Software that can analyze two volumes and copy all missing files to the other?

[CZroe]

I had to make an image of a hosed PC that could only be destructively restored and I'm now painstakingly copying each and every file back to it to simulate a non-destructive restore before I attempt to reinstall some of the user's essential software that may rely on these things.

Is there anything that can make this simpler? And I do mean *every* file. I want every little no matter how deep it's buried in the Program Files, System32, or user-specific shared files. For example, I want the uniquely-named deeply-buried Outlook "Identities" folders and such in case I ultimately have to recover emails and other things that the user may later report missing, even if they aren't going to automatically just show up in Outlook (I have no direct contact with the user). I want it to be there so I can guide them to a proper restoration if it turns out to be something they need later on.

If anyone knows something that can automate this, I'd be really appreciative. Thanks.

 

[gevorg]

Free: http://winmerge.org

Commercial: http://www.scootersoftware.com/moreinfo.php

 

[Binky]

Also free: http://www.jumpingbytes.com/en/puresync.html

 

[CuriousMike]

xcopy /e

 

[BoT]

Microsoft SyncToy

SyncBack Freeware V3.2.26.0

 

[Nothinman]

Shouldn't robocopy or rsync be able to do this too?

 

[CZroe]

Well, I used something called Comparator Fast and yet it will not copy the last 26,000 files. Most of it is in the C: \Windows\winsxs folder, which I can't copy manually either (Windows just tells me to "Try Again" and it won't copy). Some of them are clearly the types of files I wanted, like Start Menu entries and Desktop shortcuts under C: \ProgramData.

Most of the suggestions I see don't look like they'll address the permissions issue. When I searched, the suggestions for Robocopy didn't look like they applied to exactly what I was trying to do and even they said that xcopy couldn't do it for various reasons.

If I try to access from another system, what will I have to do? Create the same user/password so that I can access the protected files?

I'm trying WinMerge now.

 

[Nothinman]

Ouch, I doubt that'll work well. WinSxS is a slew of links, not normal files.

 

[Fayd]

Shouldn't robocopy or rsync be able to do this too?

robocopy with a non-destructive merge one way, then the other should be able to do it.

i don't know how to do that tho, as i only know /mir.

 

[Gooberlx2]

robocopy with a non-destructive merge one way, then the other should be able to do it.

i don't know how to do that tho, as i only know /mir.

if you don't want to blast away existing data in the destination:

robocopy /e /copyall c:\source b:\dest

http://www.mydigitallife.info/robocopy-syntax-command-line-switches-and-examples/

Really going to have do this outside of the OS though. So boot to recovery mode. Symlinks and Junctions may still pose problems. I'd suggest a real disk cloning utility instead in this case.

 

[CZroe]

I'm now using Win Merge and it has managed a lot more than Comparator Fast did but it is tedious. There is no easy way to select only what exists on the source ("Left") even though the columns seem to do just that. I can sort by the "Comparison Results" column and all the "Left only" files appear to be together until you encounter thousands of "Right only" files somewhere in the middle of a column of tens of thousands of "Left only" files. On top of that, it can't copy everything, which is understandable, but it doesn't continue processing when it encounters something like that. For example, I can select a bunch of files to copy to the "Right" and one file that it can't (a WinSxS file, for example), and it will behave as if it did it when it did nothing. I'm tediously making much smaller selections so that I can at least get everything that will copy.

if you don't want to blast away existing data in the destination:

robocopy /e /copyall c:\source b:\dest

http://www.mydigitallife.info/robocopy-syntax-command-line-switches-and-examples/

Really going to have do this outside of the OS though. So boot to recovery mode. Symlinks and Junctions may still pose problems. I'd suggest a real disk cloning utility instead in this case.

I'm trying to simulate a non-destructive system restore. A non-destructive factory restore copies over every file that matches one from the system image while leaving everything else. Because I only had the option of a destructive restore, I already have those files on the target drive and now want to copy everything else back to it. Blasting away existing files in the destination would restore the corrupted files that prevented it from being booted or repaired in the first place.

Edit: Noticed the "don't" Thanks! Anyway, I used a real disk cloning utility to make the backup I'm copying from (mounting the image). If I restored the image, I'd be restoring a non-bootable installation.

 

[CZroe]

Ouch, I doubt that'll work well. WinSxS is a slew of links, not normal files.

Well, it'd be one thing if they simply couldn't do it and did the job for every other type, but it appears that they trip up every app I try. They simply can't handle them and error-out gracefully (skip and continue processing other files or whatever).

I've spent about 30 mins waiting for WinMerge to respond because I don't want to start the 3hr scan over again.

 

[Auric]

FreeFileSync

 

[Nothinman]

Well, it'd be one thing if they simply couldn't do it and did the job for every other type, but it appears that they trip up every app I try. They simply can't handle them and error-out gracefully (skip and continue processing other files or whatever).

I've spent about 30 mins waiting for WinMerge to respond because I don't want to start the 3hr scan over again.

Probably because they're relatively new to the Windows world so most apps aren't designed to handle them properly. And even if you do make this work, you'll likely be using at least double the space because those tools aren't designed to handle links properly so they'll either fail or copy as a file. Seen the posts of people wondering WTF the WinSxS folder is so large only to be told that it's not and they should ignore it? That won't apply to you any more and who knows what affect that will have on Windows updates and installations in the future that expect them to be links.

 

[Buddyd]

using the command prompt in windows you can type

xcopy source drive(c:\) destination drive(d:\) /d /e /h /k /o

that will copy only the items that don't yet exist on destination drive including hidden system files and keep the file attributes and ownerships in place.