Laptop is Win 10. I have a .cmd script that uses XCOPY to back my files up. Backup is from my local drive to a USB flash drive. Backup runs just fine unless I'm connected to my work network via VPN, in which case it can take as long as 30 minutes for the script to begin copying files once executed. I've tried unmapping network drives and that did not change anything. I'm only backing up local files, so I don't know what the VPN connection could have to do with anything. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

If you have tons of files in Documents, then yes it may take some time to build the directory list. Since you are using /d, are you just trying to mirror Documents to a backup folder? If so, try robocopy.exe with the /e switch. Or use /mir (mirror) if you want it to delete files too. The /l switch will run an analysis without doing any copy/deleete. Robocopy will also give you a more detailed report of what it did.

Use Process Monitor to trace the activity of xcopy.exe. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+to+use+process+monitor Start by setting a filter for "Process name is xcopy.exe". Start the trace and kick off the xcopy. The trace will show all file, registry and network calls that are made. See what entries get generated during the "dead time". Does robocopy act the same way?

Interesting - it's making a network call to a server for a "create file" operation. The server is inside my company but I wonder why a simple copy command would be doing that (?)

Question: - my script contains a number of XCOPY commands, since I need to back up files from several locations. Does Windows treat each command as a separate execution of XCOPY or does it parse the entire script before executing?

This had no effect, unfortunately. I'm about to sign off for the day so let's pick this back up on Monday. Appreciate your suggestions!

XCOPY very slow to start when connected to VPN

Accepted answer

MotoX80 31,561 Reputation points

2021-02-08T18:10:24.86+00:00

If you have tons of files in Documents, then yes it may take some time to build the directory list.

Since you are using /d, are you just trying to mirror Documents to a backup folder? If so, try robocopy.exe with the /e switch. Or use /mir (mirror) if you want it to delete files too. The /l switch will run an analysis without doing any copy/deleete.

Robocopy will also give you a more detailed report of what it did.
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1 person found this answer helpful.
Josh K 81 Reputation points

2021-02-08T18:24:49.963+00:00

Yes, I'm just doing straight incremental backups. I'll check out Robocopy as an alternative; it's just weird that this only happens when I'm connected with VPN, and that it just started happening recently when I've been backing up this same way for years. I appreciate the quick responses.

Sunny Qi 10,896 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-02-09T02:20:19.22+00:00

Hi anonymous user-9165 ,

Thank you very much for your feedback. As MotoX80's suggestion, may I know if you try have tried robocopy.exe? And how about the transfer speed? Does it becomes normal when using robocopy.exe? If yes, as a workaround, I would suggest you could accept MotoX80's suggestion as an answer.

Best Regards,
Sunny

Josh K 81 Reputation points

2021-02-09T14:39:19.703+00:00

Hi, Sunny. I set it up in Robocopy yesterday afternoon. The result was pretty much the same - it takes a long time to start running but once it starts, it goes along just fine. It's just odd that this only happens when I'm on VPN, even though I'm not copying any files over the network.

MotoX80 31,561 Reputation points

2021-02-09T16:37:23.093+00:00

Run the copy twice and see if the second run is significantly faster. If you have a lot of files in a folder then the second run will benefit from accessing the system cache instead of doing an I/O to the disk. Maybe it's just the sequence of events or processes that you are running.

And I still go back to process monitor. Xcopy.exe or some other process has to be doing something in the "long time to start running" timeframe. On the Tools menu look at the File Summary and Network Summary. Analyze all processes, not just xcopy.exe.

Trace it while on VPN and again with VPN turned off. Compare the summaries.

Update: if your policies allow it, save the trace, zip it up and put it somewhere that I can download it. Maybe I will see something.

Josh K 81 Reputation points

2021-02-09T21:28:41.2+00:00

Second run right after the first didn't go any faster. One thing I'm seeing in Process Monitor is repeated attempts to connect to a server inside our network, even though I'm only backing up files stored locally on my laptop. Disconnecting from VPN resulted in the backup starting immediately with no attempts to connect to that server. Could this be some kind of babysitting being done over our network?

MotoX80 31,561 Reputation points

2021-02-10T00:06:14.227+00:00

One thing I'm seeing in Process Monitor is repeated attempts to connect to a server inside our network

By xcopy.exe? During the xcopy "dead period"? What folder is being accessed? What service does that server provide? What port is it accessing? SMB? HTTP? Active Directory?

Could this be some kind of babysitting being done over our network?

It could be anything. Based on a vague description with no details of the process involved, the file/folder being referenced, and with no knowledge of your network setup, forum users can only guess.

As this point I would recommend that you contact whoever supports your network and ask them for help.

Josh K 81 Reputation points

2021-02-10T14:38:57.67+00:00

Yes, by XCOPY.exe and also by ROBOCOPY.exe, and yes, during the "dead period." It looks like it's trying to access folders on this server that match the names of the folders on my laptop that I'm backing up. I've tried to find out what this server is but so far haven't had any luck. I think you're right that I need to try to troubleshoot this within my company's network support team, so I guess we can consider this a closed question as far as the forum goes. Thanks very much for your help.

Sunny Qi 10,896 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2021-02-16T06:53:49.737+00:00

You could accept the useful reply as answer if you want to end this thread up. If there is anything else we can do for you, please feel free to post in the forum.
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XCOPY very slow to start when connected to VPN

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