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A client of mine recently got a new Windows 2012 server to replace an old Windows XP Professional computer we were using as a file server. Everything appeared to be copying fine, I stored a log file of the copy and I watched the new share populate from a desktop computer and also from the server in the proper folder. When I came back the next morning the share is empty. The log file said it completed with 0 errors. All the files copied are no longer in the share and are not stored in the root of E:\ on the new server.

Here are the steps I took to copy: I basically plugged the new server into the network, setup a share. The old server was still connected to the network.

Old server's share is \\old-server\old-server-files which is stored in a folder called C:\old-server-files

New server's share was \\new-server\new-server-files which is stored in a folder called E:\new-server-files

I used the following Robocopy command from the new server command prompt:

Robocopy \\old-server\old-server-files \\new-server\new-server-files /MiR /FFT /Z /W:5 /LOG:E:\server-copy.log

I slowly watch the share populate from a Desktop computer. The copy took about 12 hours over a giga-bit ethernet connection. The next morning I come in, none of the files are in the \\new-server\new-server-files share while looking from the desktop computer. While looking from the server, the share is empty and the folder E:\new-server-files is empty. The root of E:\ has the files now instead of the share.

I don't understand how this happened. Could someone explain where I might have gone wrong. I can post the server-copy.log I had robocopy create, but I looked at it and it says it copied to the share. It is 37 megs though, so I'd have to find somewhere to put it.

renosis
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  • Where does the share "new-server-files" point to on the disk? (you can find this using the *net share* command). – Adam Thompson Dec 31 '14 at 12:42
  • It points to E:\new-server-files and I watched this folder populate as it was copying from the server. Now everything has moved to E:\. I am shocked. – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 12:45
  • Also, net share shows the share as point E:\new-server-files – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 12:47
  • Why was my question voted down? How can I change it to make it better? – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 14:41
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    It is indeed odd and files don't simply move themselves. I've never seen or heard of this happening with a robocopy, and with the server being new not sure what tasks could be running on it to cause such a thing. You might be just mistaken...reboot the thing...who knows. Otherwise, I personally would say screw it and just move the files back from the root of E to the proper folder. – TheCleaner Dec 31 '14 at 14:42
  • Thanks, I was planning on just moving them. Was just kind of wanting an answer as to why this would happen. I've never seen a folder fill up with files and then have the files move to another folder upon completion. It sounds stupid to me too and if someone else were asking I'd assume they made some kind of mistake too or are misunderstanding something. But it did happen. Brand new server from Dell, 2012, all I did was change computer name, create the share and run the command mentioned. I want to see if I can recreate the problem. – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 14:47

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That is an odd one but maybe it didn't like the /MIR option between your two different share names. I would have instead used the /e /copy:DATSOU or /e /copyall (same thing) switches, the /FFT thing is only when copying from an NTFS to another filesystem type, if it's a Windows 2012 server it's not needed since the 2012 server should be using NTFS.

Optichip
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  • That is interesting, I believe the tutorial I read suggested to use that /fft to make sure time stamps got copied or something. I'll have to look at it again to be sure. What is bizarre to me is how I watched the proper folder from the share and sitting at the server itself populate properly. Then all of a sudden I come back when it finishes and no files are there. – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 13:05
  • Here is the link to the tutorial I read. http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/1073.robocopy-and-a-few-examples.aspx It was number 6. Says it is more reliable across networks to use /fft, but I don't know. – renosis Dec 31 '14 at 14:29