why is desktop folder so large to copy ?

Discussion in 'Software' started by John67, Nov 16, 2014.

  1. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    hello , i have a windows 7 desktop and just started backing up and cleaning videos and pictures etc..to try to get more space , i was a 500gb drive so i bought a 1 tb wd ext hd, i got 200gb back on my desktop pc..and decided i'd copy the desktop to it too..it registers 192 gb! just with the desktop folder..did windows 7 copy everything associated with the desktop like an enitre drive back up? i did this yrs ago and it was hardly any file to it from just the desktop..please help not sure if i wanted to do an entire drive backup
    thanks
    John:confused
     
  2. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    ps i know this is an dumb question for experienced pple like you all ..i do know some things about computers but really had no idea of this particular situation..
     
  3. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    if i had known just copying the desktop folder would do an entire backup i could've saved some time over the years lol, it says 1 day to complete tho omg this is going onto a my passport 1tb, question is will all programs and files be just like the master machine?
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2014
  4. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    ...what?
     
  5. AtlBo

    AtlBo Major Geek Extraordinaire

    John67...

    Highly recommend this tool:

    http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

    Not sure why it isn't here at MGs. It's very popularly used. This tool will make it possible for you to easily navigate to folders and to easily see what is inside and how large the folders and files there are.

    The "Desktop" folder shouldn't contain so much. To search out the problem, you can use TreeSize Free, or you can inspect what is in your desktop folder by opening "Computer" from the start menu and then navigating to your user account folder (Click on "C:" then "Users" and then "[your user account folder]") and then click on the "Desktop" folder. To verify the size, right click on the "Desktop" folder and select "Properties". That will show you the size information for the folder. Opening the folder, you can do the same thing on the folders inside to see what is causing the folder to contain so much information.
     
  6. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    LOL i know ..i was asking why did it copy more than desktop items..but it stopped at computer folder so it copied all libraries..i guess:-o
     
  7. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    thank you atlbo..this works nice ;) ps..still see this tree veiw is showing only 300+ mb on desktop scan..it copied almost 100gb all libraries ..maybe since i unchecked view hidden folders?
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2014
  8. AtlBo

    AtlBo Major Geek Extraordinaire

    John67...

    On unchecking hidden folders...I think you mean you unchecked "view hidden folders" in your folder options in Windows 7 just now when you were checking to see what is in the folder. Not sure if I am correct about this. The hidden files that are found in the desktop folder (actually in most places) are actually quite small in size, so that wouldn't have affected things much as far as the size of the backup goes.

    Sounds to me like you may have accidently backed up your user account folder rather than the "Desktop" folder contained inside your user account folder or even maybe accidently backed up the entire C: drive. Easy mistake to make. The easiest mistake is to use the default check boxes in the Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility to backup all libraries and data for newly created users. You were, of course, just going for the one folder on your PC which is the desktop for your main account (fairly certain I have this correct).

    Might help to kind of start over. Backup procedures can get frustrating. My first question would be...

    1. Where did you save the 192 GB backup? Put another way...what drive was used to save the backup?

    2nd question is:

    2. What utility did you use to create the backup (did you use the Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility or one you installed like Macrium or Paragon, etc.?)?

    This will help start the process of identifying what happened and how to correct any problems there might be.

    Sounds like you are on a laptop and you were going to transfer the desktop to your desktop PC using ethernet or usb or such. Is this correct?
     
  9. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    you are right ..i think i did back up the entire user acct..i just copied and pasted the desktop icon to an external 1tb hd, from a desktop pc.. it stopped itself after 100gb when it got down to the ..computer icon..thank goodness lol, i think the whole user acct being back up was maybe what i was kinda looking for in the first place..but it just freaked me out lol, thank you also for your great help ;) i am guessing doing it the way i did copied all 4 libraries document picture videos & music? i suppose the documents folder prob had a massive amount?
     
  10. John67

    John67 Private E-2

    Ok i think i see what i did ..on the desktop the icons; USER acct name, ,computer, libraries ,control panel, network all of them on the desktop..didn't realize that lol, i had just copied all the icons on the desktop and pasted them into the ext hd, :-o i had gotten so used to xp.. first time i really did much of anything on the W7 ..so what i was trying to do was back up the user acct..with email and other settings..programs and files ..i had already back up videos and pictures..and music..so i had not much an idea where to begin as i really didn't want to back up the entire drive..i guess this is what i wanted..
     
  11. AtlBo

    AtlBo Major Geek Extraordinaire

    John67...

    You're welcome. This sounds like something that maybe Windows 7 does automatically if you attempt the procedure the way you attempted it. I haven't ever tried it that way. Since the path to the icons as stored in the icon files and folder files was through your user account on the first PC, Windows decided you needed to transfer the entire account to preserve the path. Anyway, it's not anything you did really. It's just Windows preserving the integrity of the "Desktop" folder path and moving it all over.

    You should be able to do this, but you may have to copy the Desktop folder from the first PC onto a backup drive and then attach it to the second PC. Using simple copy/paste procedures, you can copy/paste the "Desktop" folder to a backup drive without all the rest of the user account being copied. I have a USB drive I use to move files from one PC to another, and I just tried it, and it works. I just navigated to the "Desktop" folder to be copied, right clicked on it and selected copy, and then navigated to the USB drive and pasted the folder onto the drive. Sure enough, the folder was transferred by itself without all of the account folders being added.

    Desktop folders are fairly innocuous when saved apart from their user account path. Pretty sure they can be interchanged without any problem from one W7 PC to another...heck even from W7 to XP I think...

    Got a question. Are you using a backup drive to move this folder, or do you have the PCs connected somehow? Again, think you may need to use a backup drive to perform this procedure...
     
  12. AtlBo

    AtlBo Major Geek Extraordinaire

    John67...

    Ah...I see. These are system folders. As soon as you grabbed a link on the desktop to a system folder, I think Windows copies the entire account. If you copy all but the system icons on the desktop, you should be good.

    If you organize the icons on the first PC so that you can highlight all of them but the system ones (don't highlight recycle bin also), then you should be able to highlight the non-system ones easily and copy and paste them whereever you like for the move to the second PC.

    Hope this helps.
     

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