Finding files on network by owner 2

[hocking]

Does anyone know of a way to find all the files a user has created that is stored on our network? We have disk quota on Win2K Server, and some users are now hitting their limit, but they are not sure where all their files are stored. I have exausted searching in TechNet and the internet.

Robert Hocking
MCSE, A+

 

[Shift838]

YOu might be able to do this from a Windows XP client using the FSUTIL. This will find files by the users SID. When a user has ownership of a file it will write the users SID on the file ID. The syntax for this is:

FSUTIL file findbysid <user> <directory>
Eg : fsutil file findbysid scottb C:\users

You will need to connect to your network drive from a Windows XP PRO Workstation to do this.

 

[markdmac]

Chris77504, do you know if fsutil will check subdirectories?

 

[hocking]

I tried what Chris suggested, from my Windows XP client connected to our Windows 2000 Domain, and when I entered the drive letter for our common user drive (which is on the Windows 2000 Server), I would get a message back that a NTFS volume was needed. Sorry I don't remember the exact message now, but it would tell me that drive I was trying to search, wasn't NTFS. The drive mapped is a NTFS volume, so this solution must not work trying to search mapped drives.

I did kinda find a solution, but I am not happy with it. I used the &quot;DIR&quot; command with the &quot;/q&quot; & &quot;/s&quot; switches, then redirected the output to a text file, then opened the text file in Excel, using spaces as delimiters and this does work, even though the file can be very large.

I hope someone else finds a better solution.

Robert Hocking
MCSE, A+

 

[markdmac]

Yes, the command does equire NTFS. Map a drive to the server from your workstation and open a command prompt. Change to the mapped folder and rerun the command. Should work so long as you are executing it from within an NFTS drive as the starting point.

 

[hocking]

Mark,

I am still getting the error message &quot;The FSUTIL utility requires a local NTFS volume&quot;, when running the following command: &quot;fsutil file findbysid t5925ms p:\&quot;, from a Windows XP client, which the &quot;c:&quot; drive is NTFS, and the above command is run from the &quot;p:\&quot; prompt, where &quot;p&quot; is a mapped NTFS drive on a Windows 2000 server. Either I am doing something wrong here, or this doesn't work using a mapped drive.

Robert Hocking
MCSE, A+

 

[markdmac]

Wow, that is odd. You are seeing somethig different than I did in my testing.

Can you try it directly from the server either by a Terminal Services connection or from the server console?

 

[hocking]

Mark,

Yes I tried it both from using Windows XP Remote Desktop Connection, connecting to the server, and from the console, and &quot;fsutil&quot; is not a Windows 2000 command.

 

[cptgrudge]

Just for my own self education, I tested out and used this utility. I ran into the same problem on my XP Pro machine when connecting to a file server where it kept telling me that &quot;The FSUTIL utility requires a local NTFS volume.&quot; I also have a local drive formatted with NTFS and a mapped drive using NTFS.

I had to find the FSUTIL.exe file and copy it to the .\Winnt\System32 folder on the server. After that I could run it when logged on locally to the server and when connected to the server through Terminal Services.

 

[hocking]

Well I copied &quot;FSUTIL&quot; to the &quot;C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32&quot; directory on the server, and now the command works OK. I redirected it to a text file, and now I at least know where the user's files are on our network. The output is bare bones information wise, and since starting this thread I did find a cheap piece of software that I like, called &quot;Directory Report&quot;, that sells for $25 that is much more useful in finding where the files are on our network. Thanks everyone for your help.

Robert Hocking
MCSE, A+

 

[sboggs]

Just want to say THANK YOU!!! Robert.
I have been looking for something like this Directory Report for a long time.
You just made my job easier!!