Recently I’m having a trouble migrating data from an old hard disk to a newer one. During the process I’ve tested out several software that help me move vast amount of data across directories.

There are a few features you would want to have when finding a data copying software:

• Able to pause and resume
• Manage a cue of operations
• Ability to handle error (prompt to skip, retry, or cancel)
• Ability to speed up the copy
• Easy to use
• When moving folders of objects, able to copy then delete after success.

Copy Handler is free and allow integration with explorer.
When the software is running, drag and drop, copy or move actions performed in the windows explorer will be handled by the software. It has cue management, so that it cues the job, do them one by one. Extremely intuitive user interface.

TeraCopy is free and it is faster then Copy Handler almost two times in my case.
You have to drag files into the software interface, and then select an output folder, and press move or copy. It does not have cues so you can only only do a job one by one. I don’t know how it speeds up the copying process, but it really does.

I also use another software called SyncToy by Microsoft, it is also free and help sync by USB thumb drive to a folder. It is very lightweight, easy to use. You have to setup the directories and the way files are sync, supports mirror backup, additive backup, newer copy two way sync. I only used the mirror backup function, and it works very well. I’m not certain about the speed because I usually don’t have a lot of stuff on my USB drive.