deleting files over a network......

We run a windows 2000 server, thats run through rj45 cables and networked to five Pc's running 4 stations of windows98 and one station of XP Professional.

We use the server as the workhorse for the entire office, and we open from and save to, over the network without files being transfered and whatever. We open a document over the network, work on it, and click save and it saves over the network. This works well for us so far.....

The problem comes with deleting files, and heres where I need some good MajorGeeky knowledge .

When we delete a file from our computers, a file that resides on the server, but we are sat at a remote computer, the file just disintegrates into nowhere!!!. Its not in the local recycle bin or server recycle bin, or anywhere inbetween......

Is there a simple program (free or retail), windows/server setting or way around this, so that when we erase files over a network we have the slight possibility to restore them again?. Im not looking for a hard disk forensics tool, just a buffer or safe guard, a sort of 'over a network' recycle bin.

ta muchly

epichouse

 

Windows doesn't do that. As far as I know the only way you can recover a file deleted over the network is to use a data recovery program on the computer which had the file. Which is kinda a pain.

The best thing to do is just pay more attention to what you delete and only delete it if you really mean to. Either that or remove everyones permissions to delete and then only delete stuff from the server directly.

 

Yah, when using SMB shares deleting files will cause the file on the server to be deleted without moving first to recycle bin.

If you were running Samba on a Linux box you could try this trick : http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread11975.html

But since you're running windows I don't think you've got that flexibility...

Just make sure you make regular backups

 

Ah right. .

Thats a shame, I was kinda hoping for a little program or setting or something, cos surely its a widely known issue in many businesses and stuff.........?.

I was wondering last night about those programs which let you remote control a PC over a network......is it possible to run applications on the remote computers, but when you use windows explorer or 'my computer' you have it pop up to read the server machine and delete that way? Or does this still obliterate the file?.

Ta

epichouse

 

I'm not sure I understood what you asked in that last sentence so let me know if I missed the question.

Windows 2000 and XP pro both have remote desktop built into the OS. You can remote in from any windows computer (there are linux apps to use remote desktop too) and then control that computer. When using remote desktop it's the same as actually being physical at the computer for the most part. Deleting files while uisng remote desktop will send them to the recycle bin.

You can also run apps on the server when using remote desktop. Basicly you can do anything which doesn't require the resolution to change. You set the resolution when you first log in and then you can't change it unless you log out. So you can do anything that can stay at the desktop. Running a game remotely will not work since it changes the res. Of course most of the time you want to run an office app or something along those lines, and that will work just fine.

 

Im sort of responsible for our office set up, well, as its a small engineering firm - the person who has more depth of knowledge than being able to point and click a mouse gets this role automatically .

This is how our CAD (design) office works:

We (I) put all the CAD files onto a main computer hard-drive and spent god knows how long carefully removing duplicates and sifting though 5 or 6 years of files which were just scattered allover the place on everybody's seperate computer all jumbled up between projects and customers and hundreds of 'sheets' all out of order and whatnot. It was a nightmare and a mamoth task, but I knew I had to do it to take control of the situation effectively.

I shared a partition on the 'Server' and set up company folders, then sub folders for different projects, and area's for standard 'off the shelf' parts so we all knew where to access and save things to.

Seeing as I do not, under any circumstances, want everybody in the office to get into a stage of having copied duplicates of files to thier machines and then 3 months later wondering which file is upto date etc etc, we have all been opening and saving over the network. We run our own individual CAD programs on our own computers, but browse through to the network and 'server' to find the files. So effictively the open file is the master on the server, and when you click save, it saves over it as the master on the server.

This has been working great for years now, and the file system is a million times easier to find anything and we dont have duplicate files anywhere.

The only thing thats a problem is deleting files via windows explorer, cos they just disintegrate, and the guys complain like hell when theyve accidentally deleted something they shouldnt have done and moan and wonder why theres no 'recycle bin' and they dont understand where its gone - which is a good question that I didnt know the answer to.

With there being such an array of old computers, some are close to 8 years old now (we are talking pentuim1 128mb dinosaurs here), running a variety of windows from 98, 98se, win2000 and XP pro, ideally we need to continue to run applications on our own machines and browse our own machines, yet also ideally we need another windows explorer too that works alongside uninterupting our workflow, where you can delete files to safely into the recycle bin.

So If you look on your taskbar for example, it would show a CAD application running off that remote machine, a windows explorer of that remote machine, and then another windows explorer window which can be used to delete files with safely. Just flicking seemlessly between them on demand.

Either that, or another way which can let it happen without any serious detrement to work flow or too complicated a proceedure for non-computer geeks (like the fellow work staff) to easly get into and used to using.

The system we have now works okay (with the server being the 'master' files at all time), its just deleting files over the network thats a problem, and no matter how often I say theres no recycle bin, it still happens, and they wouldnt like to be in a situation where you half to walk right across the office and mess about on the server just to erase a file, and the management wouldnt think that was too clever either cos they are pretty scrutinous of time spent away from the seat.

However, when a file goes, it goes, and that could be more than a weeks work at goodness knows how much an hour value, and a deadline that can no longer be met as the accidental delete has totally eradicated the file.

So therefore, I was kinda hoping there was a neat little program that intercepted the deletion over the network and passed the file into a recycle bin either on the server of the remote machines.......or some easy remote control window pane that works transparently with applications running on the remote computer which all 5 of us could use simultaneously and uninterupting the working mojo

Hope that explains the situation a little better....

See ya

epichouse

 

I think what you want to do is enable shadow copy. I'm not sure if it's available for Windows 2000.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/scrfaq.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...Ref/2b0d2457-b7d8-42c3-b6c9-59c145b7765f.mspx