Copy (Recovery Console)

The copy command is a Recovery Console command used to copy a file from one location to another.

A copy command is also available from the Command Prompt.

copy source [destination]

source  = This is the location and name of the file you want to copy.

Note: The source may not be a folder and you may not use wildcard characters (the asterisk). The source may only be located on removable media, any folder in the system folders of the current installation of Windows, the root folder of any drive, the local installation sources, or the Cmdcons folder.

destination = This is the location and/or file name that the file specified in source should be copied to.

Note: The destination can not be on any removable media.

copy d:\i386\atapi.sy_ c:\windows\atapi.sys

In the above example, the atapi.sy_ file located in the i386 folder on the Windows XP installation CD is copied to the C:\Windows directory as atapi.sys.

copy d:\readme.htm

In this example, the copy command has no destination specified so the readme.htm file is copied to whatever directory you typed the copy command from.

For example, if you type copy d:\readme.htm from the C:\Windows> prompt, the readme.htm file will be copied to C:\Windows.

The copy command is available from within the Recovery Console in Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Copying is also available, without the use of a command, from within any version of Windows. See How To Copy a File in Windows for more information.

The copy command is often used with many other Recovery Console commands.