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Jason_Kraft

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Tape Drive, Just Stopped Working

Hey Experts!

At work, just recently... The tape drive that was used to backup information, went bust. I have no idea how it happened or why. The exiting I.T. professional couldn't figure it out either.
The tape drive is on a Dell Server running Windows 2000 Server. The tape drive is a Segate STT20000A model. The backup software that was initially used was VERITAS. What makes it more difficult is that there are atleast a 100 ppl connected to the server... and its difficult to restart. (is there a way to alert them remotely that the server is restarting?)
What I have done so far...
1. Unistalled driver, and "detect new hardware"
2. Uninstall veritas drivers for Tape QIC (or whatever - i'm new to tape drives) and reinstalled
3. Gone through compmgmt.msc and fiddled around with storage.

Plz help.
Thanks
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Luniz2k1

You could use the "NET SEND" command to broadcast a message to all of the users:

NET SEND * The message that you would like to send to them

Syntax
net send {name | * | /domain[:name] | /users} message

Parameters
name
Specifies the user name, computer name, or messaging name to which you want to send the message. If the information that you supply contains spaces, use quotation marks around the text (for example, "Computer Name"). Long user names might cause problems when you use them as NetBIOS names. NetBIOS names are limited to 16 characters, and the sixteenth character is reserved.
*
Sends the message to all the names in your domain or workgroup.
/domain:name
Sends the message to all the names in the computer's domain. You can specify name to send the message to all the names in the specified domain or workgroup.
/users
Sends the message to all users connected to the server.
message
Required. Specifies the text of the message.
net help command
Displays help for the specified net command.
Remarks
You can send a message only to a name that is active on the network. If you send the message to a user name, that user must be logged on and running the Messenger service to receive the message.
You can broadcast a message to all of the names in your computer's domain (use * or /domain), or a different domain (/domain:DomainName). Broadcast messages can contain up to 128 characters. Use discretion when you send messages to multiple users.
/users lets you send a message to all users who have sessions with the server. Use discretion when you send messages to multiple users.
The Messenger service must be running for messages to be received. For more information about how to start a service, see Related Topics.
Examples
To send the message "Meeting changed to 3 P.M. Same place." to the user robertf, type:

net send robertf Meeting changed to 3 P.M. Same place.

To send a message to all users connected to the server, type:

net send /users This server will shut down in 5 minutes.

To send a message that includes a slash mark (/), type:

net send robertf "Format your disk with FORMAT /4"

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Luniz2k1

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Thanks Luniz2k1!
I will try out the netsend message. Where could I test the drive though? Just to make sure? Or what could i do? Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks
net send won't work, if Messenger service is disabled on client computers.

Check event log - maybe there is any events about your tape drive.
Have you tried to clean the drive first???
Clean the drive? How? I unistalled all the drivers, restarted. What do i do?
Another thing, I used net send once and it worked perfectly. I checked everyones messenger service... It was all working. Then after i rebooted my computer... It doesn't seem to work anymore. Why? Please advice. How do i check who is connected and who isn't. Is there a software i could use for this aswell?
Thanks