I have found a new software must-have: Teracopy. I think I may be the only geek in the world who still uses Windows explorer for file copying.
A feature list of Teracopy, lifted word for word:
- Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.
- Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click.
- Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer.
- Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files.
- Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual.
- Full Unicode support.
Teracopy is quite simply a file copy management tool. I like it for its simplicity and ease of use. For small files, drag-and-drop in explorer might be fine. However, if you’re multitasking, you may notice that copying of large files can get interrupted or will simply take longer, even on a dual core. If you copy a file, and then start another copy process, one thing I don’t like is that Windows explorer tries to do both at the same time, making the task seemingly inefficient and resource hoarding (at least, in my eyes. I have no idea how the copying process is worked at a lower level.). The time calculated for the copy process will also shoot up probably for this reason. Teracopy does not spawn another process, but instead, it will add to the list of files to be copied to. Teracopy will also show the speed at which the file is being copied, a feature that I sorely miss on my XP machine.
Teracopy’s shell integration is also good. Upon installation, it will add itself to the context menu of a file and folder options, making it real easy to launch. Just select all the files needed, right click and select Teracopy. Off you go! If teracopy is already running, like I mentioned above, it will not start another instance, but adds the additional files to the copy queue list.
Of course, the best part about Teracopy is its in-built recovery system. In explorer, if a part of the copy process fails, then it will immediately terminate. Any files that are already copied will be in the destination folder, while files that are queued after the error will not be copied. Hence, you are essentially screwed. You have no way of knowing which files are already copied, and which aren’t. And like me, you will probably just copy the whole thing over again, which is redundant. Teracopy provides a handy and visible queue list and status of the files. If there is an error, the file will be marked for you to take action. And if the error occurs while the copying is running, it will skip the erroneous file, and proceed with the rest.
I wondered how I survived Windows explorer before this. I love simple programs like this. There is also a pro version, which does not seem to add much value in my opinion. The free version will do just nicely. Teracopy works on both XP and Vista.
Additional note: just when I finished this draft, XKCD had to pull this one on me:
Brilliant!
