why the time shown while file copying sometimes increasesistead of continuosly decreasing?

Question

while copying a file(video) , it show the time required for the copying, (ex., windows),it shows the stutus of the copying process,Actually it has to decrease continuosly, but some time it shows increased time

Answer 1

This is Microsoft (r) magic... The remaining time seems to take into account the current transfer rate (which can go up or down, depending on - not necessarily in this order - CPU load, disk fragmentation, other parallel disk access), plus a BIG fudge factor that only Bill Gates knows.

The fact that the transfer rate can be suddenly lower explains that the remaining time can increase.

The fudge factor explains that the prediction is always wrong.

Answer 2

The time is a guess. The computer takes the currently speed (say 10m per second) and divides it by the amount left to go (say 2000m) and decides it will take 200 seconds to complete.

If something runs in the background of your computer, and slows the rate to only 5m per second, the time will jump up. If the file is fragmented (and most videos are) and the computer has to stop and move to another segment of the file, the rate will drop and the time will increase. When you reach the every end, and the time is only in seconds, it does not take much of a chance in rate to effect the time, so you often see it jumping around in the last few seconds.

It is normal for the estimate to change as conditions chance during the copying. The time is just as estimate.

Answer 3

The time required for copying is actually a best-guess calculation, based on the total size and the amount remaining. It doesn't really take the speed of the copy into account, so it calculates the "time remaining" based on "average", or "typical" past performance from other copy operations, then continues to recalculate it, but if the copy is slower than average, the total remaining time actually increases based on actual values.

Answer 4

The time depends on various factors.

1) Condition of the cd(scratches)
2) Processes running on your machine

Any interuptions will cause the time to increase