MS-DOS: Problem COPYing Zero-Length Files (50564)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.1
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.2
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.21
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 3.3a
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 4.01
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 5.0a
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
- Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22
This article was previously published under Q50564 SYMPTOMS
When a file of zero length is copied to a currently existing file, the COPY
command returns the following message and incorrectly deletes the target
file in the process:
0 File(s) copied
CAUSE
When a file is to be copied to an existing file, the COPY command deletes
the target file and then proceeds to copy the source file onto the target
file. However, just before proceeding, COPY checks the length of the source
file and, since it is of length zero, the COPY command is aborted. The net
result is that the previously existing target file isn't undeleted and
hence is lost.
WORKAROUND
You can recover the target file by using a third-party utility (such as The
Norton Utilities or PC-Tools).
With MS-DOS 5.0 and later, the UNDELETE command can also be used to
recover the target file.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft MS-DOS
packaged product versions listed at the beginning of this article. We are
researching this problem and will post new information here in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/12/2003 |
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| Keywords: | KB50564 |
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