ravir RA

error 0x80004005 when copying files between drives

Copying a folder from my internal drive to an external one fails partway with error 0x80004005 unspecified error. Small files go through, a few big ones don't. Windows 10.
error 0x80004005
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irabyte Oct 29, 2026
ravir
Small files fine, big ones fail? Check what the external drive is formatted as. Right-click it in This PC, Properties. If it says FAT32, that's it: FAT32 can't hold a single file over 4GB, and Windows throws that useless unspecified error instead of saying so. Copy everything off it, then format it exFAT (also works on Macs and TVs) or NTFS if it only ever goes in Windows machines. Formatting wipes it, so back up first.
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