Is there a global version of the dir > filename.txt for cataloging a hdd?

[yoda313]

Ok this works great for listing whats in an individual directory:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196158

I'm running Vista and I just open up the command prompt and go to the directory I want and do the dir > filename.txt command and I get a neat little text file with everything in it.

2 problems though - I have to do it manually for each directory - and it doesn't drill down, only lists that directory.

is there a version of this command that I can run once at the root directory and capture all the detail of the drive into a txt file?

Reason being I want to know whats on my drives as I'm backing up all my stuff. I'm doing all my videos and music and whatnot and I want to make sure I have everything.

I generally just do to list view and click the date modified column and then copy any thing thats newer than whats on the backup drive.

However the reason I want to make this file dump is in case of a total harddrive failure. I generally know whats on this backup drive and i have originals and backup discs of course. But I want to make it easy to know what to recreate on a replacement drive should the need arise.

I plan on emailing this to myself so I'll have an offsite copy I can access.

I know this is probably way overprotective but I would like to have it so that I can make recreating the harddrive as easy as possible.

I suppose the best thing would be to clone this. But I already have over 700gbs on this 2tb drive. I don't want to buy yet another 2tb drive and spend hours dubbing the 2tb over to the extra spare.

Please note I'm making this a poor mans raid system. I make disc backups and a harddrive backup of the files I'm using. That way I am covered should something happen to them.

Your suggestions are welcomed. Otherwise for the time being I'll do this manually per directory as needed. Thanks.

[gll99]

At the command prompt, in the root dir of a drive (or any dir for which you want the sub tree) try (for example) "dir /s > drivetree_C.txt" (with no quotes). Additional switches can be used to sort/select the data differently. For a large drive with many sub directories and files it will take a long time to complete. You'll know because the dos prompt box won't accept new keystrokes while it's writing.

You likely already know this but for the sake of completeness for those who follow... to display the options for any command, type the help and the cmd-name.... ie "help dir". Help alone will list all command names.

[yoda313]

In the root dir of a drive (or any dir for which you want the sub tree) try (for example) "dir /s > drivetree_C.txt" (with no quotes). Additional switches can be used to sort/select the data differently. For a large drive with many sub directories and files it will take a long time to complete. You'll know because the dos prompt box won't accept new keystrokes while it's writing.

Sounds good. I'll definitely try that out. Though I just unplugged the drive in question and stored it. I'm burning backup discs right now.

I will try it out. Thanks for the notice on the completion time.

You likely already know this but for the sake of completeness for those who follow... to display the options for any command, type the help and the cmd-name.... ie "help dir". Help alone will list all command names.

Ahh yes. That does sound familiar.

The days of using dos 6.2 are long gone. Many basics like that are locked away in the old memory bank somewhere. Buried underneath countless star trek, star wars and stargate quotes

[netmask56]

Maybe this would help - it's free

Karen's Directory Printer v5.3.2
--------------------------------

Copyright (c) 1997-2009 Karen Kenworthy, All Rights Reserved
May be used for personal and educational purpose free of charge.
Commercial use requires a license.
See http://www.karenware.com/cd.asp for details.

The source code may be used and modified for personal and educational use,
but incorporating all or a substantial portion of the code into a
commercial product is prohibited without permission of the author.

This is Karen's Directory Printer program described in
Karen's Power Tools Newsletter.
By Karen Kenworthy (http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ ).

This program prints the names (and, optionally, date and time of
last modification, and file attributes) of all files on a drive
or in a directory. The program will also print the contents of
sub-directories if requested.

Note: Requires Visual Basic Runtime v6.0, which can be downloaded
from http://www.karenware.com/powertools/runtimes.htm .

[jagabo]

I prefer to use the /B switch in addition to /S. That gives you the full path of each file. You lose the times and sizes though.

[yoda313]

Thanks netmask and jagabo.

This will help.

I already used the saved file I made last night. I used it to see which folders I needed to burn to disc but had already copied to my usb drive (without having to reconnect the usb drive to see it "live").

[jagabo]

I generally just do to list view and click the date modified column and then copy any thing thats newer than whats on the backup drive.

XCOPY has the ability to copy only files that don't exist or are newer (ie, the file was modified) than the same file in the output. Use the /D switch.

Or you could use Microsoft's free SyncToy.

[yoda313]

XCOPY has the ability to copy only files that don't exist or are newer (ie, the file was modified) than the same file in the output. Use the /D switch.

Or you could use Microsoft's free SyncToy.

Sounds great.

Relearning old tricks

I'll try to look at synctoy, if I remember that is.

[yoda313]

The /s option worked great!

I got exactly what I wanted. I now have the root directory detail and the sub directory details for the backup drive. I can know whats on there. This will make it easier when I need to do backups and restoring operations.

Also I have stuff I still need to burn to disc as a final backup and this can be my checklist so I can delete it off my computer without worrying if I copied it to the harddrive first or not.

-----------------------------

Stupid question time - can you name the destination file something other than drivetree_c?

I know it only takes two seconds to rename a flie after its created but it would be even easier to name it the first time before its created.

Also it didn't take very long even though I have quite a few directories on that drive. Though it did create a 7mb txt file which is quite impressive. There are lots of files in each directory on that drive fyi.

Thanks again everyone.

[jagabo]

Stupid question time - can you name the destination file something other than drivetree_c?

Just change ">drivetree_C.txt" to whatever you want. > is the redirect token for the CLI. Output that is normally sent to the screen is redirected to where you specify. In this case a file called "drivetree_C.txt" in the current directory.

[yoda313]

Just change ">drivetree_C.txt" to whatever you want. > is the redirect token for the CLI. Output that is normally sent to the screen is redirected to where you specify. In this case a file called "drivetree_C.txt" in the current directory.

I thought it probably would be that simple but just wanted to be sure.

Okay second stupid question for the night:

What does CLI stand for?

I've seen it mentioned before for other programs. Is it like exe? in other words is it an actual executable file so to speak? Or is it the program itself not a flie?

[jagabo]

CLI = command line interpreter

It's the program that takes text input from the keyboard, shows it on the monitor, interprets it, and performs the indicated operations. Some operations are intrinsic -- built into the program. Some operations will run another program.

[yoda313]

CLI = command line interpreter

It's the program that takes text input from the keyboard, shows it on the monitor, interprets it, and performs the indicated operations.

Thank you.