Copying WindowsImageBackup in command line

I often restore Windows 7 system from a WindowsImageBackup folder from drive d: using a Windows installation disk. I also keep incremental backups on external HDD. Provided that I formatted d: how would I copy the Windows backup folder from an external drive ex. g:\Something\W7Backup3 to d:\WindowsImageBackup using command line? I off course want to retain the folder structure, permissions etc.

Solution 1:

How would I copy the Windows backup folder from an external drive using command line? I of course want to retain the folder structure, permissions etc.

You can use the Windows native / built-in Robocopy command line tool with applicable syntax to perform this operation with a batch script. You can also run this with a copy and paste into a command prompt as well not in a batch script.

^{To run as a batch script though, save the logic to a text document on your desktop, etc. as <something>.cmd from the text document file | save options. Once saved, just double-click it to execute the logic, and confirm the files have been manipulated as expected afterwards.}

SETLOCAL
SET SRC="g:\Something\W7Backup3"
SET ARCH="d:\WindowsImageBackup"
IF NOT EXIST "%ARCH%" MD "%ARCH%"
SET ARCHFName=*.*
SET LOG=G:\ImageBackupCopy.log
::   If you do not want a log file, remove the "/LOG+:%LOG%" below
SET OPT=/S /NP /R:5 /LOG+:%Log% /TS /FP
SET CMD=robocopy %SRC% %ARCH% %ARCHFName% %OPT%
%CMD%

Consider using the below Robocopy syntax where the SET OPT= options values are different than the above example if you have trouble with the security after the backup is complete.

SETLOCAL
SET SRC="g:\Something\W7Backup3"
SET ARCH="d:\WindowsImageBackup"
IF NOT EXIST "%ARCH%" MD "%ARCH%"
SET ARCHFName=*.*
SET LOG=G:\ImageBackupCopy.log
::   If you do not want a log file, remove the "/LOG+:%LOG%" below
SET OPT=/E /ZB /SEC /COPYALL /SECFIX /R:5 /W:5 /LOG+:%Log% /V
SET CMD=robocopy %SRC% %ARCH% %ARCHFName% %OPT%
%CMD%

Further Resources

• Robocopy