Copy a file that is in use? 1

[strebor]

I sometimes have to connect to remote machines and copy files. It is fairly trivial to script a solution that works well for idle files, but if I need to retrieve an Outlook personal folder file, it is always in use, as Outlook is holding it open, and it will not copy. Is there a way, using vbscript, to copy files that are in use? I haven't seen anything in this forum that covers this. I'm suspecting that vbscript would not be able to perform this task.

Anyone have any thoughts on this problem?

strebor

 

[dm4ever]

The only solution I've come accross is using XP's backup utility to copy it. ntbackup has command line options to backup files, but unfortunately you must restore them manually. The reason it succeeds in backing up files in use is that it uses ShadowCopy to accomplish it.

To view the available command line options type in a cmd prompt: ntbackup /?

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dm4ever
My philosophy: K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid

 

[strebor]

Thanks dm4ever!

I tried this out (using the GUI interface and advanced wizard). I mapped a drive to another machine of mine and had Outlook running and attached to a .pst file. I tried to back it up, making sure that Shadow Copy was enabled. It created a .bkf but reported that it had skipped the file as it was "in use." I'm assuming that if it won't work from the GUI, the command line method will not work either. I will do a little more experimenting. This seemed so promising!

strebor

 

[strebor]

dm4ever-

I tried this again and it worked! Not sure what changed. So thank you again. I guess I have a starting point now.

strebor