File Spamer

A multithreaded C++ application for rapidly creating large files on Windows systems. This tool uses Windows API functions to efficiently create sparse files of 1GB each.

Features

• Multithreaded file creation: Creates multiple files concurrently for improved performance
• Large file support: Each file is created with a size of 1GB (1,073,741,824 bytes)
• Performance timing: Built-in timer to measure execution time
• Flexible operation modes: Create a specific number of files or run indefinitely
• Custom naming: User-defined file naming with automatic numbering

Requirements

• Platform: Windows (uses Windows API)
• Compiler: C++17 compatible compiler (Visual Studio, MinGW, etc.)
• Dependencies: Windows.h for file operations

Usage

1. Compile the project:

   build.bat

2. Run the executable:

   bin/FileCreator.exe
   

3. Follow the prompts:

   • Enter number: Specify how many files to create (enter 0 for infinite mode)
   • Enter file name: Provide a base name for the files

4. Output:

   • Files will be created in the current directory
   • Files are named as: [filename][number].dat
   • Execution time is displayed upon completion

Example

Enter number: 5
Enter file name: testfile
Created: testfile0.dat
Created: testfile1.dat
Created: testfile2.dat
Created: testfile3.dat
Created: testfile4.dat
Done! Time: 0.342

This creates 5 files named testfile0.dat through testfile4.dat, each 1GB in size.

How It Works

The application uses the Windows API's sparse file creation technique:

1. Creates a file handle with CreateFileA()
2. Sets the file pointer to 1GB using SetFilePointerEx()
3. Sets the end of file marker with SetEndOfFile()
4. The OS creates a sparse file without writing actual data

This method is extremely fast as it doesn't write actual data to disk, just reserves the space.

Warning

⚠️ Important Considerations:

• Disk Space: Each file reserves 1GB. Ensure sufficient disk space before running
• Infinite Mode: Setting number to 0 will create files indefinitely until manually stopped or disk space is exhausted
• File Overwriting: Files with the same name will be overwritten without warning
• Platform Specific: This code only works on Windows due to Windows API usage

Potential Use Cases

• Testing disk performance
• Simulating large file operations
• Stress testing storage systems
• Creating placeholder files for testing applications
• Benchmarking multithreaded file I/O