Video Files

I am copying .MP4 video files into the Playbook 'videos' folder. These files are automatically being duplicated into the 'misc/android/Movies' folder. Why is this happening? This causes the files to take up twice as much space as it should.

That is the way that the Android Player allows android apps to locate files. They are NOT really duplicated - it is kind of a shortcut or link with one proviso: If you attempt to DELETE these links/shortcuts the original file in your video folder will also be DELETED. Windows will report the space WRONG but if you totalled the space of the "original" and "dupes" you'd find that for instance a 32gig would be holding much more.

The same "dupe" occurs in the camera/photo and other folders. Again, it is for reference and allows Android to find files according to its folder/directory schemes.

Thank you so much for your quick and knowledgeable reply. I was wondering if that was the case, but was concerned.

I just got a 64GB Playbook a few days ago and have been busy getting to 'know' it and discovering what are the best apps for my needs.

I also have a 10" tablet (Motorola Xoom), which I like very much, but the smaller form factor of the Playbook will be very handy.

I am not a 'power user' and have no problem with the number or quality of the apps, as some have complained about. Being able to side-load my favorite Android apps has been great!

Thank you for taking the time to help a newbie!

You are welcome. It is a quirky feature and has thrown a number of us off. Not that long ago, I decided to manually backup my pb to my computer using Ctrl-a to select ALL and then was going to drag and drop. Well, I could not quite figure out how come I was going to be copying about 80 something gigs. My 64 was not even full. Then I remembered the dupes and since Windows does not understand this scheme, it would have made multiple copies of the same files.

Digging a little deeper...it seems it does the same thing with the 'music' folder, but not with the 'books' folder....I wonder why? Are there any other 'duplicate' folders?

Pictures is your photo folder. DCIM is the Camera folder. Downloads is also duplicated.

The folders don't necessarily have the same identical name but mirror contents. Again, pb is emulating Android and has these various schemes to provide access to existing files.

But it can make backup, even manually difficult. I wanted to backup stuff created by some of the Android apps but just copying that folder would have copied stuff from my "main" versions. I do not need additional copies so you'd have to sift through the Misc and/or Android folder to find the uniquely created items. That is a pain!

Found this thread on a search about a similar problem. Something funky is going on with my 64GB. I tried to update OS and was surprised to find out I didn't have a free space!! I too noticed the misc/Android folder and suspected it was that.

Anyway....the total back up amount of data is reported at 53GB, Apps and all. First of all, this seems way too high, but even so, I would think I should have more than 500MB free. I have 15GB in movies and music. Those are the biggies. Other than Applications, I am not sure what is taking up all the memory.

I will move the movies off to give me some room off and research further. Hope someone can shed some light here!

KRS

HD movies are usually big (2-6gb depending on how good image/audio is).

Best way to tell how space is being allocated in the unit is Desktop Software. Plug the PlayBook and ask for a custom backup. Then you'll see how much space apps and media are taking.

The OS and native apps seem to take about 2gb of space and you lose around another 200mb to settings.

Also, keep in mind that a 64gb PlayBook does not have total 64gb of storage.