Copied items don't show in folder

I'm copying a folder to Drive D that has one large folder -9gb -with other folders & files inside it. I'm not copying the parent folder thus all the contents too. I want to copy 1 folder at a time so I can then defragment them after each folder is copied thus they are all nice and neat and tidy. this is an XP program, a simulator, where everything must be correct or it won't run properly, and it must be installed onto a newly formatted partition or it won't install properly.

I'm copying from Partition M to Partition D in a Power mode dual lister. Vista.

I made a folder with the same name in Drive D, opened it and copied a folder inside it but the folder didn't appear. I copied it again but I got a popup asking did I want to replace it. something funny here, so I selected yes and it did not appear. I exited the folder then opened it and there was the folder. The same with the next 3 folders and files that I tried.

I went through preferences but did not see any settings that would cause this but I changed some that possibly might do so, no luck.

Any ideas please. All gratefully accepted with thanks.

There's a FAQ that should help troubleshoot this:

[Changes to folders are not being detected)