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When I try to copy/paste a file in Win Explorer, instead of duplicating the file and adding "CopyX" to the new filename, I get an error message stating "The Source and Destination Files are the same". This behavior started recently. Any ideas as to what might have caused it? Thanks.

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  • How "recently"? What have you tried already? Reboot? Disk Checks? System Restore back to before the problem started? How exactly are you performing the copy/paste? Does it do this for ANY file in ANY folder, or just one specific file? If it's just a single file, what's the EXACT file name the file has? Nov 20, 2013 at 17:33
  • Thanks for the reply. It occurred to me that this is probably related to another clipboard problem that has emerged over the last few months. The problem disappeared in safe mode. I think I've tracked it down to webroot.
    – Mitch
    Nov 20, 2013 at 19:43

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One further solution to this problem: If an html file has been saved from a web browser and a folder containing the linked files is also saved, duplucating the file using copy/paste fails with the "Files are Same' error. For example, if I save myFile.html and the save includes a folder myFile_files containing the assets for the page, the copy/paste problem will occur. BTW, thanks for the negative votes, this is a valid problem and I have presented valid solutions which will hopefully benefit others.

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    I had the same weird problem, and it was solved by renaming the either the [name].html file or its associated [name]_files folder. Windows then presents a dialog asking if you're sure renaming the file/folder. Just click yes, duplicate the file/folder or both, and rename it back to the original. It doesn't make any sense to me for Windows to have a problem with duplicating the file, anyone any idea?
    – KJdev
    Jul 18, 2016 at 16:47
  • Still applicable today with Windows 10 and Chrome. Oct 22, 2020 at 18:58

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