Cannot transfer file to External Harddrive despite it having enough Free Space [Windows 10]

Question

Cannot transfer file to External Harddrive despite it having enough Free Space [Windows 10]

JSK 5

I have had this trouble for some time, whenever I want to transfer files to my other harddrive, it sometimes just refuses. I am trying to transfer a 14,4GB mp4 file, yet is just refuses despite there being 15GB of free space. I have Defragmented the drive, made sure the drive is formatted to NTFS, yet it still refuses to work. And since it is a single file I can't really split it up like I have seen suggested on other parts of the internet.

Screenshot_1

Potentially useful info:
I am transfering an mp4 file from one external drive (D:) to another (F:), both drives are formatted to NTFS
I am using Windows 10 Home Version 22H2 (OS Build: 19045.7725)

Genuinely have no idea what to do. Please help!

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Old observer 240 Volunteer Moderator

When compression is turned on, system suppose that files can be compressed so shows larger size of free space, appr. twice as large. I.e., you have ~7.5 GB free disk space.

But mp4 files are compressed already and cannot be compressed additionally. So, your file requires 14.4 GB real size or ~29 GB "compressed" space.

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Answer 2

Old observer 240 Volunteer Moderator

JSK,

could it be that compression on F: disk is turned on? Please check disk's properties.

JSK 5 Reputation points

2026-09-26T23:32:03.6166667+00:00

Yeah "Compress this drive to save disk space" is on, but wouldn't turning it off decrease the disk space even more?

Answer 3

Ivan B 124.7K Independent Advisor

Hi,

Just to be sure, check the file properties and look at the total size; if it is under 14 GB, open the Command Prompt (as administrator) and try using robocopy:

robocopy "d:\example.mp4" "f:\" "c:\test.txt"

See if that works—remember, the file cannot be currently in use by any program.

Thanks.

JSK 5 Reputation points

2026-09-26T14:07:29.98+00:00

Sadly that doesn't work either. It isn't under 14GB but I tried regardless and it just reported:

despite changing the names to fit, even tried capital D: instead of d: but it did the same thing.
Ivan B 124.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-26T14:56:53.1133333+00:00

Hi,

I apologize—I should have explained that you need to rename it and include the actual filename:

robocopy D:\ F:\ "example.mp4" /J /R:1 /W:1 /LOG:C:\robocopy.log /TEE

Replace "example" with the filename and extension you want to copy.

Thanks.
JSK 5 Reputation points

2026-09-26T22:15:49.1466667+00:00

Nope, still complains about disk space despite there being enough. It says:

ERROR 112 (0x00000070) There is not enough space on disk.

I don't know what else the problem could be, is it some invisible cache? I have WizTree and that doesn't show anything more than 100mb which doesn't help much. The F: Drive is entirely made up of mp4 files, it's old family videos I'm moving to an external harddrive, so it's not like there are any unnecessary files for it to get stuck in.
Ivan B 124.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-27T00:00:16.34+00:00

Hi,

If disk compression is enabled, you might not actually have 15 GB of free space—you likely have less. In that case, you would need to free up space or compress the .mp4 file further. Since it is a large file, you would need to use software like this: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mxzt0ljc7fk?hl=en-US&gl=BR

You can try using this one.

As a precaution, create a copy of the file before attempting compression to ensure the file remains safe.

Thanks.
JSK 5 Reputation points

2026-10-03T11:51:02.7566667+00:00

Hiya!

I ended up compressing the file with the program you linked and it worked super well! I might need to get more storage regardless, but this worked!

Thanks for all the advice on this thread! :)
Ivan B 124.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-03T18:06:51.1566667+00:00

Hi,

I'm glad it worked out. You can always count on the Microsoft Q&A community. Have a good week.

Please consider rating the question (accepting the answer or not) and visiting the Microsoft Q&A community if you have further questions.

Thanks.