When you copy a file on a Windows Server 2003-based computer, the file-copy operation takes much longer than expected

Consider the following scenario:

�	You are copying a file on a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
�	The source file and the file-copy destination are located on the same physical hard disk.
�	The hard disk does not support hardware write-caching. Or, hardware write-caching is disabled.

In this scenario, it takes much longer than expected to copy the file.

In certain file-copy situations, Windows Server 2003 may alternate between 64-kilobyte reads for the source file and 64-kilobyte writes to the destination file. If both the source file and the destination file are on the same physical disk, and there is no hardware write-caching enabled on the disk, lots of head thrashing is generated. In turn, this causes slow copy performance.

If hardware write-caching is disabled, work around this problem by enabling the Enable write caching on the disk option. To do this, follow these steps:

1.	Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2.	Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
3.	Right-click the drive on which the file-copy operation will occur, and then click Properties.
4.	Click the Policies tab, click to select the Enable write caching on the disk check box, and then click OK.
5.	On the File menu, click Exit.

Note When you use some disk controller hardware, this option may be unavailable (appear dimmed). In this situation, you may have to adjust the write-caching settings by using the proprietary software of the disk controller hardware manufacturer.