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I know there are free ones out there but I can see none being easy to use. I wish I could find something based on the same API as the built in one (or perhaps even using the same learned data) but fully customizable. Even if it boiled down to saying a command and using something like AutoIt to process. Perhaps for now I’ll just stick to getting off my butt between episodes.

It doesn’t have a pop-up of any sort. When these errors occur it seems like Windows is blissfully unaware (it just acts like it normally would if it had done the job correctly).

Sorry, I tend to jump around a bit in my explanations. The problem is that when performing a move, copy, or delete operation (only noticed on a large number of files) that not all files will be moved/copied/deleted.

There’s no errors or anything that come up it simply ‘completes’ without doing the entire task.

I do use SuperCopier when possible which is similar to TeraCopy but is setup more to my liking (options and GUI). Unfortunately SuperCopier won’t handle calls made from iTunes (sure it just uses the Windows API), nor will it handle move operations dealing with the same partition (since windows should just change some data in the file table and doesn’t actually move any data), nor does it do anything with deletion.

My best guess is that it’s some type of buffer error (which would make sense since I’ve only noticed it when dealing with large files) but you’d think if there was a buffer error that Windows would say something (you’d also think it would just use the pagefile to compensate).

IMO, you’ll be very unhappy runnning a server OS on a Celeron processor with 1GB RAM or less. You may not even be able to install the OS. Have you checked the minimum requirements yet?

The BIOS may not support HD as big as you wish to use.

Joe

Believe min was 512MB so might need to rethink. Considering it’s speed I thought it was more powerful, if I can’t run it with server software I may just salvage what it has (XP), not the project I had in mind but it would do most everything I wanted. I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see.

Updated OP already but it seems it’s actually a Celeron Processor clocked at 2.7GHz with 512-1GB of RAM. I loaded XP fast though so it’s got to have something going for it. Since R2 only runs dual core (which I didn’t realize when I first created this post) I’ll be using regular 2008 instead. I could also run 2003 if need be but I’m afraid it might not work with the newest software.
The exact model number is Presario SR1010NX, HP’s page says it has a 2.8GHz processor but the sticker on the machine said 2.7. The machine also had a sticker specifying 512MB RAM but since I’ve not booted it or opened it up I can’t verify that, the specs sheet suggested I could upgrade to 1GB though I’d have to see how expensive that is and how it runs without.

Even if the machine can’t do everything I want if I could at least runs backups and updates that would be great.

Other details I can give: I’ll probably be hooking up two External Hard Drives totalling 3TB in capacity (2TB+1TB), the machine has quite a few USB 2.0 ports on it (I believe 4 high speed in the front), it’s internal hard drive is supposedly a 40GB which will probably only be used for OS and software.

Just did a quick search regarding iTunes on a server. Apple doesn’t actually say but it seems there are some success stories of people using some version of iTunes on a server. Looks like I’ll just have to try it out and if it doesn’t work I’ll find an alternative.

Server 2008 R2 will make a very solid and reliable workstation environment. You’ll need to spend quite a while configuring it though, and that will also depend on what future use you want to put it to. However as a learning exercise that is not a bad thing.

As Joe says external backup programs compatible with Server 2008 R2 can be pricey, but there are plenty to choose from, or you can build your own based on the internal backup tool. Coupled with task scheduler you can build some nice looking backup schedules.

As an alternative, you could build an entire network using VirtualBox from a decent workstation running XP, Vista or Win 7. In VirtualBox, you can choose to run the network adapter connected to an “Internal” network, which completely isolates it from the outside world, meaning you can run all kinds of Server Roles without disrupting your host network; or if you choose as a NAT adapter which provides a ring-fenced set of IP’s. Either way, you can then build a Server-Client network and play with it to your heart’s content, knowing that if you break it, you can always revert to the clean VM’s form your host backups.

You do need to carefully verify those PC spec’s against the system requirements though – Server 2008 R2 is only available in 64Bit: I suspect you may be downloading Server 2008 {not the R2}.

On a second look it appears your right. I have a 32-bit “Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Enterprise and Standard (x86) – DVD (English)” and a 64-bit “Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (x64) – DVD (English)”.

I didn’t realize it at first due to MSDNAA’s new interface (it looks nicer but works like crap, the new downloader seems to work alright though). Still not sure on the specs, At the end of the month I’ll be moving in with a friend and opted to turn her old PC into a server (I probably could adopt it for my own use which is tempting but I wanted something that will be nice for the whole family and have long wanted a server so I’ll just have to wait on getting my own PC again). Next time I get over their I plan on checking stickers (it’s not hooked up right now so I can’t use software to check). I know it’s current OS is XP and I’m thinking it’s a dual core machine. I’m fairly certain is also has a built in wifi card which should give an idea on when it was made (Don’t worry I plan on using a wired connection for the server). As far backups go I should be able to install Macrium or a similar software on it so if something goes wrong I’ll have a backup of the server on an external hard drive, depending on the size of the other backups I’ll probably also make a backup of the backups so if the server’s hard drive crashes I’ll have a recent backup of everything else. Again I must point out that I don’t know too many details yet as we are in the process of moving and I don’t yet know what will be available. I’ll update my OP when I get the specs though (probably sometime this weekend at the latest).

Based on the things I’ve mentioned so far can anyone tell me what differences I should be aware of between regular and R2 servers? The server will be hooked to the router like a normal computer and not between the router and the other computers. It would be nice to eventually monitor all traffic but I’m afraid making everything go through the server first will slow down network speed too drastically (The house has a wideband connection that’s supposed to get 15MB/s guaranteed, we’ll have 8 people in the extended family each probably having at least on device connected to the network).

Thanks for the advice so far though, I’m starting to get an idea of what and how to prepare this thing.

Every new electonic or social media advance presents new challenges for parents. Actually one of my child is using facebook. I want to monitor her on facebook. What sould I do? I don’t know what date of birth she used. I don’t know much. I cannot talk to her. Theres a few people from her school that I’m really concerned about. Is it OK if I use a service to see who’s she is chatting with and what they are talking about? I am considering using these keylogger Mac|keylogger for Mac to spy on him.

Kid’s are constantly learning strange new things from the internet and TV (I watched violent shows growing up not shows that horribly misconstrued the nature of sexual relations), Cyber-Bullying is a major problem, and schools still don’t do jack to fix the problems (if you work in a school I mean no offense I’ve just been horribly wronged by a system that believed known liars when they said I said I’d do something bad (like bring a gun to school or bomb the place) but wouldn’t believe me a kid who was constantly bullied for seeing life in a different often times more mature way when I pointed out the real bad guys (kids, adults, doesn’t matter to me if your a jerk/bully then I’ll call you out).

That being said I think it is important for us to watch kids and try to guide them to a better tomorrow instead of having them live in a worst environment than we did (I’m considered part of the current generation (I’m 22) and I’m seeing my siblings live in a worst school environment than I did). Even if they despise you now if you do the right thing and guide them then they’ll eventually (most likely) begin to realize why you did it. Especially once they have kids of their own (or if they’re like me an older sibling looking out for younger siblings). Just be careful not to cross the line, once they reach around 14 you need to back off a little bit. Still know where they are at all times (and preferably who they’re with) but perhaps lose the keyloggers around that time unless you have reason to suspect they are doing something wrong (though around 14 they’ll probably be able to figure out how to remove the keylogger, especially if they’re tech literate like myself).

The lib-ms files for the standard libraries, which define libraries, are stored in c:usersUSERNAMEappdataroamingmicrosoftwindowslibraries. Check to see if the files are marked as hidden or if her user account somehow does not have permission to any of the folders in the path. Joe

That’s what I mentioned in my edit (that’s what I did). Can’t remember if they are actually called xml or not but I’m pretty sure that’s what the actual files are. Just unhiding them from there didn’t do the trick though, I also had to delete and restore defaults for some reason (could’ve been a setting somewhere else but I couldn’t find it). What I need now is a way to restore all the other files/folder to unhidden without unhiding system type files (not ‘system files’ but things like thumbs.db that a normal user doesn’t need to or want to see).

Thanks. I’ve not had the chance (or at least felt like) going to the next phase yet. Unfortunately I’m stuck on my mom’s machine and I don’t get the right atmosphere (relatively quiet and nothing else pulling my attention) until night time after I need to have gone to bed so I can get up for work in the morning… Still I appreciate the help and will remember these when I get back to work on my project (hopefully soon, I’m in a moving process and think I may have more computer access once we’ve moved as well as possibly a server with which to centralize my data (so I can easily use multiple machines)).

I actually ended up doing the transfer myself the old fashioned way (Did a full backup of the machine, reformatted the drive, reinstalled Windows, Moved the files back to the original drive, redid all the settings except Firefox and Chrome in which I copied the original appdata folders to make it quicker and easier). My point in creating this thread was to find a program that simply saves the Documents and Settings then successfully transfers them to a new machine. The problem with doing it the way I did is that any settings stored in the registry had to be restored manually rather than a quick and easy fix. That’s also why I didn’t ask for a cloning software nor did I mention OEM or not. The title of the thread is XP to XP so I figured that obviously meant he was transferring to another XP machine. I didn’t think to mention the Disk because I figured it was an easy assumption (He did have a key and I downloaded/burned a new copy of the OS for him) as I was asking specifically for a transfer program. I know XP actually has it’s own transfer tool but I wasn’t sure how good that was either.

I’m back on the machine for a moment and I’ve done a little searching. It seems that her libraries are actually hidden (as are a lot of folders/files that shouldn’t be across her machine). I’ve attached some screen shots. The first is if Hidden Files and Folders are not shown (the default option and the one that needs to be used as she’s far from computer literate [She’s basically afraid to even move a file for fear she’ll screw something up]). The second image is if I show hidden files and folders. I tried looking at the properties of these libraries but it doesn’t give an option for changing attributes. Also I need to try and reset all the defaults for these (unhide all files/folders except those the system normally hides).

29346-ScreenShotNotShowingHidden29347-ScreenShotShowingHidden

It’s a real mystery as to how this happened in the first place though Windows is a wonderous thing that sometimes does more thinking than a Linux machine, just not the kind of thinking you want it to do… My virus scan didn’t show anything but that doesn’t mean that it never had a virus (perhaps her avast removed one). In any case I really need to know how to restore those defaults. (Also trying to restore the Library defaults doesn’t work).

Edit: Fixed the libraries by going to the actual library folder (where the xml’s are stored), changing it to non hidden, then deleting and restoring the libraries. Good thing hers aren’t customized like mine were (that would be a nightmare/will be when I get a new machine).

Still need a way to change all folders/files to shown except those that are hidden by default.

Never Mind, I fixed it. Used CCleaner’s registry scan and deleted everything that was there. Seems to be running fine now. Must’ve been a corrupted entry (also had to set default browser again).

Any 3rd party Imaging app should be able to successfully Clone the HD to a different PC. The OS would have to be deleted from the old PC after the Clone to satisfy the EULA. Check Imaging threads in the Security and Backups forum.

He will actually be reformatting the same drive anyway but I’ve seen and heard of major problems when simply transferring an HDD to another computer since the drivers are different. Typically XP will figure it out and start using the right drivers but it will also have a ton of extra useless drivers that can interfere with the new machines operation. It’s for that reason that Migration programs exist.

Do you want to give away your source code? Do you care what people do with it? The answers to these questions will help determine which license is right for your project.

I thought SourceForge required Open Source but OSI is the Open Source Initiative so yes I do want it to be open source. Part of the idea in posting my project to sourceforge is that others can read my code and suggest improvements or if they want make their own version. I do of course want people to give me credit for my work (and I will give credit to those who help out). I also don’t want people creating a viral version and claiming it’s my project but I think those things are fairly obvious.