Snapshots
You can use AD Explorer to save a snapshot of an AD database that you can open later in AD Explorer to perform off-line inspection and searches of AD objects and attributes. You can also compare two snapshots to see what objects, attributes or permissions are different.
Saving a Snapshot
To save a snapshot, chose the file save toolbar button or the Create Snapshot entry from the File menu. The Snapshot dialog let's you add a comment to the snapshot, specify where the snapshot will save, and a throttle that you can set to slow the rate at which AD Explorer will scan the AD object tree in order to reduce the impact to the target domain controller.
Working with Snapshots
You load a saved snapshot using the Connect dialog in the File menu. When you load a saved snapshot you browse and search it as you would a live AD database. When the object selection is within a snapshot the Compare menu becomes active.
The Compare Snapshot submenu opens a comparison dialog where you specify the path to a second snapshot and the classes and attributes that you want to compare. Differences are listed when the comparison completes and double-clicking on a difference will cause AD Explorer to navigate within the loaded snapshot to the object.
The Compare Snapshot Security menu opens a dialog into which you enter the path to a second snapshot for a comparison of permissions settings.
Scheduling Snapshots
You can use AD Explorer to create scheduled snapshots by launching it with the -snapshot command line option. The option requires two parameters: the connection string and the snapshot name. For example, to snapshot the default domain use this command:
adexplorer -snapshot "" c:\snapshots\snapshot1.snp