Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!ukma!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!shurr
From: shurr@cbnews.ATT.COM (Larry A. Shurr)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: File creation error
Message-ID: <4432@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 1 Mar 89 18:22:09 GMT
References: <7852@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: cbema!las@cbnews.ATT.COM (Larry A. Shurr)
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories (actually an AGS consultant)
Lines: 31

In article <7852@ihlpf.ATT.COM> pcl@ihlpf.UUCP (pcl) writes:
>I encountered the following error when trying to copy 300 files (small size)
>from harddisk to A: (1.2 meg floppy drive):

>File creation error
>      224 File(s) copied

>"DIR A:" indicated there are still plenty of space left.  The PC is a
>Compaq Portable-III running MS-DOS 3.3 (from Compaq).

You have almost certainly tried to put more files in the root directory
than will fit.  The root directory of any MSDOS disk is fixed in size
and cannot be expanded.  Subdirectories may be expanded as with any other
DOS file, but directory operations on large subdirectories are really
ssssssssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwww... (large root directories are
pretty slow too).

>Also, why the copying process is VERY slow (over 5 minutes)?

Hmmm...  Floppy disk I/O in DOS is never particularly fast, especially
file writes.  The overhead of repeatedly reading the entire (rather
large in your case) directory looking for a duplicate filename before
making a new file entry for each new file plus the overhead of reading,
updating, and writing the file allocation table (FAT) for each new
cluster allocated to a file and written really adds up.

regards, Larry
-- 
Signed: Larry A. Shurr (att!cbnews!cbema!las or osu-cis!apr!las)
Clever signature, Wonderful wit, Outdo the others, Be a big hit! - Burma Shave
(With apologies to the real thing.  The above represents my views only.)