CopyWoBuf

CopyWoBuf is a console (command-line) utility that copies a file with no buffering to prevent system file caching.

It is useful to copy files from/to shared folders in VMware guests to prevent host file locking by vmware-vmx.exe process. Shared folder implementation in VMware VMs has a peculiarity: if a file is copied to/from a virtual machine with buffering enabled (the default mode for most file copy utilities), the VMM holds a file reference for a while, preventing from modifying or deleting the file on the host.

The goal is achieved by using CreateFile API function to open both source and destination files with FILE_FLAG_NO_BUFFERING flag.

No wildcards are supported. To copy several files in a single command, use "for" statement of the command interpreter:

for %F in (z:\work\*.exe) do copywobuf %F c:\work\

Works in Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Windows 7/8/10.