easiest way to recursively copy C: to E: ?

[idracca]

Prepping for a fresh install, I want to be conservative and copy my entire C: drive to an external USB drive. I do not want to do a disk image copy because later, I want to randomly pick files to bring back to my new system. What is the best way to:

recursively copy all of C: to E:

without being prompted to overwrite a file (in other words, a force overwrite) ....
with a display of progress as files get copied (in other words, in not in quiet mode) ..
without encountering a command-ending sharing violation message

Thanks in advance for any advice ... Windows XP Professional using the cmd line

[phillid]

I did nearly the same thing a few years back!
I used the xcopy command, you could look up how to use it using xcopy /?

phillid

[InterociterOperator]

Try...

XCOPY C:\*.* E:\*.* /v /s /e /c /g /h /k /r /y /z

but good luck with sharing violation messages...