Windows 8 Will Resume Copy on Wake, Bring Less Operation Interruptions

The process of copying files in Windows 8 will be much improved starting with the beta release, when compared to the developer preview and with other flavors of Windows. 

Microsoft designed the platform to handle duplicate files differently than before and to eliminate the need of copying identical files from a location to another. 

But there’s more to it, as Windows 8 will also allow for copy operations to be paused when a system sleeps or hibernates, and to be resumed when the machine is awake again. However, users will need to click the depressed pause button to resume the operation. 

“We decided not to have copies automatically resume on wake, as the system environment may have changed significantly in the interim and we do not want to cause an error,” Ilana Smith, a lead program manager on the Engineering System team, explains. 

Another important change relates to the manner in which the machine handles user interaction that can occur during a copy job. 

Confirmations such as “Are you sure you want to permanently delete this file?” will remain unchanged, meaning that the user will have to be there to hit the button. These need to be completed before the copy operation starts. 

However, interrupts, or issues that the system encounters while copying – such as “File not found,” “File in use,” and file name conflicts – will be logged and presented when the operation completes (when the machine copied all the files it could copy). Basically, you won’t have to be there at all times to supervise the operation. 

“In the beta, we’ve made improvements in how confirmations are presented, making sure they don’t get lost amongst existing running copies,” Ilana explains. 

Another appealing change in Windows 8 in terms of file copying is the ability to take advantage of a faster network connection to continue a copy operation at times when a new such connection appears. 

Thus, if you start copying a large chunk of files on a wireless connection and plug in a network cable, the operation will speed up. However, it is necessary for both machines to run Windows 8.

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