replicated mounted volume... HELP!!

[mark]

I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can assist me
with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K (20Gig
volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data and placed it in a
completely different volume (different pathname) and used Robocopy with the
/mir switch to copy the data over to the new "Backup" directory. I started
trying to clean out the copy folder to exclude things like exes and jpg
files, when I realized that the backup directory department folder, was
actually the LIVE mounted volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is referenced
in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some serious trouble.
If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to entertain them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

 

[Dean Wells [MVP]]

I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can
assist me with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K
(20Gig volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data and
placed it in a completely different volume (different pathname) and
used Robocopy with the /mir switch to copy the data over to the new
"Backup" directory. I started trying to clean out the copy folder to
exclude things like exes and jpg files, when I realized that the
backup directory department folder, was actually the LIVE mounted
volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is
referenced in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some serious
trouble. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to entertain
them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

There are quite a few ways of doing this, the most comfortable approach
for many is using DISKMGMT.MSC -

* right click the mounted medium
* select "Change drive letter and paths"
* remove any undesired mount points

HTH

Dean

 

[Dean Wells [MVP]]

Thanks Dean for your reply.
The issue isn't that I need to delete the mounted volume, but remove
the second reference to it.

Here's the layout.

d:\data\groups\MIS - this MIS folder is mounted to a 20 dynamic
volume. Currently the live volume and dataSet.
d:\Archdata - this folder is mounted to a 500Gig SAN volume used for a
temporary location while we are collecting data.
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_081303\groups\MIS is supposed to be
a copy of the d:\data\groups\MIS directory which I used Robocopy to
copy the data over to this new volume. I started going through the
groups\ folders in the Archdata volume, to remove unnecessary files,
as we are burning to DVD, and trying to conserve space and time. I
then realized that the MIS folder has the same icon as the production
location. I created a test folder in the MIS folder, in the Archdata
volume, and the folder appeared in the d:\data\groups\MIS folder
which is the production location.

So now I have two pointers, with two different permissions sets,
fighting each other and the reference to the MIS directory from the
Archdata location is causing conflicts with production tree
structure. There is no reference in the disk management to the MIS
folder in the Archdata volume, but somehow I have two pointers to the
same volume, each with a very different UNC path.
I can't rename the folder in the Ardata volume, as it's actually the
production volume.
This sounds fairly confusing, but I'd like to break the second
reference to that volume, but I don't want to delete the production
folder.
I can send screen shots outside of the group if you'd like.
Thanks for your input Dean
Mark

I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can
assist me with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K
(20Gig volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data and
placed it in a completely different volume (different pathname) and
used Robocopy with the /mir switch to copy the data over to the new
"Backup" directory. I started trying to clean out the copy folder to
exclude things like exes and jpg files, when I realized that the
backup directory department folder, was actually the LIVE mounted
volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is
referenced in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some serious
trouble. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to entertain
them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

There are quite a few ways of doing this, the most comfortable
approach for many is using DISKMGMT.MSC -

* right click the mounted medium
* select "Change drive letter and paths"
* remove any undesired mount points

HTH

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

My reply wasn't intended to indicate that you wanted to delete the
volume, merely that you wanted to delete the second reference to the
volume but it would appear that the DISKMGMT console does not display
the second reference (a common occurrence in my experience).

Before I suggest a possible solution, I think it's worth mentioning that
when copying mount points you must copy the content of the mount point
not the junction itself. Most reasonable copy utilities (including XCOPY
and ROBOCOPY) will simply graft another link to the same target ... I
guess you'd probably worked that out for yourself.

Two simple means spring to mind (many more complicated ones also exist)
to remove the second mount point;

* the first uses LINKD.EXE (a Resource Kit tool), syntax LINKD <mount
point> /d

* the second uses the built in RD command with no arguments except for
the mount point itself

Let me know if this helps.

Dean

 

[mark]

Thanks again for your suggestion.
That sounds like a good solution. I haven't had a chance to play with Linkd.
I guess no better time than the present.
I just checked the properties of the MIS mount volume, and it's pointing to
the wrong volume, ( the one in the ArchData volume) and the wrong location.
.. You are correct that I used Robocopy to copy the directories under the
groups folder to the new path. I didn't think about the possibility that the
mount point would be copied over as well, and make another reference.
If my luck with LinkD proves ineffective, my next solution will be to copy
the data from the MIS directory to yet another folder, delete the mounted
volume, and start from scratch. Then copy over the data back into the
volume. Does this logic sound correct?
You have been most helpful, and it is greatly appreciated.
Mark

Thanks Dean for your reply.
The issue isn't that I need to delete the mounted volume, but remove
the second reference to it.

Here's the layout.

d:\data\groups\MIS - this MIS folder is mounted to a 20 dynamic
volume. Currently the live volume and dataSet.
d:\Archdata - this folder is mounted to a 500Gig SAN volume used for a
temporary location while we are collecting data.
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_081303\groups\MIS is supposed to be
a copy of the d:\data\groups\MIS directory which I used Robocopy to
copy the data over to this new volume. I started going through the
groups\ folders in the Archdata volume, to remove unnecessary files,
as we are burning to DVD, and trying to conserve space and time. I
then realized that the MIS folder has the same icon as the production
location. I created a test folder in the MIS folder, in the Archdata
volume, and the folder appeared in the d:\data\groups\MIS folder
which is the production location.

So now I have two pointers, with two different permissions sets,
fighting each other and the reference to the MIS directory from the
Archdata location is causing conflicts with production tree
structure. There is no reference in the disk management to the MIS
folder in the Archdata volume, but somehow I have two pointers to the
same volume, each with a very different UNC path.
I can't rename the folder in the Ardata volume, as it's actually the
production volume.
This sounds fairly confusing, but I'd like to break the second
reference to that volume, but I don't want to delete the production
folder.
I can send screen shots outside of the group if you'd like.
Thanks for your input Dean
Mark

mark wrote:
I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can
assist me with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K
(20Gig volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data and
placed it in a completely different volume (different pathname) and
used Robocopy with the /mir switch to copy the data over to the new
"Backup" directory. I started trying to clean out the copy folder to
exclude things like exes and jpg files, when I realized that the
backup directory department folder, was actually the LIVE mounted
volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is
referenced in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some serious
trouble. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to entertain
them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

There are quite a few ways of doing this, the most comfortable
approach for many is using DISKMGMT.MSC -

* right click the mounted medium
* select "Change drive letter and paths"
* remove any undesired mount points

HTH

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

My reply wasn't intended to indicate that you wanted to delete the
volume, merely that you wanted to delete the second reference to the
volume but it would appear that the DISKMGMT console does not display
the second reference (a common occurrence in my experience).

Before I suggest a possible solution, I think it's worth mentioning that
when copying mount points you must copy the content of the mount point
not the junction itself. Most reasonable copy utilities (including XCOPY
and ROBOCOPY) will simply graft another link to the same target ... I
guess you'd probably worked that out for yourself.

Two simple means spring to mind (many more complicated ones also exist)
to remove the second mount point;

* the first uses LINKD.EXE (a Resource Kit tool), syntax LINKD <mount
point> /d

* the second uses the built in RD command with no arguments except for
the mount point itself

Let me know if this helps.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

 

[Dean Wells [MVP]]

Thanks again for your suggestion.
That sounds like a good solution. I haven't had a chance to play with
Linkd. I guess no better time than the present.
I just checked the properties of the MIS mount volume, and it's
pointing to the wrong volume, ( the one in the ArchData volume) and
the wrong location. . You are correct that I used Robocopy to copy
the directories under the groups folder to the new path. I didn't
think about the possibility that the mount point would be copied over
as well, and make another reference.
If my luck with LinkD proves ineffective, my next solution will be to
copy the data from the MIS directory to yet another folder, delete
the mounted volume, and start from scratch. Then copy over the data
back into the volume. Does this logic sound correct?
You have been most helpful, and it is greatly appreciated.
Mark

Thanks Dean for your reply.
The issue isn't that I need to delete the mounted volume, but remove
the second reference to it.

Here's the layout.

d:\data\groups\MIS - this MIS folder is mounted to a 20 dynamic
volume. Currently the live volume and dataSet.
d:\Archdata - this folder is mounted to a 500Gig SAN volume used
for a temporary location while we are collecting data.
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_081303\groups\MIS is supposed to be
a copy of the d:\data\groups\MIS directory which I used Robocopy to
copy the data over to this new volume. I started going through the
groups\ folders in the Archdata volume, to remove unnecessary files,
as we are burning to DVD, and trying to conserve space and time. I
then realized that the MIS folder has the same icon as the
production location. I created a test folder in the MIS folder, in
the Archdata volume, and the folder appeared in the
d:\data\groups\MIS folder which is the production location.

So now I have two pointers, with two different permissions sets,
fighting each other and the reference to the MIS directory from the
Archdata location is causing conflicts with production tree
structure. There is no reference in the disk management to the MIS
folder in the Archdata volume, but somehow I have two pointers to
the same volume, each with a very different UNC path.
I can't rename the folder in the Ardata volume, as it's actually the
production volume.
This sounds fairly confusing, but I'd like to break the second
reference to that volume, but I don't want to delete the production
folder.
I can send screen shots outside of the group if you'd like.
Thanks for your input Dean
Mark



mark wrote:
I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can
assist me with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K
(20Gig volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data
and placed it in a completely different volume (different
pathname) and used Robocopy with the /mir switch to copy the data
over to the new "Backup" directory. I started trying to clean out
the copy folder to exclude things like exes and jpg files, when I
realized that the backup directory department folder, was
actually the LIVE mounted volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is
referenced in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some
serious trouble. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to
entertain them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

There are quite a few ways of doing this, the most comfortable
approach for many is using DISKMGMT.MSC -

* right click the mounted medium
* select "Change drive letter and paths"
* remove any undesired mount points

HTH

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

My reply wasn't intended to indicate that you wanted to delete the
volume, merely that you wanted to delete the second reference to the
volume but it would appear that the DISKMGMT console does not display
the second reference (a common occurrence in my experience).

Before I suggest a possible solution, I think it's worth mentioning
that when copying mount points you must copy the content of the
mount point not the junction itself. Most reasonable copy utilities
(including XCOPY and ROBOCOPY) will simply graft another link to the
same target ... I guess you'd probably worked that out for yourself.


Two simple means spring to mind (many more complicated ones also
exist) to remove the second mount point;

* the first uses LINKD.EXE (a Resource Kit tool), syntax LINKD <mount
point> /d

* the second uses the built in RD command with no arguments except
for the mount point itself

Let me know if this helps.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

Your logic does indeed sound correct though I see no reason why either
LINKD or RD should fail. I use them both on a regular basis (remember,
RD is intrinsic to the command prompt ... it's simply a matter of
getting over your fears of RD'ing a directory (or in this case, a
junction) full of content you'd really rather not erase

Dean

 

[mark]

Dean,
I've been reading up on the LinkD command, as well as the MountVol command,
and I'm wondering if you could offer some guidance? I haven't performed a RD
or RMDIR on a folder I want to keep, so your assumption is correct. I'm a
little skittish. If the MIS volume is full of data, and I'd rather not have
to go through another painstaking restore, how would I point the now
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_080313\groups\MIS mount point to the
correct d:\data\groups\MIS directory, without losing the data? Using the two
utilities, I should be able to retrieve the volume GUID and point the volume
to the correct location.
But I still have two references for the same volume. If I look at the
properties of the MIS volume in Disk Management, it shows it's mounted to
the D:\archdata\... location. However, I can still see the MIS folder in the
original d:\data\groups\MIS location. I would like to completely remove the
second link in the d:\archdata\.. location. Will these utilities perform
that? Once I have it mounted to the correct location, will the instance in
the archData folder disappear?
I unfortunately don't have the luxury of screwing this up. You seem to be
well versed in this process, so I hope you don't mind my inquisition of
details?
Thanks again Dean,
Mark (not sweating quite as much now... ;-)

Thanks again for your suggestion.
That sounds like a good solution. I haven't had a chance to play with
Linkd. I guess no better time than the present.
I just checked the properties of the MIS mount volume, and it's
pointing to the wrong volume, ( the one in the ArchData volume) and
the wrong location. . You are correct that I used Robocopy to copy
the directories under the groups folder to the new path. I didn't
think about the possibility that the mount point would be copied over
as well, and make another reference.
If my luck with LinkD proves ineffective, my next solution will be to
copy the data from the MIS directory to yet another folder, delete
the mounted volume, and start from scratch. Then copy over the data
back into the volume. Does this logic sound correct?
You have been most helpful, and it is greatly appreciated.
Mark

mark wrote:
Thanks Dean for your reply.
The issue isn't that I need to delete the mounted volume, but remove
the second reference to it.

Here's the layout.

d:\data\groups\MIS - this MIS folder is mounted to a 20 dynamic
volume. Currently the live volume and dataSet.
d:\Archdata - this folder is mounted to a 500Gig SAN volume used
for a temporary location while we are collecting data.
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_081303\groups\MIS is supposed to be
a copy of the d:\data\groups\MIS directory which I used Robocopy to
copy the data over to this new volume. I started going through the
groups\ folders in the Archdata volume, to remove unnecessary files,
as we are burning to DVD, and trying to conserve space and time. I
then realized that the MIS folder has the same icon as the
production location. I created a test folder in the MIS folder, in
the Archdata volume, and the folder appeared in the
d:\data\groups\MIS folder which is the production location.

So now I have two pointers, with two different permissions sets,
fighting each other and the reference to the MIS directory from the
Archdata location is causing conflicts with production tree
structure. There is no reference in the disk management to the MIS
folder in the Archdata volume, but somehow I have two pointers to
the same volume, each with a very different UNC path.
I can't rename the folder in the Ardata volume, as it's actually the
production volume.
This sounds fairly confusing, but I'd like to break the second
reference to that volume, but I don't want to delete the production
folder.
I can send screen shots outside of the group if you'd like.
Thanks for your input Dean
Mark



mark wrote:
I'm kind of in a pinch here, so I'm hoping someone out there can
assist me with this.

We have a departmental folder mounted to a dynamic volume in Win2K
(20Gig volume). We needed to make a backup copy of the live data
and placed it in a completely different volume (different
pathname) and used Robocopy with the /mir switch to copy the data
over to the new "Backup" directory. I started trying to clean out
the copy folder to exclude things like exes and jpg files, when I
realized that the backup directory department folder, was
actually the LIVE mounted volume!

How in the heck do I break a mounted folder to a volume that is
referenced in two different paths?
I've got management breathing down my neck, and I'm in some
serious trouble. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be very glad to
entertain them.
Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Sweating Bullets

There are quite a few ways of doing this, the most comfortable
approach for many is using DISKMGMT.MSC -

* right click the mounted medium
* select "Change drive letter and paths"
* remove any undesired mount points

HTH

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

My reply wasn't intended to indicate that you wanted to delete the
volume, merely that you wanted to delete the second reference to the
volume but it would appear that the DISKMGMT console does not display
the second reference (a common occurrence in my experience).

Before I suggest a possible solution, I think it's worth mentioning
that when copying mount points you must copy the content of the
mount point not the junction itself. Most reasonable copy utilities
(including XCOPY and ROBOCOPY) will simply graft another link to the
same target ... I guess you'd probably worked that out for yourself.


Two simple means spring to mind (many more complicated ones also
exist) to remove the second mount point;

* the first uses LINKD.EXE (a Resource Kit tool), syntax LINKD <mount
point> /d

* the second uses the built in RD command with no arguments except
for the mount point itself

Let me know if this helps.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

Your logic does indeed sound correct though I see no reason why either
LINKD or RD should fail. I use them both on a regular basis (remember,
RD is intrinsic to the command prompt ... it's simply a matter of
getting over your fears of RD'ing a directory (or in this case, a
junction) full of content you'd really rather not erase

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

 

[mark]

This is some very cool stuff.
I dug out an old system here, set up a dynamic disk, and created the
scenario you suggested, as well as creating mount points to a folder (It's
nice to have a learning lab).
I used the RD on the junction, and sure enough, out it went. My concern was
that I would lose the data contained in the volume. I used the Linkd
c:\mark\test \\?\Volume{3c57b8c9-94a5-11d7-b9d0-0080c8f7715a}\ and my data
was all there!!! Very cool.
I've been playing with the mountvol and linkd commands for an hour or two
now, and I've been able to shift the junction and mount points to all
different directories, including having multiple folder paths pointing to
the same volume. Then just remove the ones I don't need, and the data stays
in tact.
I owe you a huge debt of gratitude Dean. This has definitely saved my @$$.
It looked pretty daunting earlier today.

Have a super weekend.
Mark

Dean,
I've been reading up on the LinkD command, as well as the MountVol
command, and I'm wondering if you could offer some guidance? I
haven't performed a RD or RMDIR on a folder I want to keep, so your
assumption is correct. I'm a little skittish. If the MIS volume is
full of data, and I'd rather not have to go through another
painstaking restore, how would I point the now
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_080313\groups\MIS mount point to the
correct d:\data\groups\MIS directory, without losing the data? Using
the two utilities, I should be able to retrieve the volume GUID and
point the volume to the correct location.
But I still have two references for the same volume. If I look at the
properties of the MIS volume in Disk Management, it shows it's
mounted to the D:\archdata\... location. However, I can still see the
MIS folder in the original d:\data\groups\MIS location. I would like
to completely remove the second link in the d:\archdata\.. location.
Will these utilities perform that? Once I have it mounted to the
correct location, will the instance in the archData folder disappear?
I unfortunately don't have the luxury of screwing this up. You seem
to be well versed in this process, so I hope you don't mind my
inquisition of details?
Thanks again Dean,
Mark (not sweating quite as much now... ;-)

Since you're understandably cautious to use the built in RD command, my
suggestion would be to demonstrate its behavior such that you can
comfortably proceed using the test responses as your comfort zone and
evidence that it is indeed non-destructive to directory/junction
content.

Scenario -

1. md c:\Mark
2. echo this is a test >c:\Mark\testfile.txt
3. cd \
4. rd c:\mark

RESPONSE from step 4 was "The directory is not empty."

The purpose of that was to show you that with no arguments the RD
command will not remove a directory that contains a single subordinate
file or folder. Please try this for yourself, I just did to ensure that
I wasn't misleading you. From this test, we can deduce that it's safe to
use the RD command against a folder with content since it won't erase it
unless it's empty. When used against a junction, the RD command will
simply remove the junction.

Let me know how it goes.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

 

[Dean Wells [MVP]]

This is some very cool stuff.
I dug out an old system here, set up a dynamic disk, and created the
scenario you suggested, as well as creating mount points to a folder
(It's nice to have a learning lab).
I used the RD on the junction, and sure enough, out it went. My
concern was that I would lose the data contained in the volume. I
used the Linkd c:\mark\test
\\?\Volume{3c57b8c9-94a5-11d7-b9d0-0080c8f7715a}\ and my data was all
there!!! Very cool.
I've been playing with the mountvol and linkd commands for an hour or
two now, and I've been able to shift the junction and mount points to
all different directories, including having multiple folder paths
pointing to the same volume. Then just remove the ones I don't need,
and the data stays in tact.
I owe you a huge debt of gratitude Dean. This has definitely saved my
@$$. It looked pretty daunting earlier today.

Have a super weekend.
Mark

Dean,
I've been reading up on the LinkD command, as well as the MountVol
command, and I'm wondering if you could offer some guidance? I
haven't performed a RD or RMDIR on a folder I want to keep, so your
assumption is correct. I'm a little skittish. If the MIS volume is
full of data, and I'd rather not have to go through another
painstaking restore, how would I point the now
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_080313\groups\MIS mount point to
the correct d:\data\groups\MIS directory, without losing the data?
Using the two utilities, I should be able to retrieve the volume
GUID and point the volume to the correct location.
But I still have two references for the same volume. If I look at
the properties of the MIS volume in Disk Management, it shows it's
mounted to the D:\archdata\... location. However, I can still see
the MIS folder in the original d:\data\groups\MIS location. I would
like to completely remove the second link in the d:\archdata\..
location. Will these utilities perform that? Once I have it mounted
to the correct location, will the instance in the archData folder
disappear? I unfortunately don't have the luxury of screwing this
up. You seem to be well versed in this process, so I hope you don't
mind my inquisition of details?
Thanks again Dean,
Mark (not sweating quite as much now... ;-)

Since you're understandably cautious to use the built in RD command,
my suggestion would be to demonstrate its behavior such that you can
comfortably proceed using the test responses as your comfort zone and
evidence that it is indeed non-destructive to directory/junction
content.

Scenario -

1. md c:\Mark
2. echo this is a test >c:\Mark\testfile.txt
3. cd \
4. rd c:\mark

RESPONSE from step 4 was "The directory is not empty."

The purpose of that was to show you that with no arguments the RD
command will not remove a directory that contains a single
subordinate file or folder. Please try this for yourself, I just did
to ensure that I wasn't misleading you. From this test, we can
deduce that it's safe to use the RD command against a folder with
content since it won't erase it unless it's empty. When used against
a junction, the RD command will simply remove the junction.

Let me know how it goes.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l

Glad I could help.

Dean

 

[mark]

Dean,
I don't know if you are still checking this posting, but I'm getting an
Access Denied when trying to remove the second reference of the junction.
I'm using mountvol d:\arcdata\...\groups\MIS /d and it fails. I thought
maybe someone was using it, or the server needed rebooting. Tonight we
bounced the server and I'm getting the same results.
I've tested this same scenario on a test environment, and I am able to
remove the second link, even if it's being view or accessed by another
system.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Mark

This is some very cool stuff.
I dug out an old system here, set up a dynamic disk, and created the
scenario you suggested, as well as creating mount points to a folder
(It's nice to have a learning lab).
I used the RD on the junction, and sure enough, out it went. My
concern was that I would lose the data contained in the volume. I
used the Linkd c:\mark\test
\\?\Volume{3c57b8c9-94a5-11d7-b9d0-0080c8f7715a}\ and my data was all
there!!! Very cool.
I've been playing with the mountvol and linkd commands for an hour or
two now, and I've been able to shift the junction and mount points to
all different directories, including having multiple folder paths
pointing to the same volume. Then just remove the ones I don't need,
and the data stays in tact.
I owe you a huge debt of gratitude Dean. This has definitely saved my
@$$. It looked pretty daunting earlier today.

Have a super weekend.
Mark

mark wrote:
Dean,
I've been reading up on the LinkD command, as well as the MountVol
command, and I'm wondering if you could offer some guidance? I
haven't performed a RD or RMDIR on a folder I want to keep, so your
assumption is correct. I'm a little skittish. If the MIS volume is
full of data, and I'd rather not have to go through another
painstaking restore, how would I point the now
d:\Archdata\RestoredData\Current_080313\groups\MIS mount point to
the correct d:\data\groups\MIS directory, without losing the data?
Using the two utilities, I should be able to retrieve the volume
GUID and point the volume to the correct location.
But I still have two references for the same volume. If I look at
the properties of the MIS volume in Disk Management, it shows it's
mounted to the D:\archdata\... location. However, I can still see
the MIS folder in the original d:\data\groups\MIS location. I would
like to completely remove the second link in the d:\archdata\..
location. Will these utilities perform that? Once I have it mounted
to the correct location, will the instance in the archData folder
disappear? I unfortunately don't have the luxury of screwing this
up. You seem to be well versed in this process, so I hope you don't
mind my inquisition of details?
Thanks again Dean,
Mark (not sweating quite as much now... ;-)


Since you're understandably cautious to use the built in RD command,
my suggestion would be to demonstrate its behavior such that you can
comfortably proceed using the test responses as your comfort zone and
evidence that it is indeed non-destructive to directory/junction
content.

Scenario -

1. md c:\Mark
2. echo this is a test >c:\Mark\testfile.txt
3. cd \
4. rd c:\mark

RESPONSE from step 4 was "The directory is not empty."

The purpose of that was to show you that with no arguments the RD
command will not remove a directory that contains a single
subordinate file or folder. Please try this for yourself, I just did
to ensure that I wasn't misleading you. From this test, we can
deduce that it's safe to use the RD command against a folder with
content since it won't erase it unless it's empty. When used against
a junction, the RD command will simply remove the junction.

Let me know how it goes.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
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Glad I could help.

Dean

--
Dean Wells [MVP / Windows platform]
MSEtechnology
[[ Please respond to the Newsgroup only regarding posts ]]
R e m o v e t h e m a s k t o s e n d e m a i l