Copying data files from old SBS 2003 server to new server 2

[reporting]

I tried to copy the data files from our old SBS 2003 server to the new one. Didn't work, even though I had given Everyone full control on the new machine...

I then tried to do the copy from the new server. That didn't work either.

Any ideas on how to do this?

Thanks very much,

John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[PHV]

Please, define "Didn't work"

Hope This Helps, PH.
FAQ219-2884
FAQ181-2886

 

[reporting]

Point taken...

Here's the procedure I used:

[ul circle]
[li]From the new server, where I was logged in as Administrator, I browsed to the old server (in the old domain)[/li]
[li]Selected a share on the old server[/li]
[li]Right-mouse and chose Copy[/li]
[li]Browsed to the share on the new server[/li]
[li]Chose Paste from the context menu[/li]
[li]A dialog came up saying Preparing to copy[/li]
[/ul]

After about 30 seconds, I received the following error message:

Error copying file or folder
Cannot copy file:

When I clicked on the OK button, nothing had been copied to the new share...

I initially forgot to order a SCSI card with the server. I called the following day and placed an order. The Dell rep said it would ship with the server ... but he forgot to add it to my order. I ordered one yesterday ... but, with the holidays, I may not get it for several days! So a tape backup and restore won't help me get the new server up and running quickly!

Any ideas on how I can copy the data files from the old server onto the new one would be very much appreciated!

Thanks very much,

John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[wahnula]

I had given Everyone full control on the new machine...

reporting,

Bad idea. Don't give anyone but Admin full control, not even yourself as a User. No doubt you are trying to copy some "read-only" files or hidden files. First, I am not an SBS expert but did do the transition from NT4.0 to SBS 2003 single-handedly and it seems to be working fine 30 months later.

First I would get the files off the old machine via full image, using Ghost 2003 (works on servers and costs $30). An IDE drive will do nicely for storing this immage. This will leave all the original files intact. Then, I would check the individual folders and modify the permissions on the parent folders to allow Admin and System full control and remove any "read only" characteristics. Tools->Folder Options->View->View Hidden Files and folders should be selected too.

Next, create a folder with the exact same name as the parent folder and try copying all child folders one at a time from the image on the IDE drive (or whatever you used).

My network was so small (ten users) I exported their exchange store to a local .pst file then imported it to the new server via Outlook.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me

 

[reporting]

Thanks Tony. Re your comment:

Bad idea. Don't give anyone but Admin full control, not even yourself as a User.

In the natural order of things, I would agree with you. However, this was a temporary measure I tried when my initial attempt to copy didn't work!

I think that there may be some system files involved: I tried to copy to a portable IDE drive and it didn't work: failed with the same error. When I tried subdirectory by subdirectory, that worked. Copying dozens of subdirectories instead of the parent isn't high on my list though...

Your idea of using Ghost is an interesting one. As I am in the training business, I have been a Ghost licensee from Win95 days, long before Symantec purchased it.

I took a look at the backup regimes section of Ghost Solution Suite 1.1. I coudn't see a way to restore individual files. Can individual files be restored using Ghost 2003?

Thanks again,


John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[58sniper]

Normally, tools like Robocopy from the Windows Server resource kit, or the file server migration kit would work. Robocopy is my preferred method.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[wahnula]

Can individual files be restored using Ghost 2003?

John,

I'm not sure, I only use it for cloning entire disks or arrays, which it does splendidly. I also own the home version of Acronis, and have had more problems with it during full cloning. I also own Drive Image and Farstone's Drive Clone, I think I like the Farstone product second best but it doesn't work on servers without mega-$$$. Good ol' Ghost 2003 is my Swiss Army knife...I'm never without it!

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me

 

[reporting]

Pat: robocopy is an absolutely splendid utility! Thanks very much for introducing me to it. Not only am I going to start carrying the Windows Resource Kit around with me on USB keys, but I have started thinking of other uses for it also...

After reformatting, I was going to use our old SBS 2003 server as a backup in case of failure. However, now that you have introduced me to robocopy, I am thinking of replacing the five 160 GB SATA drives in the old server's RAID array with 750 GB drives ... and turning it into a storage server! That way, we can be up and running very quickly if our PE2950 dies...

Thanks again,

John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[reporting]

Tony: thanks very much for the comparison of the various drive imaging apps. I was going to test Acronis and see if it would be useful here ... but you've done the testing for me!

John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[reporting]

Going back to the original issue here:

Error copying file or folder
Cannot copy file:

Turns out that the reason for the error message is ... the path to the data is too long for delete to handle it!

The industrial strength characteristics of robocopy allowed me to copy the data from one server to another. I decided afterwards that I wanted to move the location of some of the data. robocopy did that also. However, when I tried to delete the directory at the root, it wouldn't let me!

I deleted the subdirectories ... and found one that I could't delete. Traversing down the line, I realized that the path was extremely long on some of them and the files couldn't be deleted. After thinking about it, I decided to copy the files back to the old server (that I will be reformatting) using robocopy and the /move option. Worked like a charm!

Thanks again for introducing me to robocopy Pat!



John Marrett
Crystal Reports Trainer & Consultant

http://www.e-reporting.ca

 

[mofusjtf]

Reporting,
Ghost has an Explorer that allows you to browse the contents of your ghost image files as well as restore single files if necassary. But Ghost does have trouble with RAID configurations. I would stick with RoboCopy or Acronis. They both seem to work well.