• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Unable to move or copy video files

Ian Preddy

Member
Aug 18, 2018
58
25
Hi all,

I can't get video files (25-30MB) off my phone on to my PC for some reason. I can see them on my PC under the A5/DCIM/Camera folder but when I try to move them or click coy/paste on to the PC I get an error message saying there's a fault with the A5. Please advise. I can get over this with files under 25MB by emailing them to myself.

On that basis, I could edit the unwanted bits off to get to <25MB if I could find a free video editor app. Any ideas, please?

Ian
 
Hi all,

I can't get video files (25-30MB) off my phone on to my PC for some reason. I can see them on my PC under the A5/DCIM/Camera folder but when I try to move them or click coy/paste on to the PC I get an error message saying there's a fault with the A5. Please advise. I can get over this with files under 25MB by emailing them to myself.

On that basis, I could edit the unwanted bits off to get to <25MB if I could find a free video editor app. Any ideas, please?

Ian
what exactly does the error message say? do you have an sd card?
 
  • Like
Reactions: GameTheory
Upvote 0
  • Like
Reactions: ocnbrze
Upvote 0
ocnbrze - it says: "A device attached to the system is not functioning" and, yes, it has a card. The path is Galaxy/Card/DCIM/Camera.

Game Theory - many thanks. I'll try them out.

Ian
have you tried taking the card out of the phone and use a card reader to your pc and transfer the videos this way?
 
Upvote 0
A video editor app is going to enable you to edit/alter video files, you need to focus on that actual problem, file and folder management. Apparently you're using the file nager in a Windows PC so keep in mind you're attempting to use a computer running Windows to access the file structure on a device running Android. This is taking place between place between devices running two completely different operating systems that respectively run on top of two completely different file systems (NTFS on your WinPC, ext4 on your A5). So all interactions between the two will be a compromise. Your WinPC is going to be limited as to which files and folders it can access, plus there are established restrictions to which folders are accessible to you on your Android phone by default.
In this matter, you might want to try using a file manager app installed on your A5 instead to using the Windows File Explorer utility. Samsung devices include a basic file manager app, the My Files app, which is a good file manager for basic needs with the internal storage and microSD card, but it's lacking in networking capability. A lot of third-party file manager apps have much more extensive feature sets that include networking capability with SMB/CIFS services (the defaults used by your WinPC). I'd recommend you try MiXplorer or Solid, both are very feature rich file manager apps:
MiXplorer Silver
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mixplorer.silver
Solid Explorer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.solidexplorer2&hl=en_US&gl=US
By using an Android app of a remote Windows utility, you'll be using a native app instead. Essentially the copying process involves going to your WinPC as opposed to trying to copy from your WinPC. Perhaps this will work out better.


Another option is to use an app like AirDroid instead of installing a file manager app. AirDroid works off of wireless connectivity so you're not relying upon a USB cable at all. It's just a matter where you need both your WinPC and A5 to be connected to the same local network so as long as your PC is using a wired or WiFi connection and your A5 its WiFi that's all you need. Install the app on your A5 and all you need on your WinPC is whatever web browser you choose (you don't need to install any drivers or utilities on your PC, and use whatever browser you prefer -- Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, whatever -- will work). Just start up the AirDroid app on you phone and copy the resulting local IP address/port number it shows (i.e. http://192.168.1.10:8888 ), type that into your PC's browser and the page will show a simulated window of your phone. You can transfer files and do other things like remotely use the camera app. AirDroid is a remote access app, not just for file transfers.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid
 
Upvote 0
Upvote 0
Thanks all for your support. Plenty to go at there! To answer ocnbrze, I haven't a card reader; not needed one for a long time. I did sync my phone with the PC using Windows but, although I could see jpegs, I couldn't see the videos.

Thanks again all. Some work to do.
keep us posted.. card readers are pretty cheap....i always have one handy. also keep in mind that your phone is pretty old now....so....expect more issues like these as the device get older.
 
Upvote 0
Thanks ocnbrze. I thought I'd jump straight to Airdroid first, as it sounds OK. The bad news is that it works, but just lke MS' Your Phone, ie it can "see" the jpegs in my folders but not videos, so is, on the face of it, no better. Am I missing something? Meantime, I'll look at the other solutions suggested.

And on the point of it being an old phone, I've just noticed something I can't explain, but till start another thread for that.

Thanks again,

Ian

EDIT: Installed Solid Explorer and it works fine. Problem solved. Thanks again,

Ian
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
The name conversion trick didn't work, but after I uninstalled the Airdroid app I got a message from them asking for details of the problem. To cut a long story short, once I looked a bit closer at the way the app worked, I found that I was able to transfer video files. Problem sorted. Feedback given to the Airdroid developer. Thanks all for your assistance.

Ian
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones