Problem with copy/paste on windows. how to do it?

I am trying to backup a large folder from my windows PC hardDisk to an external USB hardDisk drive.
I copied the folder and pasted it to the new location. Now here's the pproblem.
After copying a few files, windows throws an error:

Unable to copy Back-874:
Make sure the disk is not write protected blaa blaa...

And there's just an OK button in the error message. When I click it, the entire copy operation stops and I don't even know the filename of the file which caused the error...
I don't have a file/folder named "Back-874" in the folder which I'm trying to copy. I think its just a referenceID assigned by windows to some other file.

The USB hard disk still has about 200GB free space, and the folder I'm trying to backup is just about 20GB. The hard disk is not write protected either. Files are getting copied, but the operation stops after this error.

How do I get around this problem? Can I use some DOS command so it would skip files with problems and continue with other files?
I don't want to zip the backup, because that way the next time I need to add a few files, I'd have to update the whole archive which will take a lot of time.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks

 

What I normally do in such cases is use a file-recovery software to copy files from one location to another. The problem with inbuilt copy function of Windows is that if a few files within a directory have been corrupted, it won't get copied and the entire copy operation stops at that point without resuming. You have to carry out the whole operation again from scratch or copy all the files one by one, which is hellishly time-consuming. A file-recovery utility skips the corrupted or problematic files and copies the good ones first. Then, you can try copying the troublesome files (which are logged in a separate document) individually by using different types of recovery techniques.
Hope it helps.

 

It could be a sign that your external is on it's way out.

Try a linux livecd - find a terminal, "fdisk -l" to display drives (lists drives and their sizes/labels as sd_ which you'll need soon), "mkdir /mnt/windows", "mkdir /mnt/external", "mount /dev/sdx1 /mnt/windows" (sdx1 being the windows drive), "mount /dev/sdy1 /mnt/external" (sdy1 being the external), then it's just a matter of "cp /mnt/windows/Users/JEET/whatever /mnt/external/backup -R"

Linux will do it without the restrictions that Windows may or may not impose on itself - if Linux won't do it, it's likely your drive crapping out.

Feel free to PM me if you need a hand.

 

Content Maestro, Thanks. Which software would you suggest? I need something really simple like where I browse the folder I want to copy and browse the destination. I don't need something too graphical.

Kidsta , the hard disk is brand new. I purchased it yesterday. It's Lenovo HDD. I think it's not giving up. The problem lies in windows inefficiency. I love windows but sometimes its just head-banging-on-the-keyboard frustrating.

 

I don't use Windows so much now. So, sadly, I won't be really able to tell you authentically which programs are out there that can do it. Actually, there are hundreds of them – free and paid. Google it or you may also check this site – http://win.softpedia.com/. There are tons of downloads there. (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/)
What the poster above suggests is also a very good idea. The copy function in a Linux distro is sometimes able to copy files Win cannot. Many distros are available as a Live CD. You won't need to disturb your current Windows installation.