[SOLVED] Internal HDD space remaining decreasing when zipping files on external HDD

[RobbedTheDoorAgain212]

Hi There,

Apologies if this thread already exists..
I wanted to zip about 500 GB worth of files (mostly images and vids from camera) and then copy them onto my PCs HDD. I started by connecting my WD Passport external HDD (4TB) into my PCs USB 3.0 port.
I noticed that as more and more of the external HDD files were zipped, the remaining space on my PCs HDD decreased.
Less than half way through zipping the files, the zipping ended abruptly, with no error.
I began zipping again, but this time my pc crashed and the files ceased to zip.
When i restarted my PC, the external HDD files were only partially zipped up to the point before crashing (as expected). But strangely, my HDD remaining space was still very low. I had began with around 600 GB of space, and now down to around 400GB of space remaining.

My questions are:

1. Is a folder with 500GB worth of files too large to send to a zip folder?
2. If yes, what is the best way to zip such a large amount of files?
3. Why has my PCs internal HDD remaining space decreased while zipping files on an entirely separate HDD?

PC Specs:
Windows 8.1
CPU: AMD Athelon x4 760k Quad Core 3.8Ghz
GPU: AMD radeon r7 200 series
Internal HDD: WD Black 1TB
External HDD: My passport 4TB

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time!

 

[rgd1101]

it use your hdd for temp space.
why zip them? image and vid is mostly compress already.

 

[RobbedTheDoorAgain212]

it use your hdd for temp space.
why zip them? image and vid is mostly compress already.

Thanks for your reply. At what point should I regain this temporary space lost?
Currently I have tried to zip the files twice, and both times it has been unable to complete the zipping. But my external HDD does not seem to have regained the space lost.

I want to zip the files because i need to move all files off the external HDD, as i need to format the external HDD to work on both PC and Mac. (When i first set the HDD up, i only formatted it for PC).

 

[rgd1101]

try disk cleanup or check temp directory
why not just copy all files?

 

[RobbedTheDoorAgain212]

Thank you, i will try this.
I did not copy and paste the files, as I was afraid that copying and pasting such a large amount of files in the one go, would cause my PC to slow down and eventually freeze, and end up corrupting my files. (Something similar to this has happened to me in the past).

My thinking was that at least if my PC did end up freezing while trying to zip all the files, there would be minimal corruption to my files as they are only being zipped onto the same drive. Whereas if my PC froze while copying and pasting files from drive to another, the chances of corruption could be higher.

Does that make sense? Or am I overthinking things?

 

[rgd1101]

Does that make sense?

nope

Or am I overthinking things?

yes

just copy and paste. don't cut and paste