Re: Transferring contents of a large folder (eg 3000 photos) from Android to Windows 10

Paul, 2025-07-20 17:35:

On Sun, 7/20/2025 9:16 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:

NY <me@privacy.net> wrote:
[...]
>

Unfortunately this phone only has internal storage, so it's not even
possible to copy files to Micro SD card in the phone and then remove it
and put it in a card reader on the PC.

>
  As others have mentioned, just plug in a compatible [1] USB memory-
stick (might need an adapter) and copy the photos to the  stick. There
are also USB card-readers for a SD-card or MicroSD-card, which can do a
similar thing.
>
  Alternatively, use the Cx File Explorer method which Arno mentioned to
copy the photos to a share on the Windows PC.
>
[...]
>
[1] The stick shoould be (Android) 'OTG' (On-The-Go) compatible. Most
with a USB-C connector probably are, but those with a USB-A connector
most likely need a OTG adapter. Look for a 'OTG' label on the packaging,
in the 'manual', etc..
>

 
Just about every method of transferring sucks.
 
Just for the record.
 
Individuals doing this, need a good supply of tooth enamel
to handle the failure cases. For example, some computer rooms,
file sharing is hit and miss, and nothing but trouble.
 
USB sticks fail. USB sticks run slow. Nobody wants to spend big money
on a "real" USB stick. (My computer store, no longer stocks anything
but schlock. Cruser Glide, in a USB3 world.) And the phone likely
can't run fast enough, to get the value from a "real" USB stick.

We talk about 3000 photos. When we assume the average file size of each
photo is about 3 MB, this is around 9 GB in total. So there is no need
for an expensive "real" USB stick - any decent model with 32 or 64 GB
should do the trick.

Copying around 9 GB at USB 2 speeds should not take much more than 5-10
minutes, even if it only works with 20 MB/sec (9000 MB will need 450
seconds to copy at 20 MB/sec).

[...]

FTP, while an ancient protocol, and as long as it is configured
by someone who cares about what they're doing, it could behave
itself better than some other things. Our modern technical world
seems to specialize in "crap". The simpler the transfer protocol
is, the better. With an ADB bus serial connection and Kermit,
I bet you could perform wonders :-) And you'd be doing that, when
the computer name refuses to show up in the file sharing dialog
on the client software.

FileZilla works quite well with Cx File Explorer as server:

<https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client>

So first enable FTP in Cx File Explorer and then connect to the
displayed IP address and port - works fine whenever I have no other
choice and I am in a trusted network of course.

And yes, using Google Drive is also an option - but getting data from
Google Drive back to the PC is not much easier than using all other
methods since you need to download the files or install a Google Drive
client first.

My personal solution:

FolderSync with automatic uploading of all photos to a self-hosted
NextCloud server which is automatically synced with my computers. Works
like a charm. No, not a solution for everyone, but possible.

--
Arno Welzel
https://arnowelzel.de