Tech: Windows command?

Subject: Tech: Windows command?
From: michaelr
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 09:07 PM

I'm getting a new computer and need to transfer my files. What's the best way to do this?

I backed all files in My Docs to CD a couple of months ago and don't necessarily want to do it all again. Is there a way to tell Windows to "show all files newer than July 2007"?

Thanks in advance,
Michael

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: Nick
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 09:22 PM

TAKE A BACK UP FIRST OF YOUR EXISTING FILES IN YOUR BACK UP IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG

Then from a command prompt do:

xcopy [path to directory] [path to where you are saving it to] /D /Y

That will copy any file in your My Docs folder that is newer to your back up medium and overwrite the older files with newer ones and add the newer files to that directory (the /D bit). It will overwrite without prompting so be careful (the /Y bit)

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 09:28 PM

Computer - Company Name - Processor - Board ?

Operating System/Software - Company Name - Version ?

MAYBE: Find/Sherlock - Modified/Changed/Created - Advanced - Date/Time

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

There are MANY better places to find tech information than Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 09:32 PM

When you request "COMMAND"

You are referring to a much older foundation DOS (Disk Opperating System) which permits you vertually unlimited access.....(ezcept for the hidden file) and you will want HEX access for those.

You appear to be a "newbie" - read http://www.grc.com and purchase his software.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: michaelr
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 11:18 PM

Hmm... I didn't understand any of that (except for "newbie"). Nick, care to try again in plain English?

I wish I could just tell the Damn Thing: "Computer! Show all files that have been modified since July 2007!" That, to me, is a Command. Since the Damn Thing doesn't listen, I'm hoping someone will tell me how to type it in.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: michaelr
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 11:43 PM

PS: I'm using Win98 SE on a custom computer with an Intel Pentium III.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 11:56 PM

As Nick indicates, the XCOPY command with /D switch will copy all the files, but will only replace a file that exists in the destination if the file being copied from the source is later than the one in the destination.

If you want to just copy the files that have been changed after a certain date, for example to make a separate CD, in WinXP you can use:

XCOPY {source} {destination} /D:m-d-y

Where the m is month, d is date, and y is year.

Using the /S switch will include subdirectories of the source location: XCOPY /D:m-d-y /S

        "XCOPY C:\DOC C:\DOCNEW /D:8-1-2007 /S"

should copy all files created or changed since August 1, 2007 from C:\DOC to C:\DOCNEW.

You can get the full description of the command syntax by:

Open the Command prompt (Start|Run type "Command" (without quotes) OK or Enter, or Start|Programs|Accessories|Command Prompt.

When you get the black window, type a command followed by "/?" (again no quotes) - i.e.

        XCOPY /?

There have been some changes in syntax and functions for common commands from one Windows version to the next, so it's recommended that you check to make sure that you have the right switches for one you're not familiar with on you own machine.

If your new machine is running Vista, typing XCOPY /? will get you the syntax for the XCOPY command, and you can use it; but it will tell you that you should use "ROBOCOPY" instead. Suit yourself as to which looks best for you. (ROBOCOPY, in typical nauseatingly "cute" Vista-speak stands for "robust copy" and is new in Vista.)

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 12:06 AM

I missed that you were using Win98. That was apparently posted while I was checking the XCOPY switches.

I don't think the XCOPY command changed much between Win98 and WinXP, but be sure to check (XCOPY /?) on your machine to make sure the /D switch is shown and is the same.

A good idea, before backing up large bunches of files, would be to run a Disk Check (does anyone remember that for Win98?) and fix files just to make sure that your files and directories are all properly in order before you copy them. A bad cluster can appear to copy ok, but not be there in the copy. The CHKDSK or DiskChk should be able to fix things before you do your backup, but there's not much you can do for a copied unreadable file.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: michaelr
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 01:26 AM

Thanks, John, that makes it much clearer. Also for the tip about running Disk Check.

Just wondering -- do you have to take programming courses to know this sort of thing, or is there a manual available somewhere (in Idiot Book format, preferably)? I still can't figure out what Nick meant by "TAKE A BACK UP FIRST OF YOUR EXISTING FILES IN YOUR BACK UP"? It's all caps so it must be important, but what's my backup?

BTW, I'm switching to XP, not Vista. I invite comments.

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 02:30 AM

If you have a backup, but have added new files on the computer since the backup was made, you can update the backup using the XCOPY command with the "bare" /D switch.

XCOPY /D will copy everything, but will not overwrite a file in the backup that's as new as the one on the computer, so it flips through the ones it doesn't need to copy fairly quickly - writing only the new ones.

You would then have everything that needs copied to your new computer in one backup, and Win Explorer or a straight COPY command in Command Prompt would get it all to the new one. There are some advantages to using XCOPY for simple file transfers, rather than just COPY; but either will mostly work about the same.

(In WinXP, and maybe in Win98, XCOPY can be "switched" to "continue on error," where COPY or WinExplorer drag-and-drop just stops. Since files aren't necessarily copied in the order you see them, any ABEND (abnormal end of process) on the copy process leaves you not knowing which ones got copied and which ones still have to be copied.)

If your backup is split up on several CDs, you would need to copy it all back to a hard drive, copy the new ones into the backup, and then burn new CDs that you can copy to the new hard drive.

If you use the /D:m-d-y switch, you can just copy the changed (since date m-d-y) files to a side folder and burn them. Copy everything from the original CDs, then copy from the new one and let it overwrite any "obsolete" files and write the new ones.

IF PERCHANCE you can get both the old and new computers running side-by-side, there are numerous ways you could connect the two together, and copy directly from the Win98 hard drive to the new computer hard drive; but if you don't intend to continue running both it's probably more bother than it's worth.

If you can perchance come up with an external USB hard drive to use as a backup drive, it's a whole lot easier than burning a bunch of CDs (and forgetting what's on which one). Plug the USB drive into the Win98 and copy (as Nick said, with XCOPY /D to update an existing copy/backup) and then plug the same drive into the new one to copy them onto the new machine. (Since hard drives do fail, and not every CD that tells you it's good can actually be read, it's a good idea to keep every "valuable file" up to date in at least two places on a regular basis.)

If you're moving from Win98 to WinXP or Vista, you will have a lot more and larger files to back up eventually - or maybe fairly soon, so thinking ahead to better ways of keeping current and complete backups of data begins to be a very good idea.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 03:43 AM

Just get a crossover network cable, net the two together, and copy everything over. It's a bit of a pfaff to get started- you need to make sure all the protocols are setup on both machines, especially TCP/IP and NETBUI, and share the old commputer's hard disk, but once you can see the W98 drive from the new machine, you can just copy the lot over.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:26 AM

JiK

Win998 gets its knickers in a knot over USB devices - you almost always need 'specific' drivers to be loaded in...

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 09:09 AM

Fooles -

Your probably right on the Win98 and USB. I made very little use of USB when I had '98. It's almost certain that a machine running Win98 will not have USB-2 ports and theory and reality for USB-1 were not closely coupled. Some Win98 computers may not even have a USB port, although if there's an available slot a port card shouldn't be more than about $20 (US) [Is that down to $0.39 AUS since Bush tanked the dollar?]

Any external USB hard drives should come with appropriate drivers, and instructions for mounting them with Win98. Transfers will be "slow" with USB-1, but you're unlikely to have a very large drive to copy things from in a Win98 computer, so even at creepy-crawly USB-1 speeds the download shouldn't be too long. Uploading from the external to the new one should be at USB-2 speed, and future backups to the external will also be faster, although even with USB-2 moving 120 GB (a "nominal size" for a full backup of any one of the 5 HDs with data on my machines) may take an hour or so.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: Nick
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:26 AM

Given your level of knowledge, Michael - and this is meant with no disrespect - your safest way to do this is to back up your files to CD in the same way you did last time.

It may duplicate and cost you a CD but

1 You know how to do it
2 It worked last time (didn't it?)

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows command?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 11:47 AM

Good advice from Nick. Don't fix what ain't broke.

If you really want a list of the files that have changed, my suggestion would be just to go to Command prompt, navigate to your My Documents folder, run DIR *.*/s and port/send it to a text file.

You should see the prompt:

C:\My Documents>

You type:

DIR *.*/s >Filelist.txt

Hit enter, and the new file "Filelist.txt" will be created and the directory listing written into it. Open the file C:\My Documents\filelist.txt in Word.

If you use Edit|Replace in Word to replace two spaces with ^t (a tab) the list should break down so that there's a tab at the front of the file date. Clean up by removing extra tabs using Edit|Replace ^t^t by ^t, repeated until no changes are made.

Use Table|Sort, in Options select "separate at tabs," and sort (by date) on the column that has the date in it. Discard (delete) the ones older than you want.

Supplemental lesson plan:

With the list of files that have been changed, you can easily(?)¹ delete down to just the file names. Put "COPY " in front of each filename, and a destination "C:\newfolder" after each filename, save as a text file. Change the .txt to .bat and at the command prompt type the filename and hit Enter and all your new files should get copied - but do some careful thinking about how you handle folders and subfolders if you think this looks like fun. You'll need to add folder names onto the front of filenames, source and destination, to keep everything straight in a one-pass copy.

¹ It really is fairly easy, although somewhat tedious, to strip the file list down to just file names, but you'll need to know that in Word search and replace:

paragraphs markers are entered as ^p
tabs are entered as ^t
any number (when you don't care which number) is ^#
any character (when you don't care which char) is ^?

My DIR command gives a listing like:

11/15/2003 12:36 PM         1,426,558 650000_001_Inv.psd
11/15/2003 12:36 PM         1,426,558 650000_001_InvfmNeg.psd

So a first replace would be:

Replace: ^p^#^#/^#^#/^#^#^#^#  ^#^#:^#^# ^>M
Replace with: ^p

to get:
         1,426,558 650000_001_Inv.psd
         1,426,558 650000_001_InvfmNeg.psd

(note lots of leading spaces that need to be cleared: replace "^p " with "^p" until no changes ...)

etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

(No quiz scheduled on the supplemental assignment.)

John