Replicate Files With RoboCopy

While Windows NT 4 isn't known for being very helpful with administration from the command prompt, Microsoft included many useful tools in the Resource Kit. One of the best utilities shipped with the kit is the Robocopy.exe utility, which stands for Robust File Copy for Windows NT.

But it's not fair to call this just a copying utility. According to the documentation, Robocopy is a 32-bit command line utility for file replication. This utility is perfect if you want to keep two folders on different locations in sync.

By keeping them in sync, we don't mean simply copying the content from one side to another--but from both sides. For example, Robocopy can take care of files that you've added on one side and want to replicate to another side. And it works the other way around--if you delete some file and want it to disappear on the other side of the network. Robocopy can do this and much more.

Robocopy has a lot of switches and options, so make sure you take the time to become familiar with this utility. Robocopy is quite useful and powerful, but it can also do real damage if you get the switches wrong. So make sure you read Robocopy.doc before taking advantage of this tool.

You can find Robocopy in the \i386\filedisk folder on the Windows NT 4 Resource Kit CD

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