how do i fix: 'access denied' with the move command in windows 7?

Question

Hi there i'm using the windows 7 'move' command like so:

move /Y "C:\old.sub.folder\folder.i.want.to.move" "F:\new.sub.folder\folder.i.want.to.move"

and i keep getting an 'accessed denied' error yet i have full permissions and the folder i'm trying to move isn't open or being uses?

a random example trying to move one empty folder to another: http://puu.sh/2Rx6b.png

any ideas?

thanks

this is a year old topic and i don't run windows anymore but thanks for trying :) — steve, Mar 23 '14 at 16:39

Razvan · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-05 09:30:13Z

9

Or you could try robocopy with /MOVE argument:

robocopy C:\old\folder F:\new\folder /E /MOVE

answered May 5 '16 at 9:30

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Does robocopy /move move the files the same way the move command or explorer does, or does it copy and then delete? I get access denied when using os.system in python with the move command (although I think Python can move files without having to run system commands). I changed it to robocopy and it's taking a while. – user742864 Jul 14 '16 at 4:22
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no, it doesn't. move doesn't touch the file itself, it only changes the file allocation table. This is why move can't move a file to another drive. Any move to another drive must make a copy – Stephan Jul 14 '16 at 7:51

Stephan · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-23 07:15:27Z

6

Syntax is:

MOVE [/Y| /-Y] [Drive:][Path]Folder1 Folder2

That means, you can rename one folder, but you cannot "move" contents to another drive.

I'm afraid, you have to copy your source-folder to the destination-folder (xcopy) and then delete the source-folder

answered May 12 '13 at 11:26

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i don't understand though why can the move command move files but not folders? isn't there a command to move the folder? i don't mind using a separate exe for this if need be :) – steve May 12 '13 at 12:05
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@Stephan copy/delete takes ages when you're moving many gig. It also wastes your hard drives life with the completely unnecessary duplicate data. To top it off, it probably fragments your filesystem. – jozxyqk Mar 23 '14 at 7:04
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@jozxyqk: the OP wants to move from C: to F:. I don't know how to to that without transferring the data. – Stephan Mar 23 '14 at 7:14
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@jozxyqk: Then move is the right way to do it for you. It only changes FAT-Entries without moving the files. (that's why it don't work from one drive to another) – Stephan Mar 23 '14 at 7:18
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@Stephan That's exactly what I'm after but I'm having some issues replacing/merging when folder names match – jozxyqk Mar 23 '14 at 7:37

2 Answers 2