[Leaplist] File Transfers

[Bryan J. Smith]

Bruce Metcalf wrote:  

> Now returned from our 24-day road trip, I am relocating the email files for
> Thunderbird/Icedove from our laptop to our desktops.

IMAP your home baby!  ;)

> I'm making the transfer in two stages: first from the laptop to the file server,
> then from the file server to the desktops.

Don't share out mbox files or other formats over NFS or SMB.
Again, IMAP baby!  ;)

> My files moved easily to my (Linux) desktop. I am having severe trouble
> transferring my wife's email files to her (Win2kPro) desktop. Yes, she's still
> an adherent of the Dark Side, even though she has stopped eating the
> cookies.
> The error message received in Windows Explorer is "Cannot copy xxxxx.
> Access is denied. Source file may be in use." Using xcopy in a DOS
> window, I also get "Access denied."

Know thy "kackles"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490872.aspx  

Microsoft used to have "simple sharing mode" in Windows XP Home.
However, you not only don't get that in Windows 2000 or XP Pro, but
Vista Home and Windows 7 Home now forces you to know how to
apply CAE/CALs.

At every client where I have to deal with Windows, this is on my desk
(now 2nd edition):  
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Command-Line-Administrators-Pocket-Consultant/dp/0735622620/

If you ever want to see how horrendous Microsoft is at maintaining any
consistency, then pick up any Stanek book.  Microsoft's Command Line
Interface (CLI) over my last 17 years of NT exposure has been an
excellent example of utter lack of standards and consistency.

GNU seems like a 25 year dream in comparison.

> I have opened her email on the laptop, seen that all is in order, closed
> it properly, and transferred it (twice) without trouble to the file server.
> I do not get any error messages on this transfer.
> I have chowned the directory to her, and some files and directories do
> transfer, so I don't believe it's a permissions issue.
> I'm out of ideas and haven't been able to find useful suggestions on the
> web. Your support will be most appreciated!

The NT kernel is most excellent at leaving files open that do not need to
be.  But I'd still try to re-apply CAE/CALs.  Sometimes something needs to
be "reset" permissions wise.  NT 6 (Vista) has been a horrendous pile of
garbage in that some of their interface developers don't apply correct,
default CAE/CALs on user files.

Also, FAT-based NTFS does not, unlike inode filesystems, reference entries
by a filesystem-wide inode number, so you cannot move a file on even the
same NTFS filesystem without causing issues.  On inode-based filesystems,
you can move an open file around (into different directories) and it still stays
open without issues, because the inode is absolute.


-- 
Bryan J  Smith           Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:         http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
Red Hat:  That 'other' American software company built on
open customer selection of options and value, instead of
controlled distribution channels of forced bundle and lock

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