Hi Randal, It's hard to tell you something without a log of your process, but "cp -a source directory" worked for me fine. Try this. But may be the root of the problem is bit other? Check permissions, directory names (encoding problems may occur). Regards, Dmitriy Randal Leavitt wrote: > Hi All .... > > I am trying to backup my email on a memory stick. I used the cp command: > > cp source directory > > The email directory is called "Local Folders" and it contains a number > of empty directories. The cp command refuses to copy these empty > directories. Is there some way I can force the cp command to do this? > > Do I need these empty directories on the memory stick? Could I > restore my email on another computer properly without them? >