How to automatically move a file to another PC on the network?

Question

Here is what I am after.

I have 2 PCs connected on a network and one of them prints out an Excel spreadsheet every night to a specific folder. Is it possible to use a batch script to copy that file to the other computer on the network at a certain time?

Answer 1

You can.

• Create Batch File (Use UNC paths to copy - I recommend RoboCopy)
• Create Scheduled Task to call batch file at certain time

robocopy C:\FolderName\ \\machinename\sharedfolder "filename.ext"

Answer 2

Set up a scheduled task to run a program/batch file that executes a copy command.

A batch file to do that might look like

COPY \\server-name\path\to\file.dat C:\directory\new-location\

Answer 3

An alternative to a batch file / Windows scheduled task, is to use SyncBack (freeware) where you can create a profile to copy your Excel spreadsheet from the source machine to the target at a specific time.

Answer 4

You can save this in a .bat file. After that you can schedule it.

:: This is the backup 


set SourceDir=F:\XXX
set DestinyDir=I:\YYY


xcopy /e /v /y /I %SourceDir% %DestinyDir%

I never tested the time it takes, but it seems that xcopy is faster than the regular copy. Look what the commands do here.

Answer 5

Another option is to use the Windows SyncToy 2.0 utility and then set a scheduled task along with it.