How to fix the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error? Find out why and try 10 fixes in this article, which will give you another way to synchronize your files to save time while ensuring that they complete successfully.
"I have a CD that contains my important works. They are stored in zip format on another old laptop which is Windows 7. Just yesterday, I copied this zip archive to a newly purchased external hard drive and through this external drive to a desktop computer with Windows 10 installed. The idea was good, but during the actual copying process, I received an error message: Can’t Read from Source File or Disk. I can't determine which step is the problem, can anyone provide reliable advice?"
In your work and life, you often copy, delete or move files, and these operations are usually fine. But sometimes, when you try to transfer files to another disk, USB drive, external hard drive, SD card or DVD, you will see the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error in Windows 10 as described in the case above.
If you don't know much about computer operation, then this can be a headache enough. But don't worry, you just need to be patient and read this article to get the fix, but before that, you need to understand the cause of the error.
If you are struggling with the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error when copying, please understand these common causes first, which will help you to fix them next.
How to fix the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error? Please refer to the following 10 fixes and follow the steps provided to try to fix it.
When you encounter the error "Can’t read from source file or disk" during file transfer, the first thing you should try is to restart your computer, which may help you fix the error. In addition, in some cases when there is a connection problem with the USB drive, it can also cause the above error, so please try to reconnect it.
If you are experiencing an "Can’t read from source file or disk" error when transferring files to the external hard drive, then you should consider whether the external hard drive has a faulty connection cable or power supply. To do this, you need to check the external hard drive's power connection cable.
You can use another connection cable instead, or connect that external drive to another computer and see if the above error persists.
If it still exists, it means that the power connection cable is faulty, please replace it promptly.
If the file name is not recognized by Windows or is not compatible with Windows, then your device will not be able to find the specific file name via File Explorer and will display the error message "Can’t read from source file or disk". In this case, the easiest solution is to rename the file.
You can try to open the file using another application or computer. If this computer has a completely different operating system than the current one (e.g. you are currently using Windows and another computer can choose Mac), then it will help to eliminate the conflict between the file and the computer.
When there are bad tracks on your computer's hard drive, external hard drive or USB drive, it can lead to a "Can’t read from source file or disk" error. To do this, you need to check and repair these bad tracks. And below you will find two different methods, one of which you can choose depending on your situation.
When there are viruses or malware on your computer, it may also lead to the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error. Therefore, you need to scan and remove these viruses or malware with a third-party anti-virus software or Windows Defender, which is recommended here, and here are the detailed steps.
If Windows does not grant you ownership of a file, you will not be able to open it even if you receive it successfully and you will receive the error that Windows 10 "Can't read from source file or disk". To do this, you need to change the file permissions to fix the above error.
If the file you want to copy is too large, it will also cause an "Can’t read from source file or disk" error. Therefore, you need to convert the FAT32 file format to NTFS file format. This is because the former only supports the transfer of individual files of 4GB or less, while the latter can support the transfer of individual files of more than 4GB.
😬 Tip: If you want to view the file system, you can right-click the local disk, then select Properties and view the file system of the disk in the General tab.
If none of the above methods helps you fix the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error, you can also choose to format the disk. Here you can choose one of the 3 different ways to format the disk, depending on your situation. To prevent any data loss, it is recommended to make a backup of the disk before formatting.
Note 📝: Disks with the system installed cannot be formatted, for example the local disk (C:). Quick format is faster, but it only deletes the file system logs from the disk and skips error checking, which does not completely solve disk problems, so a full format is more recommended.
Note 📝: The default is full format, if you just want to format quickly, add /q, when the whole command is format x: /q /fs:fat32.
After fixing the "Can’t read from source file or disk" error by the above 9 methods, you can transfer the files you need normally. If you need to change files frequently, it will be troublesome to copy and paste files manually. So we recommend the free and professional third-party synchronization software AOMEI Backupper Standard for file synchronization.
With a scheduled synchronization, you only need to select the source file once, and then all the changed files will be automatically synchronized to the corresponding location to avoid the trouble of manually copying and pasting every change.
AOMEI Backupper Standard allows you to sync your files to an external hard drive, USB drive or cloud storage. If you have a work team and want to share a file to other team members, you can choose to sync the file to a network location, using the shared folder as the destination location. The next section will explain how to synchronize files between your computer and an external drive, using Windows 10 as an example.
😬Tips: After adding a folder, you can tap the funnel icon next to it to open the filtering settings to select File Inclusion Mask, File Exclusion Mask, and Folder Exclusion Mask. Please note that this feature requires an upgrade to the Pro version. 🧱 File Inclusion Mask: specifies the files that you need to sync. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with semi-colon(*.doc;*.xls;*.ppt ). 🧱 File Exclusion Mask: specifies the files that you need to exclude. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with semi-colon(*.temp;*.tmp;*.bak;*~*) 🧱 Folder Exclusion Mask: specifies the folders that you need to exclude. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with a semi-colon(*temp;temp*).
😬 Tip: After upgrading to the Pro version, you can also choose to automatically sync on Event triggers and USB plug in.
In addition to Basic Sync, AOMEI Backupper has other features that may be of interest to you.
The 9 methods provided in this article can help you fix the "Can't read from source file or disk" error, so that files can be transferred normally. However, if you want to transfer files more efficiently, we recommend using AOMEI Backupper Standard's File Sync feature, which allows you to easily synchronize files that have been changed to the appropriate location by simply setting up a scheduled sync, further saving time in file transfer.
AOMEI Backupper Standard provides you with a free and professional file synchronization service for multiple Windows versions, allowing you to synchronize folders to any location in just a few simple steps. In addition, the software has features such as real-time sync and mirror sync, which can meet all your needs.