1. On the the source server: START > RUN > REGEDT32
2. Go to the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/LanmanServer/Shares

3. From the Registry menu, select Export Registry file.
4. Copy the file to the target server
5. On the target server: START > RUN > Name of the exported registry file> OK
6. Reboot the target server

If any of the local paths of the shares change (for example, E:\Data to F:\Data), the locations can be edited in Share Management on the target server.

Then use Robocopy to transfer the files from old to new share and maintain file/folder permissions!

Robocopy (short for robust file copy) is a utility that originally was contained in Server 2003 Resource Kit, but became so popular that it was included natively in Server 2008 and in Vista. For those that have used xcopy, this is like xcopy…on steriods.

It allows for mirroring of directories, or, my personal favorite, migration of data from old servers to new. And it does so maintaining NTFS permissions.

See more on Wikipedia (opens on new window).

If you need any guidance in using robocopy, please feel free to contact me via the Contact page.