How can I copy files from computers over a network?
In some cases, you may need to copy files from one or more computers over a network to a central computer, and then back up
those files from a single PC Data Backups account. Caution: This could save you money, but it is less reliable
than installing PC Data Backups on each computer and does not manage file versions or deleted files. Also see
Can I back up my network drive?
To copy a file, folder or drive over the network, you can use My Network Places, select a folder on a remote computer, press
Ctrl-C to copy it, select a folder on the local computer, and press Ctrl-C to paste the copied folder into the current
folder.
A more powerful way to copy multiple files is the DOS Xcopy command. For
example, to copy the entire Documents and Settings folder from a shared C drive on a computer named Client1 to the Backups
folder on a computer named Server, if you are on the Server computer, you would click Start > Programs > Accessories
> Command Prompt, type xcopy "\\Client1\C\Documents and Settings" C:\Backup /s, and press Enter. The /s option
indicates that all sub-directories should be copied. For more help on the xcopy command and its options, type xcopy /?
and maximize the Command Prompt window to see all the lines.
To save typing the next time you want to execute this command, you could create a batch file. A batch file is an executable
text file with a .bat extension (e.g. copymyfiles.bat) which can be created and edited with a text file like Windows
Notepad and run like any other program. Each line of a simple batch file is a DOS command or program name to be run. For
example, if you wanted to copy the Documents and Settings folders from six different computers, you could use six xcopy
commands, each on a separate line. To run the batch file, double-click it in Window Explorer or My Computer.
Once your batch file is working and thoroughly tested, you can use Windows
Scheduled Tasks to run it once a day before PC Data Backups runs, or any other time interval you choose.
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