How do I copy my entire working copy between hard drives?

Question

Whenever I try to copy an entire working copy using simple drag and drop between two computers (e.g. from an old computer to a new one, or from one VM to another) in order to avoid having to redownload the entire several GB set of code from our online repository I get an error as soon as I reach any of the hidden SVN-BASE files.

Is there a way to copy an entire working copy with these intact?

I'm using Vista x64.

Answer 1

I can't answer for Vista, but on XP you just copy the directory.

I guess that Vista has decided that the files are hidden and so do not need to be copied, or they're locked and not available for copying. In the former, make them un-hidden (with the global file options in explorer's Organise menu, under folder & Search options, view tab), in the latter, try stopping TortoiseSVN's cache which might be holding on to them.

or try Xcopy from a command prompt.

Answer 2

I suggest using the command line on an utility as Total Commander; Explorer and Drag&Drop are just not reliable. You could have been a little more helpful by telling what error you are getting.

For the command line, there is xcopy, which will do exactly what you need.

Answer 3

One of the first things I install when I set up a new Windows machine is Cygwin. I almost don't consider Windows ready until it's on there. With Cygwin, I make sure that rsync's included, and I would use rsync to do the copy, since it's fast and will be faster later when I just need to copy the diffs over.

Now this is a big hammer if that's the only reason you're installing Cygwin. But if you've already got it, there's no better way than rsync. Plus, the rsync whitepaper is one of my all-time favorites. ;)

Answer 4

Have you tried rsync, which has an option for skipping directories such as SVN repositories?

In addition, it uses a very efficient incremental file transfer algorithm to save transfer time.

Answer 5

You can try

xcopy /h /e <src dir> <dest dir>

which will copy the entire contents of 'src dir', including empty folders and hidden files.