Having XCopy copy a file and not overwrite the previous one if it exists (without prompting)

Question

I'm sending commands to a remote computer in order to have it copy a file. I want the file to be copied, but not to overwrite the previous file with the same name (if it exists). I also need the command to run without any prompts (xcopy likes to prompt whether the target name I've specified is file or directory, and it will also prompt about overwriting a file).

Answer 1

No way to make it NOT overwrite as far as I know. but /Y will make it overwrite. and /I will get rid of the file/dict prompt. See xcopy /? for all options

Answer 2

Well, there's a certain remedy! It has helped me with saving much of my effort and time on Win10 while writing a setup for our product demo.

Just try to use piping:

@ECHO N|COPY /-Y SourceFiles Destination

As an example I used this piece of code so that I would have a clean gentle quiet and safe copy!

@FOR /D %%F in ("FooPath") DO @(
   @ECHO N|COPY /-Y ^"%%~npdxF\*.*^" ^"GooPath^" 3>NUL 2>NUL >NUL
)

where obviously FooPath is the source and GooPath is the destination.

Enjoy!

(main source: https://ss64.com/nt/copy.html)

Answer 3

just in case anyone else finds this: robocopy x:\sourcefolder Y:\destfolder /s /e /r:0 /z

much better than xcopy, even gives you a table at the end informing of any failed or skipped files. Doesn't prompt to not overwrite.

Answer 4

Following command copy files and folder but not override file if already exist.

xcopy "*.*" "C:\test\"  /s /y /d

Answer 5

You can also use the replace command. It has two modes: to add files that don't exist there or replace files that do exist. You want the previous mode:

replace <path1> <path2> /A

Answer 6

I had to copy AND rename files, so I got the prompt about creating a file or a directory.

This is the, rather "hackish" way I did it:

ECHO F | XCOPY /D "C:\install\dummy\dummy.pdf" "C:\Archive\fffc810e-f01a-47e8-a000-5903fc56f0ec.pdf"

XCOPY will use the "F" to indicate it should create the target as a file:

C:\install>ECHO F   | XCOPY /D "C:\install\dummy\dummy.html" "C:\Archive\aa77cd6e-1d19-4eb4-b2a8-3f8fe60daf00.html"
Does C:\Archive\aa77cd6e-1d19-4eb4-b2a8-3f8fe60daf00.html specify a file name or directory name on the target
(F = file, D = directory)? F
C:\install\dummy\dummy.html
1 File(s) copied

I've also verified this command leaves existing files alone. (You should too :-)

Answer 7

I have good results with xcopy /d.

It will copy NEWER files, and since we can assume that existing files have same time-stamp, you will copy only files that don't exist.