From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

When I try to use RoboCopy in Windows 10, I get the following error
message.

Can anyone make any suggestions for fixing whatever is wrong with it?

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Started : Wednesday, 01 October 2025 17:03:09
Source = e:\dropbox\
Dest : c:\users\dell\dropbox\

Files : *.*

Options : *.* /S /E /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /ZB /XO /R:1000000 /W:30

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

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 10/1/25 11:20 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

When I try to use RoboCopy in Windows 10, I get the following error
message.

Can anyone make any suggestions for fixing whatever is wrong with it?

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Started : Wednesday, 01 October 2025 17:03:09
Source = e:\dropbox\
Dest : c:\users\dell\dropbox\

Files : *.*

Options : *.* /S /E /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /ZB /XO /R:1000000 /W:30

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

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

My brain is fuzzy but here is a line in my backup script that I use. Have for yearsssss.

robocopy "%USERPROFILE%\documents" . /MIR /NJS /NJH /NDL /DST /XF "thumbs.db" /XD "My
Pictures" "My Movies" "My Videos"

I use this to mirror (obviously) not copy, but it's the same in my eyes except for the
delete issue.
/NJS and /NJH /NDL just drop some of the trash diagnostics.
--
Linux Mint 22.2, Thunderbird 128.14.0esr, Mozilla Firefox 143.0.1
Alan K.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Wed, 10/1/2025 11:20 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

When I try to use RoboCopy in Windows 10, I get the following error
message.

Can anyone make any suggestions for fixing whatever is wrong with it?

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Started : Wednesday, 01 October 2025 17:03:09
Source = e:\dropbox\
Dest : c:\users\dell\dropbox\

Files : *.*
vssadmin
Options : *.* /S /E /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /ZB /XO /R:1000000 /W:30

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

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

Have you tried running this from an Administrator command prompt window
or from an Administrator Powershell window ?

You would have the SeBackupPrivilege if you did that.

*******

https://superuser.com/questions/976864/what-is-backup-mode-in-robocopy

whoami /user /priv # Run this command to determine your super-powers
# You might be "Steve" with no SeBackupPrivilege.
# Don't let the State field bother you...

That command will indicate whether you are running as Steve (unelevated)
or as a member of the Administrators Group (elevated). People who belong
to Administrators Group have

SeBackupPrivilege # These are the Backup Operator permissions when
SeRestorePrivilege # granted to Limited Users. The Administrator has these.

SeImpersonatePrivilege # Ability to acquire the TrustedInstaller token, a main usage

and those can overcome permissions issues to some extent when
copying things which are well protected.

A folder such as "C:\System Volume Information" , I doubt even
an Administrator can copy that. It is not going to let me do that.
There are things in that folder, dangerous to system integrity, which
is why raw access is hardly a good idea. There are non-dangerous things
in there and dangerous things in there. The dangerous things are unlikely
to be visibie (but I broke it once, from Linux, while in there).

robocopy "C:\System Volume Information" "D:\System Volume Information" /E /XO /ZB # Should not work (I won't test)

robocopy "C:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" /E /XO /ZB # This worked 100% OK as Administrator

robocopy C: D: pagefile.sys /ZB # Even as Administrator, is "skipped" :-)

Generally speaking, you should not expect to be able to copy
the entire C: drive at the file level. On Linux, they use rsync
and their situation is different with respect to file level efforts.
Windows can define permissions that are very hard to deal with.

You can log activities in robocopy, using these, makes later record keeping easier:

/tee /v /log:robocopy.log

I trust your removal of the timestamp preservation argument is on purpose, causing today's date stamp on the files going into dropbox, and thus, the Dropbox software is going to back all of those up.

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Wed, 1 Oct 2025 16:17:53 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Wed, 10/1/2025 11:20 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

Have you tried running this from an Administrator command prompt window
or from an Administrator Powershell window ?

You would have the SeBackupPrivilege if you did that.

*******

https://superuser.com/questions/976864/what-is-backup-mode-in-robocopy

whoami /user /priv # Run this command to determine your super-powers
# You might be "Steve" with no SeBackupPrivilege.
# Don't let the State field bother you...

That command will indicate whether you are running as Steve (unelevated)
or as a member of the Administrators Group (elevated). People who belong
to Administrators Group have

SeBackupPrivilege # These are the Backup Operator permissions when
SeRestorePrivilege # granted to Limited Users. The Administrator has these.

SeImpersonatePrivilege # Ability to acquire the TrustedInstaller token, a main usage

Thanks very much for that.

Is there a way of setting those permanently?

I want to run the Robocopy command from a batch file to copy all new
or changed files from the source directory to the destination
directory and all subsirectories.

and those can overcome permissions issues to some extent when
copying things which are well protected.

A folder such as "C:\System Volume Information" , I doubt even
an Administrator can copy that. It is not going to let me do that.
There are things in that folder, dangerous to system integrity, which
is why raw access is hardly a good idea. There are non-dangerous things
in there and dangerous things in there. The dangerous things are unlikely
to be visibie (but I broke it once, from Linux, while in there).

robocopy "C:\System Volume Information" "D:\System Volume Information" /E /XO /ZB # Should not work (I won't test)

robocopy "C:\Program Files" "D:\Program Files" /E /XO /ZB # This worked 100% OK as Administrator

robocopy C: D: pagefile.sys /ZB # Even as Administrator, is "skipped" :-)

Generally speaking, you should not expect to be able to copy
the entire C: drive at the file level. On Linux, they use rsync
and their situation is different with respect to file level efforts.
Windows can define permissions that are very hard to deal with.

You can log activities in robocopy, using these, makes later record keeping easier:

/tee /v /log:robocopy.log

I trust your removal of the timestamp preservation argument is on purpose, >causing today's date stamp on the files going into dropbox, and thus, the >Dropbox software is going to back all of those up.

Paul

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Wed, 10/1/2025 10:58 PM, Steve Hayes wrote:

On Wed, 1 Oct 2025 16:17:53 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Wed, 10/1/2025 11:20 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

Have you tried running this from an Administrator command prompt window
or from an Administrator Powershell window ?

You would have the SeBackupPrivilege if you did that.

*******

https://superuser.com/questions/976864/what-is-backup-mode-in-robocopy

whoami /user /priv # Run this command to determine your super-powers
# You might be "Steve" with no SeBackupPrivilege.
# Don't let the State field bother you... >>
That command will indicate whether you are running as Steve (unelevated)
or as a member of the Administrators Group (elevated). People who belong
to Administrators Group have

SeBackupPrivilege # These are the Backup Operator permissions when >> SeRestorePrivilege # granted to Limited Users. The Administrator has these.

SeImpersonatePrivilege # Ability to acquire the TrustedInstaller token, a main usage

Thanks very much for that.

Is there a way of setting those permanently?

I want to run the Robocopy command from a batch file to copy all new
or changed files from the source directory to the destination
directory and all subsirectories.

https://superuser.com/questions/1318529/windows-backup-operators-group-for-family-edition

It looks like Windows 10 Pro might have a secpol.msc for the assignment of privileges.
In the picture below, the Privileges come from being added to the BackupOperators group.

When I have an account like "LowBoy" on a PC for demo purposes, that
is intended to be a Limited User who does not belong to the Administrators group.
LowBoy could not install programs in Programs Files, because of the
missing Impersonate privilege (to hold the TrustedInstaller token).

In the following picture then, I ran secpol.msc as Administrator, and entered the "LowBoy" account as a candidate for belonging to the BackupOperators group. And that group should have things like SeBackupPrivilege. I haven't clicked
the Apply and OK buttons, because I doubt you are running Pro. I run Home on this screen on purpose, so I don't go off suggesting stuff people don't have. The PC across the way has a Pro on it, for making this picture. If you have Pro, then "great".
Not everyone does. After clicking Apply here, my Robocopy run should work as LowBoy.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/ydGJfNHx/Win10-Pro-secpol-msc-Backup-Operators.gif

*******

I'm running Home here, on this screen, and "secpol.msc" does not exist here.

But my normal account belongs to the Administrators Group (as defined when
the account was first set up -- the first account is likely to be an Administrators one so you stay in control of the computer).

I can use the Administrator capability to do stuff.

If you lose all the Administrators accounts, you've "lost control" of the computer. It used to be relatively easy to hack in and fix that.

*******

You can hack in the secpol.msc .

https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/how_to_enable_local_security_policy_in_windows_10_home.html

But based on the description, the fact this is described as such, that suggests the right set of Registry settings could do this.

This page still dwells on that same .bat information for doing it.
Part of what this is doing, is installing software packages with the
interfaces for it. So while Registry edits would be part of it, if
the software for the interfaces is missing, you would not get all that far without a secpol.msc being installed.

https://www.itechtics.com/enable-gpedit-windows-10-home/

I don't know if I'd do this to a Home here.

*******

Scheduled Task Items may run as SYSTEM by default. Maybe you could run the
.bat file as SYSTEM ?

I think you can elevate yourself to SYSTEM, with psexec (but this may be
via Administrator Impersonation rather than as if by magic). I'm only
doing this, then, not as a solution for you, but just so I can dump
the properties of SYSTEM, and see if he can make a Backup.

psexec64 -hsi cmd # Then you do "whoami" in that new Command Window to verify

This is where you would get a psexec.exe or a psexec64.exe ...

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/pstools

OK, so I have to use an Administrator account, to Impersonate and downgrade
the account to SYSTEM. Then I look in the command window and issue one command to check.

The Administrator window used, shows this when it runs:

********************************************************

psexec64 -hsi cmd <=== since this is at Admin level,

<=== psexecve can be installed in System32

PsExec v2.43 - Execute processes remotely
Copyright (C) 2001-2023 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com ********************************************************

In the elevated window created by that command, I do this.

whoami /user /priv

USER INFORMATION
----------------

User Name SID
=================== ========
nt authority\system S-1-5-18 <=== the SYSTEM account

PRIVILEGES INFORMATION
----------------------

Privilege Name Description State
========================================= ================================================================== ========
SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege Replace a process level token Disabled
SeLockMemoryPrivilege Lock pages in memory Enabled
SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege Adjust memory quotas for a process Disabled
SeTcbPrivilege Act as part of the operating system Enabled
SeSecurityPrivilege Manage auditing and security log Disabled
SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege Take ownership of files or other objects Disabled
SeLoadDriverPrivilege Load and unload device drivers Disabled
SeSystemProfilePrivilege Profile system performance Enabled
SeSystemtimePrivilege Change the system time Disabled
SeProfileSingleProcessPrivilege Profile single process Enabled
SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege Increase scheduling priority Enabled
SeCreatePagefilePrivilege Create a pagefile Enabled
SeCreatePermanentPrivilege Create permanent shared objects Enabled
SeBackupPrivilege Back up files and directories Disabled <=== SYSTEM has Backup
SeRestorePrivilege Restore files and directories Disabled
SeShutdownPrivilege Shut down the system Disabled
SeDebugPrivilege Debug programs Enabled
SeAuditPrivilege Generate security audits Enabled
SeSystemEnvironmentPrivilege Modify firmware environment values Disabled
SeChangeNotifyPrivilege Bypass traverse checking Enabled
SeUndockPrivilege Remove computer from docking station Disabled
SeManageVolumePrivilege Perform volume maintenance tasks Disabled
SeImpersonatePrivilege Impersonate a client after authentication Enabled
SeCreateGlobalPrivilege Create global objects Enabled
SeIncreaseWorkingSetPrivilege Increase a process working set Enabled
SeTimeZonePrivilege Change the time zone Enabled
SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege Create symbolic links Enabled
SeDelegateSessionUserImpersonatePrivilege Obtain impersonation token for another user Enabled

C:\Windows\System32>

So if you made your copy script a Scheduled Task, you could set it
up such that you run it manually from the dialog for Scheduled Tasks.
That's why we like the Scheduled Tasks, because it will elevate
us to SYSTEM.

*******

When you copy data files, you want them to be at rest, and not in the
middle of being edited. Real backup software (not Robocopy), uses vssadmin
to create a shadow copy of C: and this tends to put the files at rest
before a copy is attempted. Keep this in mind when crafting
the making of backup copies at random times! You could end up with
mildly corrupted files, if you are not careful to copy certain folders
while other compute activity is going on. For example, you can almost
never copy the SearchIndexer database Windows.db or Windows.edb, and even
with a shadow copy, it is likely *still* out of reach.

My Downloads folder is normally pretty quiet. But if I had a Notepad
session opening a file from there, who knows, maybe making a copy then
would not be the best.

Summary: The C: drive is like an amusement park. There is always a
ride to break and throw you on the ground :-) Take care :-)

Paul
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

Steve Hayes wrote:

[snip]

I want to run the Robocopy command from a batch file to copy all new
or changed files from the source directory to the destination
directory and all subdirectories.

This will work if you log on using the "Admin" account.

A handy way to do this is to automate it, by creating a scheduled task
in the "Admin" account, configured to run using "Admin" permissions, and
to run even when there is nobody logged on. You can even set a timer to
wake the PC from sleep a few minutes before the scheduled task, so the
backup always runs.

Here's part of one of my batch scripts, where the variable "nas" is the
IP address of the NAS drive:

:: /S = copies subdirectories
:: /XO = exclude older files
:: /R:0 = zero retries
:: /XD dirs = Exclude directories
:: /LOG:file = output to log, overwriting /LOG+:file appends
:: /TEE = output to console as well as file
:: /NP = don't show progress i.e. % copied
:: /FFT = Assume FAT file times = 2 second granularity
:: /NDL = no directory list, but full path names are shown for the files
processed
:: /MIR = make destination a mirror of source
:: /TS = source file timestamps
:: /L = write log file but don't actually copy anything


set _Switches=/FFT /MIR /NDL /NP /R:1 /S /TS /TEE /XO

set _Source=C:\Users\Graham\Documents\Stuff
set _Dest=\\%nas%\Backups\Stuff
Set _Exclude=/XD "D:\Graham\Stuff\QuickBooksAutoDataRecovery"
Set _Logfile=/LOG+:C:\LogFiles\Robo_NAS.log

Robocopy %_Source% %_Dest% %_Switches% %_Exclude% %_Logfile%

Note the exclusion: accounts programs such as Quickbooks often leave
some files open for writing even when the program itself has been closed
by the user, so Robocopy will fail to copy that file. But the log will
show what has failed allowing you to correct the problem.
--
Graham J
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

....

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

Are you trying to copy things from a folder that's not yours? What about
the destination folder?

Don't forget to use the "/" option to test run!
--
@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On 1/10/2025 11:20 pm, Steve Hayes wrote:

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

In addition to "/". you might wanna use "/mt:1" as well to limit upload bandwidth.
--

@~@ Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
/ v \ May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
/( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
^ ^ https://github.com/changmw/changmw
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Wed, 01 Oct 2025 17:20:26 +0200, Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net>
wrote:

When I try to use RoboCopy in Windows 10, I get the following error
message.

Can anyone make any suggestions for fixing whatever is wrong with it?

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.6332]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Dell>robocopy e:\dropbox c:\users\dell\dropbox /E /XO /ZB

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Started : Wednesday, 01 October 2025 17:03:09
Source = e:\dropbox\
Dest : c:\users\dell\dropbox\

Files : *.*

Options : *.* /S /E /DCOPY:DA /COPY:DAT /ZB /XO /R:1000000 /W:30

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

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

ERROR : Robocopy ran out of memory, exiting.
ERROR : Invalid Parameter #%d : "%s"

ERROR : Invalid Job File, Line #%d :"%s"

I assume you've started with the obvious:

ERROR : You do not have the Backup and Restore Files user rights.
***** You need these to perform Backup copies (/B or /ZB).

Are you running Robo from a limited user account?
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.comp.os.windows-10

On Thu, 2 Oct 2025 01:01:10 -0400, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:

On Wed, 10/1/2025 10:58 PM, Steve Hayes wrote:

I want to run the Robocopy command from a batch file to copy all new
or changed files from the source directory to the destination
directory and all subsirectories.

<snip>

Summary: The C: drive is like an amusement park. There is always a
ride to break and throw you on the ground :-) Take care :-)

Thanks for all the suggestions!

This is one of the reasons I hate "upgrading" -- it takes months, if
not years, to set up the upgraded computer, and before you get it
working properly the "end of support" warnings come rolling in!

The Robocopy commands worked fine in Windows 7, but not in Windows 10.

I still have (and use) an old MS-DOS utility, BACKCOPY.COM, which
copies new and changed files with no problems, only it doesn't work
with long file names, hence the need for something like Robocopy.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2