I need some help reducing the CPU load during a file copy operation. Here's the deal. I have a Dell server with 3 hard drives in it. Drive 0 and 1 are set up as RAID 1 and has 2 partitions. The C partition contains the operating system and main control system software installation. The D partition contains data created by the control system software. Drive 2 is set up as RAID 0 and contains backup images of the RAID 1 array. The system has been operating fine for about 4 years but I'm starting to get a little worried about the hardware's age. To prepare for eventual drive failure, I would like to copy these backup images off of the backup drive and on to an external USB hard drive. During the file copy operation, the CPU load on the server climbs to near 100% and any clients connected to the system see freezing and lag. Is there any way to copy these image files and not use 100% CPU load? Maybe copying the files from the command line, special switches or using a third party copy program will help. I am willing to sacrifice transfer speed as long as the clients do not see any change in system performance. Any help or pointers will be greatly appreciated.

I'd say you probably do best in starting this copy at night when no users are logged on. If you don't want to stay and watch it, use a script to start it at any time you see fit. A simple batch-file and the built-in scheduled tasks would be sufficient. It'll be copying faster and you won't interrupt anyone in their work.