RichCopy

RichCopy is a free, multi-threaded file copying utility developed by Ken Tamaru at Microsoft Corporation for accelerating the transfer of large volumes of files on Windows systems, particularly over networks, through features like simultaneous multi-file handling and customizable filters.^[1]^[2] Released initially in 2001 and updated through version 4.0.221.0 in 2009, it offered both a graphical user interface and command-line options for IT professionals, enabling scheduled copies, error logging, and verification of transfer integrity to improve reliability beyond standard Windows Explorer functions.^[3]^[4] However, RichCopy has been discontinued and unsupported by Microsoft since 2010, limiting its official compatibility to Windows XP, Vista, and 7, with no official updates for later versions such as Windows 8 and beyond.^[1]^[5] Despite its obsolescence, it remains notable for its use of multi-threading in file operations and is still downloadable from third-party archives for legacy use.^[6]

History

Development Origins

RichCopy was developed by Ken Tamaru, a Microsoft employee, starting in 2001 as an internal tool to enhance file copying capabilities within the company's environments.^[7] Initially created for private use at Microsoft, the utility addressed the shortcomings of the standard Windows file copying mechanisms available at the time, providing a more robust alternative for handling complex transfer operations.^[8] The primary motivations behind RichCopy's creation stemmed from the limitations of Windows Explorer's built-in copy functions, which operated in a single-threaded manner and offered inadequate error handling, particularly during transfers of large directories over networks.^[7] These issues often resulted in stalled operations, incomplete transfers, and the need for manual restarts when encountering temporary disruptions like network glitches, making standard tools inefficient for enterprise-scale file movements.^[7] Over time, RichCopy evolved to meet the growing demands for faster and more reliable file migration within Microsoft, incorporating multi-threading to enable simultaneous processing of multiple files and thereby reducing overall transfer times.^[7] This development focused on improving operational efficiency for internal workflows, such as migrating data across servers or departments, while maintaining compatibility with evolving Windows platforms.^[8]

Releases and Discontinuation

RichCopy was first released to the public in April 2009 by Microsoft through a TechNet Magazine article, after approximately eight years of internal use and development originating in 2001.^[7] The tool's final iteration, version 4.0.221.0, was made available that year and represented the last official update from Microsoft.^[1] As a proprietary software utility, RichCopy operated under a Microsoft license and was designed for compatibility with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2003. Microsoft discontinued RichCopy in 2010, ending all support, updates, and official distribution through their servers.^[9] Following discontinuation, the tool was no longer maintained, leaving it officially incompatible with later Windows versions such as Windows 8 and beyond, though unofficial modifications may enable limited functionality as of 2025.^[1]

Features

Multi-Threading and Core Mechanisms

RichCopy employs a multi-threaded architecture that enables the simultaneous copying of multiple files, contrasting with single-threaded tools such as Windows Explorer by distributing workloads across threads to enhance efficiency in file transfer operations.^[1] This design incorporates separate thread pools for directory searching, directory copying, and file copying, allowing users to configure the number of threads for each phase to optimize performance based on system resources.^[10] For large files, the engine segments them into portions that can be processed concurrently, further leveraging parallelism while maintaining data integrity.^[10] The tool's error recovery mechanism ensures continuity during transfers by retrying failed operations a configurable number of times before skipping problematic files, thereby preventing a single failure from interrupting the entire process.^[4] Errors are logged in detail for later review, including specifics on the affected files and reasons for failure, such as access denials or network interruptions, without halting the overall job.^[10] Users can also define thresholds for error types that would trigger cancellation, providing granular control over robustness in unreliable environments like networks.^[10] RichCopy preserves essential file attributes during transfers, including NTFS permissions, timestamps, and standard attributes such as read-only or hidden flags, ensuring that the copied files retain their original security and metadata characteristics.^[10] It supports directory mirroring through options that replicate the source structure at the destination, including the ability to purge extraneous files in the target to match the source exactly.^[10] Additionally, exclusion filters allow selective operations by criteria like file size, timestamps, attributes, or security settings, enabling users to omit specific items without affecting the core transfer logic.^[10] These features are configurable via the graphical user interface for straightforward implementation.^[10]

User Interfaces and Controls

RichCopy provides users with both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command-line interface (CLI) to facilitate file copy operations, catering to interactive and automated workflows alike. The GUI offers an accessible platform for configuring and executing transfers, emphasizing ease of use for non-technical users while supporting advanced options.^[1] In the GUI, users can queue multiple copy jobs by creating and saving profiles that define source and destination paths, file filters, and other parameters, allowing batch processing without manual intervention for each task. Source and destination paths are selected through folder browsing dialogs or direct entry, streamlining setup for local or network locations. Real-time progress monitoring displays key metrics, including percentage complete, estimated time remaining, transfer speed, files processed, and bytes transferred, enabling users to track job status dynamically.^[10]^[1] Additional GUI controls include options for pausing and resuming jobs via saved profiles, which preserve the state of interrupted transfers for continuation later. Scheduling is supported through a built-in timer that delays job starts to a specified time, useful for off-peak operations. Output logging can be directed to files or on-screen windows, with configurable details such as timestamps, error codes, descriptions, and affected paths for auditing purposes.^[10]^[1] The CLI enables scripting and automation, providing command-line options to specify threading levels for parallel processing, retry counts for handling failures, and logging configurations similar to the GUI. Users can generate CLI commands directly from GUI-configured jobs, facilitating the transition to scripted repetitions without re-entering parameters. These interfaces allow users to enable multi-threading as part of job setup, integrating core performance features into everyday controls.^[1]^[10]

Performance

Benchmark Results

In local drive-to-drive copying tests from 2013, RichCopy demonstrated speeds up to twice that of Unstoppable Copier when handling large directories of small files.^[4] Benchmarks conducted in 2009 with 15,000 to 90,000 small files (each under 4 KB) highlighted RichCopy's multi-threading advantages, reducing copy times substantially compared to single-threaded operations; for instance, a single-threaded CIFS network job took 57 minutes and 16 seconds, while multi-threaded configurations achieved roughly one-sixth of that duration.^[11] For network transfers, RichCopy improved throughput through multi-threading, with reported speeds reaching 95-110 MB/s for large VM backups over bonded 1 Gbps connections, though performance could slow after processing thousands of files due to processing overhead, as observed in tests yielding 10-15 MB/s (peaking at 25 MB/s) on Gigabit networks to RAID 5 NAS setups. These benchmarks were conducted on hardware and operating systems from the late 2000s to early 2010s; performance on modern Windows versions and hardware (e.g., Windows 11, NVMe SSDs) has not been officially benchmarked, though the tool remains usable unofficially.^[4] In 2009-2013 evaluations with mixed file sets, RichCopy was reported to be significantly faster than Windows Explorer in local directory copying tasks, though performance varied by scenario, such as network transfers where Explorer sometimes outperformed it, with logging features adding minimal overhead to overall performance.^[12]^[4]

Comparisons to Other Tools

RichCopy offers a graphical user interface (GUI) that enhances the command-line capabilities of Robocopy, enabling easier configuration of job queuing, multi-threading, and filters, while replicating core functions such as preserving NTFS permissions and handling network disruptions. At the time of RichCopy's release, Robocopy was command-line only without multi-threading; later versions (from Windows 7 onward) added multi-threading support (/MT), though it remains primarily CLI-based with third-party GUI options available. In contrast, Robocopy operates solely via command line, providing robust scripting options but lacking the intuitive controls of RichCopy's GUI, and it continues to receive official Microsoft updates and support.^[7]^[13] Compared to the built-in Windows Explorer copy functionality, RichCopy provides superior reliability and efficiency for bulk file operations through features like pause/resume, granular attribute preservation, and multi-threaded transfers, which allow simultaneous handling of multiple files to reduce overall time.^[7] Windows Explorer, while simpler and integrated for casual, ad-hoc copying of individual files or small sets, often struggles with large-scale tasks due to its single-threaded approach and limited error recovery.^[7] RichCopy shares similarities with third-party tools such as TeraCopy, both employing multi-threading to accelerate file transfers and offering pause/resume capabilities for interrupted jobs.^[7]^[14] However, RichCopy's development by Microsoft engineers and its completely free availability positioned it as a preferred option in enterprise environments for secure, large-volume migrations until its discontinuation, whereas TeraCopy requires a paid Pro version for advanced reporting and commercial use.^[14]

Criticisms and Limitations

Technical Shortcomings

RichCopy lacks built-in support for copying open or locked files, necessitating third-party extensions or tools for Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) integration to handle such scenarios. This limitation stems from the tool's design, which does not incorporate native VSS functionality, unlike some commercial successors that add this capability.^[15] Several bugs in RichCopy have remained unfixed since its last update in 2009, including incomplete preservation of file attributes and permissions in network transfer scenarios. For instance, Access Control Lists (ACLs) are not reliably copied when source permissions, such as local administrator groups, do not align with destination rights, leading to security mismatches.^[16]^[17] The graphical user interface (GUI) is prone to crashes when encountering long file paths or complex network paths. These instability issues persist without patches, making the tool less reliable for operations involving such paths.^[18]^[19]

Support and Maintenance Issues

Following its discontinuation in 2010, RichCopy has received no official support from Microsoft, resulting in persistent unresolved bugs. While it may run on newer operating systems such as Windows 10 and Windows 11, it can exhibit unreliable behavior, including significant startup delays with the 64-bit version due to inefficient drive enumeration code that hangs on disconnected mapped drives—a problem exacerbated by the lack of updates to address modern system behaviors.^[9]^[20]^[21]^[22] This absence of maintenance has made the tool unreliable for critical tasks on contemporary Windows environments, where it may fail to launch properly or exhibit erratic behavior without patches.^[6] Microsoft removed all official download links for RichCopy years ago, forcing users to seek versions from third-party archives and download sites.^[23] This reliance on unofficial sources introduces notable security risks, including potential exposure to malware or tampered executables, as these distributions lack Microsoft's verification and digital signatures.^[1] Administrators are advised to scan any downloaded files thoroughly and consider alternatives to mitigate these vulnerabilities.^[5] In community discussions on Microsoft forums, RichCopy has faced criticism for its redundancy with the built-in Robocopy utility, which offers similar functionality through command-line options without the need for a separate GUI tool.^[6] The lack of post-2010 updates has rendered it unsuitable for production environments, where stability and compatibility with evolving Windows features are essential, prompting many users to abandon it in favor of maintained solutions.^[2]