David Overton's Blog

How to copy or archive files by year using the command line and robocopy

2009-05-06T10:26:17Z

I got this question via e-mail and decided I would post the answer here in a blog.

I want transfer all files created in Office Word 2003 by year (annual batchs - ex: 2005, 2006, etc.) to external HD. How can to do this?

I will appreciate your answer.

Edgar

To do this via the command line you can use Robocopy which is present in Windows Vista and Windows 7. If you have Windows XP download the Server 2003 Resource Toolkit and install it. Robocopy will be part of the install and found in the install directory.

The actual command would look like this and would need to be entered into a command prompt:

for /L %x in (2009,-1,2000) do robocopy source destination\%x *.doc? /minage:%x0101 /maxage:%x1231 /s

To break it down a bit..

for /L %x in (2009,-1,2000) do

This creates a counter from 2009 up in steps of -1 (or down in steps of 1) until 2000 is reached. Each time the counter changes it is set into %x, so %x will become 2009, 2008 and so on. It then executes the command after to "do".

robocopy source destination\%x *.doc? /minage:%x0101 /maxage:%x1231 /s

The robocopy command is very flexible. Details of it can be found on the wiki page here.

The first two parameters are the sounce and destination locations. so it might be c:\users\david\documents and F:\document_backup. Note the \%x on the end. This means it will put the files inside a folder on the destination location that matches the year you are archiving.
*.doc? is a limiter to the files to be copied - if you want all files, simply remove it. This will copy all Office 2003 and 2007 document files - if you only want Office 2003, use *.doc and don't include the question mark.
The minage and maxage state how old the file is. It can either be in days or a date in the form of yyyymmdd. So with the %x set to 2009, the command will have /minage:20090101 /maxage:20091231 which equates to everything in 2009 and so on.
The /s copies all subdirectories too
You can optionally put the /MOV (to move the files) or /MOVE (to move all files and empty directories) command on the end.

I hope that helps

David

Technorati Tags: Windows,Microsoft,Robocopy,Command Line,Archiving,Office 2007,Word

Where to buy Small Business Server 2008, Installing, Migrating and Configuring book

2009-05-05T09:37:00Z

I've had a few people ask where they can buy my book so I thought I would lay out the options. You can always purchase both the book and / or the e-book from Packt Publishing at http://www.packtpub.com/small-business-server-2008-installation-migration-configuration/book however for those who wish to buy elsewhere, you can.

Cover price
£24.99

Packt Special Offer
£22.49 save 10%

Multi-buy Discount
£20.49 save 18%
order two or more items

Free shipping! US, UK, Europe & selected Asian countries

Adobe PDF eBook
Small Business Server 2008 – Installation, Migration, and Configuration [eBook]
File size: 16.37 MB
Packt eBooks can be printed and are now copy-paste enabled.
eBook only (click book above)
£16.99
£14.44

Save 15% off eBook

Book and eBook bundle
£39.43
£25.42

Amazon in UK

Amazon in USA

Anywhere else in the world (book)

Anywhere in the world (e-book)

I hope you enjoy the book. For a brief summary of the chapters go here and you can preview a chapter from the book here -(Sample Chapter 4 Installing SBS 2008 and Connecting to the Internet [2.0 MB]).

If you wish to request a copy to review, look at the Request a Review Copy page.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Small Business Server 2008,Installing,Configuring,Migrating,Microsoft,Book

Migrating SBS 2000 to Windows SBS 2008 - download document now available

2009-05-01T23:29:00Z

Should you have a SBS 2000 system that you wish to move to SBS 2008 there is now a documented process on how to do this.

Migrating Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 to Windows Small Business Server 2008

Outlines the steps necessary to migrate settings and data from an existing server running Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 to a new computer running Windows SBS 2008.

File Name: Migrating_SBS2000_to_SBS2008.doc

Date Published: 5/1/2009

Download Size:96 KB

Download details: Migrating SBS 2000 to Windows SBS 2008

Note that Exchange is not migrated in itself, so PST backups of all mail folders is required using the process documented in the KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196492.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,SBS 2000,Migration,Microsoft

UK event to learn more about Windows 7 (London, Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh)

2009-04-27T06:17:00Z

With the launch of Windows 7 coming this year I thought you might like to know what Microsoft is saying about it. We have four events around the UK to help partners understand more.

Event Overview

With the launch of Windows 7, within three years of general availability of Windows Vista, we are delighted to invite you to an event so you can experience for yourself the buzz and excitement of Windows 7.

The Windows 7 team will show you how you can protect and grow your revenues between now and the launch date and will take you through the journey of converting your customers to Windows 7, whether they currently are on Windows Vista or Windows XP – allowing you the opportunity to extend the sale and ensuring you are selling today.

For your chance to see a demonstration of what the press are raving about and experience what businesses will love about Windows 7 first hand, then join us at this additional session.

Agenda

5.00pm - Registration

5.30pm - The journey to Windows 7 / Demonstration of Windows 7

7.00pm - Q&A session

7.30pm - Event close

14^th May – Edinburgh Invitation Code: DFBD37 Phone Number: 0870 166 6680 ref: 4116

19^th May - Birmingham Invitation Code: 3095B3 Phone number: 0870 166 6670 ref 4117

4^th June – London Invitation Code: 875122 Phone Number: 0870 166 6680 ref: 4118

16^th June - Leeds Invitation Code: C3EE9D Phone number: 0870 166 6670 ref 4119

Enjoy

David

Technorati Tags: Windows,Windows Client,Windows 7,Microsoft,Event

How to encrypt backups and optionally the system disks on Windows Server 2008 and SBS 2008 and Windows Vista too

2009-04-26T10:34:00Z

Hi,

someone asked in the forums how if the backups on SBS 2008 and Windows Server 2008 were encrypted and the answer is no, even if the drives being backed up are BitLocker protected (more details here). However you can get encrypted backups with a bit of effort. To do this you will need to at least BitLocker enable your removable drives and optionally your system disk. I used the information at http://blogs.msdn.com/askdavid/archive/2007/06/08/enabling-bitlocker-on-removable-drives-usb-flash-drives-usb-hard-drives.aspx as a guide to putting together what I needed to do, so many thanks David Chandra for this. This same process can also be used on Windows Vista

There are a couple of snags however and you need to work out which scenario you wish to have (if you have a TPM chip then option 2 & 3 can be replaced with entering a key into the TPM prompt:

encrypt just the backup disks you will need to run a script each time a volume is added back to the system
encrypt the system disk and the backup disks and you will need a USB key or key information to be entered every time you reboot the server
encrypt the system disk and the backup disks, but store the system unlock information unencrypted on the server so you do not have to enter decryption information every time.

Given the choices above the steps are as follows (they build from option 1 through to option 3):

Option 1
1. Add BitLocker to the server
2. Encrypt the Backup Hard Disks
3. Add an unlock script
Option 2
1. Prepare the system disk for BitLocker encryption
2. Encrypt the system
Option 3
1. Store the unlock key on the boot partition for automatic use

Option 1 (encrypting the backup disks)

You will need to repeat the steps below (excluding adding Bitlocker to the system) for each disk you want to encrypt. You can do this to an existing disk or a new disk.

	Add Bitlocker role To start this task we need to add the BitLocker role to SBS 2008. While BitLocker is built into Windows Server 2008 it is not installed. To install it start Server Manager from the Start Menu and then scroll the right hand window down until you can find
	In the list of roles that can be added, select the BitLocker role and continue through the wizard until BitLocker is available
	To be able to easily BitLocker the drive we need to add a drive letter. Run the command diskmgmt.msc to start the Disk Management tool. Find the Backup disk and right click on it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
	You will notice that the disk, which present and used does not have a drive letter, so we need to change this. Press the Add button to add a drive letter that we can easily refer to in the command lines.
	Pick the next available drive letter and press OK. In my example the drive letter is "E:". In all the command lines below replace E: with the right drive letter for your system.
	Open and administrative Command Prompt from the start menu and check the title bar says Administrator Command Prompt. Check that the disk is ready for encrypting with the command script manage-bde.wsf -status. Note this has to be run from \Windows\System32.
	Time to encrypt the disk and save the recovery keys. I'm going to save them to C:, but they can be saved to any disk in the system except the one being encrypted. Type script manage-bde.wsf -on E: -recoverykey C: -recoverypassword. You will see several pieces of information including the disk ID, the file name for the *recovery key file* and the numeric password should you not have these to hand. You will need to make a note of this information, but do NOT store with the drive. To create an unlock command, enter the command below replacing *<recovery key file>* with the filename from your output. The filename for the command in my example is c:\unlock_backup_disk3.cmd and you should change it to be appropriate to your system. echo cscript c:\windows\system32\manage-bde.wsf -unlock E: -recoverykey <recovery key file> > c:\unlock_backup_disk3.cmd
	The disk will now begin encrypting and depending on how much data is stored on it, may take some time. You can check the status with the command cscript c:\windows\system32\manage-bde.wsf -status as shows in the screen shot until the disk is 100% encrypted.
	If you intend on encrypting the system disk then you can remove the drive letter. The backup will still work if the drive has a drive letter, but it will now show up in the SBS Console and Computer windows, but should not be modified in any way.

Option 2 & 3 (encrypting the system disk and enabling automatic unlocking of the USB drives)

	Download preparation tool from Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=320b9aa9-47e8-44f9-b8d0-4d7d6a75add0 and then install the tool.
	Start the tool from the Start Menu - it is under Accessories, System Tools, BitLocker and is called BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool. As is always the case when making major changes to a system ensure you have a backup of the system. Press Continue to start the tool.
	The tool will shrink your system drive and create a small S: drive which will contain the boot files. Once it is complete, press Finish.
	You will need to restart your computer to continue the preparation. Press Restart Now to do so.
	Once you have rebooted and logged back in the tool will continue. Once it is finished, press Close to exit the tool. Your drives are now prepared to be encrypted.
	To encrypt the system disk enter the command below. I put a recovery key on the backup disk (which is encrypted) and also onto another disk to enable system start up. For the system to start up it will need an unencrypted file system with the startup key present. You can either chose to put this onto the S: drive which is less secure as removing the boot disk will provide someone with all the encryption keys or if you wish for your system to be more secure you can put this onto a removable USB drive. If your only desire was to encrypt the backups and have them automatically available when plugged into the server then this is fine. If you want greater overall security then you should use the removable key method. Note that to reboot the server this will be required, so automatic updates could cause a problem. Leaving this removable media in the system means that any would-be thief would still have the decryption means. The command you need is: cscript manage-bde.wsf -on C: -recoverykey E: -recoverypassword -startupkey S: E: is the removable media I'm backing the key up to and S: is the system disk. Change S: to the startup usb key you will user to reboot the system with greater security. Once again, mate a note of the key security information highlighted in the screen shot.
	You can once again see the progress being made by the encryption by using the cscript manage-bde.wsf -status command.
	Finally, your SBS backup will no longer function correctly as the S: drive is not included in the backup set, but is a crucial part of the system backup. You will need to Disable Backup and re-create it before the backup will work again. When you are re-creating the backup, when selecting the target device it will claim it is going to format the backup target, but for me it did not and previous backups were still available.

This whole process took a while as I had in total about 100GB to encrypt, between the system disk and backups, but I now have secure backups.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Windows Server 2008,Security,Bitlocker,Microsoft

Business Productivity Online Suite training for partners in Manchester and Birmingham

2009-04-24T07:58:00Z

Business Productivity Online Suite Launch

Join us in Birmingham and Manchester

The UK software market is evolving, and customers are looking to embrace the change. Forecasted growth for subscription software is expected to achieve an annual growth rate of +30% during the next three years - considerably outpacing traditional market growth and providing a tremendous resale and service opportunity for Microsoft partners.

In a tough economy, subscription services are more digestible to cash strapped customers. Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), provides a new IT solution for their needs, delivering enterprise-class software as a subscription service, hosted by Microsoft and sold by you.

Costing £10.04 for the entire suite, per user per month, BPOS includes:

> Microsoft Exchange Online

> Microsoft SharePoint Online

> Microsoft Office Live Meeting

> Microsoft Office Communications Online

> Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services

For Microsoft Partners BPOS provides an annuity revenue opportunity with incremental implementation, integration, customisation, and managed services opportunities.

Join us at this event to gain further insight, and to understand the sales and implementation opportunities for your business.

Please confirm your attendance by registering for;

20/05/09: Manchester – Click here

Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus

Keckwick Lane

Daresbury, WA4 4FS

21/05/09: Birmingham – Click here

Coventry TechnoCentre, CUE Ltd

Coventry University Technology Park

Puma Way

Coventry, CV1 2TT

To further understand this opportunity watch the Quick Start training video here.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Gautrey

Software-plus-Services Lead

Small and Mid- Market Solutions & Partners, UK

Date/Venue:

20/05/09: Manchester – Click here

Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus

Keckwick Lane

Daresbury, WA4 4FS

21/05/09: Birmingham – Click here

Coventry TechnoCentre, CUE Ltd

Coventry University Technology Park

Puma Way

Coventry, CV1 2TT

Agenda:

09.30 – Registration

Overview on Microsoft Online Services

Technical Overview:

- Deployment & Administration

- Co-existence with on-premise

- Migration from on-premise

- Security

- Reliability

Outline of Licensing Models (& scenarios)

Next steps for Partners

12.30 – Close

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 13 - Introduction to SBS 2008 management

2009-04-19T08:05:00Z

Introduction to SBS 2008 management

All computers, like cars, need regular maintenance, but unlike cars where this can be a once a year exercise and perhaps even once every two years, this needs to be done more frequently with SBS 2008.

In this chapter we will cover the daily checks and what to consider if they are not all green on the reports.

I start by covering the basic tools available before I cover off the steps to be worked on.

Windows SBS Console
Windows SBS Console (Advanced Mode)
Windows SBS Native Tools Management
Exchange Management Shell
Command Prompt run as Administrator

I also work through the following checks:

Daily maintenance check via reports
Maintenance areas
- Security
- Backup and Recovery
- Forefront Updates
- Storage
- Event Log Messages
Troubleshooting common problems
- External Network
- Internal Network
- Spam
- Poor Performance

The Windows SBS Console Advanced mode

Native Tools Management

Exchange Management Shell

How to do a full, bare metal backup

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 12 - Working with SBS Services as user

2009-04-18T08:03:00Z

Working with SBS Services as user

To get the business benefit from SBS 2008 you will need to embed the use of the services and facilities use into the users psyche to enable them to benefit from it and use it.

In this chapter we will cover the following areas:

E-mail, Calendar and Contacts
File Management
Remote access to the server, network and services

Many people believe the above are simple and well known, but taking Outlook as an example, learning how to do the tasks below in Outlook on a PC and via Outlook Web Access is often a real productivity tool.

Viewing yours and other people’s calendar
Scheduling a meeting for multiple people and ensure their diaries are all free for the time period
Telling people when you are going to be away or unavailable
Finding e-mails that have been filed
Recovering e-mails that have been deleted and removed from the deleted items folder

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 11 - Managing users and their computers

2009-04-17T08:02:00Z

Managing users and their computers

In this chapter we will cover the tasks required to add and manage users as well as the tasks to add and manage their desktop and notebook computers. This is done using the standard SBS 2008 tools, but discussing the customising of settings to give you a solution that meets both the administrator’s and the user’s needs.

This includes:

Managing roles
Adding Users
Managing users storage
Adding computers to the network
Ensuring computers are up to date with updates

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 10 - Securing the server

2009-04-16T08:00:00Z

Securing the server

This chapter covers the process of finishing the network protection and routing setup and configuring the protection of the data on the server. I cover

Configuring the firewall ports
Configuring and testing the backups
Configuring anti-malware

As the anti-malware solution of One-Care is to be discontinued by Microsoft, I also include information about the configuration of tools by other vendors so as to not interfere with SBS 2008’s normal running.

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 9 - Configuring your services

2009-04-15T07:59:00Z

Configuring your services

This chapter covers the process of finalising the network setup moving all network services to be served from the SBS 2008 server.

In this chapter we will carry out the following tasks, some of which are optional:

Accept the customer feedback option (as it is in this section of the console)
Configure your internet domain name for remote access and e-mail
Check your internet network settings
Enable e-mail routing via your ISP (smart hosts) if required
Installing a paid for SSL certificate (optional)
Configure OfficeLive for Small Business for SBS 2008 (optional)
Configure a VPN (also known as RAS) for external access (optional)

The configuration and purchasing of a Domain Name and setting up for Office Live Small Business is a key benefit of SBS 2008 for those who don’t use this already today.

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 8 - Migrating users and data from SBS 2003

2009-04-14T07:56:00Z

Migrating users and data from SBS 2003

This chapter covers the finalising of the migration tasks with the migration of the users and the remaining data from the SBS 2003 system to SBS 2008. This chapter covers:

Migrating file shares
Migrating the Fax data
Migrate users and Groups
Migrate LOB applications
Finish the Migration

I’m a firm believer in scripts and this chapter provides some scripts to simplify the task ahead.

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 7 - Migrating the CompanyWeb SharePoint site

2009-04-13T07:54:00Z

Migrating the CompanyWeb SharePoint site

This chapter covers the migration of data in the CompanyWeb - http://companyweb, a Windows SharePoint Site from SBS 2003 to a site called OldCompanyWeb on SBS 2008.

SBS 2008 ships with Windows SharePoint v3 which is different enough to stop a simple import of data from the Windows SharePoint v2 site that is hosted on SBS 2003. For that reason the recommended approach is to have two sites and to advise the users to utilise the new site going forward, but to retain data in the old site too. Should it be desired, the data and documents can be copied between the sites once the migration is completed.

This chapter walks you through:

On the SBS 2003 server
- Prepare and check CompanyWeb on SBS 2003 for migration
- Backup the database
- Copy the files to a removable device or create a network share
On the SBS 2008 server
- Configure the DNS for the migrated site
- Import the data
- Create the OldCompanyWeb site
- Tidy up the site

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 6 - Migrating e-mail from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007

2009-04-12T07:50:00Z

Migrating e-mail from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007

This chapter covers the migration of e-mail in Exchange 2003 on the SBS 2003 server to Exchange 2007 on SBS 2008. This will again require activities on both servers to complete this task.

Migrating e-mail is a lengthy process and one you need to plan for in terms of cleaning up e-mail before migration to shorten the process. I walk you through all the activities until the migration is complete.

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration

SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 5 - Migrating systems and settings from SBS 2003

2009-04-11T07:50:00Z

Migrating systems and settings from SBS 2003

This chapter covers the migration of the configuration settings from the SBS 2003 system to SBS 2008. This will require activity on both servers.

We will cover the following items in this chapter:

Starting the Migration Wizard
Initially configuring the SBS 2008 network
Configure Internet Access
Migrate the SBS 2003 network settings across
Cleaning up the group policy settings

There are a number of checks in the migration process which if they throw up an error the recommendation is to stop and fix the problem. If the problem is particularly severe or points to a flaw in the original SBS 2003 system then most likely way to avoid further issues later in the migration would be to follow this process to repair the damage and re-start again.

To order the book, go to http://davidoverton.com/r.ashx?1M . To find out more about my SBS 2008 BOOK - SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration click here

thanks David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Book,Microsoft,Migration,Installation,Configuration