How can I copy a large file on Windows without CopyFile or CopyFileEx?

Question

There is a limitation on Windows Server 2003 that prevents you from copying extremely large files, in proportion to the amount of RAM you have. The limitation is in the Cop

Answer 1

If you want to write code, one way you can optimize is sending the file in chunks (like using MTOM). I used this approach for sending down huge files from a DataCenter down to our office for printing..

Also, check the TeraCopy utility mentioned here..

Answer 2

The best option is to just open the original file for reading, the destination file for writing and then loop copying it block by block. In pseudocode :

f1 = open(filename1);
f2 = open(filename2, "w");
while( !f1.eof() ) {
  buffer = f1.read(buffersize);
  err = f2.write(buffer, buffersize);
  if err != NO_ERROR_CODE
    break;
}
f1.close(); f2.close();

[Edit by Asker] Ok, this is how it looks in C# (it's slow but it seems to work Ok, and it gives progress):

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

namespace LoopCopy
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            if (args.Length != 2)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(
                  "Usage: LoopCopy.exe SourceFile DestFile");
                return;
            }

            string srcName = args[0];
            string destName = args[1];

            FileInfo sourceFile = new FileInfo(srcName);
            if (!sourceFile.Exists)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Source file {0} does not exist", 
                    srcName);
                return;
            }
            long fileLen = sourceFile.Length;

            FileInfo destFile = new FileInfo(destName);
            if (destFile.Exists)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Destination file {0} already exists", 
                    destName);
                return;
            }

            int buflen = 1024;
            byte[] buf = new byte[buflen];
            long totalBytesRead = 0;
            double pctDone = 0;
            string msg = "";
            int numReads = 0;
            Console.Write("Progress: ");
            using (FileStream sourceStream = 
              new FileStream(srcName, FileMode.Open))
            {
                using (FileStream destStream = 
                    new FileStream(destName, FileMode.CreateNew))
                {
                    while (true)
                    {
                        numReads++;
                        int bytesRead = sourceStream.Read(buf, 0, buflen);
                        if (bytesRead == 0) break; 
                        destStream.Write(buf, 0, bytesRead);

                        totalBytesRead += bytesRead;
                        if (numReads % 10 == 0)
                        {
                            for (int i = 0; i < msg.Length; i++)
                            {
                                Console.Write("\b \b");
                            }
                            pctDone = (double)
                                ((double)totalBytesRead / (double)fileLen);
                            msg = string.Format("{0}%", 
                                     (int)(pctDone * 100));
                            Console.Write(msg);
                        }

                        if (bytesRead < buflen) break;

                    }
                }
            }

            for (int i = 0; i < msg.Length; i++)
            {
                Console.Write("\b \b");
            }
            Console.WriteLine("100%");
            Console.WriteLine("Done");
        }
    }
}