Need to Move User Profiles Between Servers

[Thomas]

Hello,

I have a Windows 2000 Adv. server that is getting ready to
bite the dust so I have deployed a new 2003 server to be its
replacement. I am now in the process of copying all the data files
(home directories, user profiles, and redirected folders) from the old
server to the new one. I have been using xcopy to do this.

Everything is going fine accept for the user's profile
directories and the folder redirection directories. When I try to
copy those directories I get "access denied". I think this is because
I granted the user exclusive rights to these dirs when I created then.

My question is: now that I have to move these directories
what is the best way to do this ? Should I take ownership and change
permissions so that admin can access these directories ? I am afraid
to do this because I am concerned it will mess up the permissions for
the users and they wont be able to access the directories.

Thanks for your time.

-Thomas A.

 

[Galen]

In Thomas had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hello,

I have a Windows 2000 Adv. server that is getting ready to
bite the dust so I have deployed a new 2003 server to be its
replacement. I am now in the process of copying all the data files
(home directories, user profiles, and redirected folders) from the old
server to the new one. I have been using xcopy to do this.

Everything is going fine accept for the user's profile
directories and the folder redirection directories. When I try to
copy those directories I get "access denied". I think this is because
I granted the user exclusive rights to these dirs when I created then.

My question is: now that I have to move these directories
what is the best way to do this ? Should I take ownership and change
permissions so that admin can access these directories ? I am afraid
to do this because I am concerned it will mess up the permissions for
the users and they wont be able to access the directories.

Thanks for your time.

-Thomas A.

Wow. You're in a bind...

Hmm... This is potentially a lot of man-hours unless a guru knows something
I'm missing.

For your sake (and this is the fewest man-hours I can come up with for you)
I'd ask if it's possible for you to log-in as the user and move it. If this
is not a lot of users then it's a viable solution.

I'm not comfortable recommending a third party tool because I haven't used
any that are out there to do this because I've never moved a profile from
one OS to another but you might be looking at something like that which is
financially acceptable if you are going to need to do this for a lot of
users.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/
http://kgiii.info/

"At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my
declining years to the composition of a textbook which shall focus the
whole art of detection into one volume." - Sherlock Holmes

 

[Jerold Schulman]

See tip 9520 » After insuring that Administrators have Full Control of newly redirected user folders, how do I 'fix' existing redirected folders?
AND LINKS in the 'Tips & Tricks' at http://www.jsifaq.com

Hello,

I have a Windows 2000 Adv. server that is getting ready to
bite the dust so I have deployed a new 2003 server to be its
replacement. I am now in the process of copying all the data files
(home directories, user profiles, and redirected folders) from the old
server to the new one. I have been using xcopy to do this.

Everything is going fine accept for the user's profile
directories and the folder redirection directories. When I try to
copy those directories I get "access denied". I think this is because
I granted the user exclusive rights to these dirs when I created then.

My question is: now that I have to move these directories
what is the best way to do this ? Should I take ownership and change
permissions so that admin can access these directories ? I am afraid
to do this because I am concerned it will mess up the permissions for
the users and they wont be able to access the directories.

Thanks for your time.

-Thomas A.

Jerold Schulman
Windows Server MVP
JSI, Inc.
http://www.jsiinc.com
http://www.jsifaq.com