Transferring large files spikes CPU and network on source and destination machines

Question

I have two PCs, both running Windows 8.1, and both use a wired network connection. I need to transfer files from machine A to machine B.

Machine A is a workhorse:

Core I7-4770K
16GB RAM
Gigabit LAN

Machine B is a donkey of an HP slim desktop:

AMD Athlon II X2 220
4GB RAM
10-Base T network <-- yes, seriously, not 10/100.

I have both computers part of a Homegroup, and I have a file share open for transferring files. The problem is that when I transfer files, it basically kills both computers. Machine B shows network usage at 99% and CPU spikes to 99% as well. I could live with this, but Machine A also becomes basically unusable, with network pings to the outside world spiking to over 1000ms.

I don't really care if it takes a while to move these files, but would like Machine A to stay usable while the transfer is occurring. Is there anything I can do to throttle the throughput to Machine B?

I've taken to using a sneakernet transfer with USB, and could set up an FTP server if that would make sense, but I don't want to do that if I'm still going to flood the machines.

Answer 1

I could see it maxing out the network usage, but I'm not at all sure about the 100% CPU usage. It could be the file sharing method that's causing that. Unless it's the reading the disk &/or the network itself that's causing it... that would be buggy.

Looking into a FTP server/client arrangement could be easier on the CPU. And a secure server in case it's exposed to the internet, even SSH maybe.