", ready for the CD-writing program to complete the move.

See if you have a folder called "CD Burning". It's probably several levels
deep in the Documents and Settings folder for the particular user. The path
for mine is:
D:\Documents and Settings\R. C. White\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\CD Burning

Yours is probably similar; just change the name and drive letter. You
should find all your "missing" files there.

But Barbara says it appears in the 'Files waiting to be written' on
opening the CD drive in My Computer. The problem is that size has
changed to zero. My suspicion is that what has been done -
unintentionally - is a Move rather than Copy, and it has fallen over
in a way it should not. This may arise from it having put a shortcut
pointer rather than an actual file in the staging area (I have seen it
suggested that this can happen with NTFS) or may have arisen because the
disk there has run out of space. IMHO if the inbuilt burning works,
well and good, but if there is *any* trouble one is better to cut losses
and get a third party package. But if getting the files to the burn
area by dragging to the CD icon, I would *always* do a right drag and
copy here to be sure



--
Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows Technologies)
Bournemouth, U.K. (remove the D8 bit)