[tregnier]

I love SyncToy...just what I need when I move stuff around. Sometimes I like to work on my notebook on the patio. Makes it easy to just work off a USB flash drive. I don't have to remember which files in a folder that I've worked with.

Years ago, I used the Briefcase option in Windows to do the same thing. It disappeared in recent versions of Windows...at least I can't find it.

SyncToy, BTW, is not an MS product but rather one done by a third party.

[tregnier]

I love SyncToy...just what I need when I move stuff around. Sometimes I like to work on my notebook on the patio. Makes it easy to just work off a USB flash drive. I don't have to remember which files in a folder that I've worked with.

Years ago, I used the Briefcase option in Windows to do the same thing. It disappeared in recent versions of Windows...at least I can't find it.

SyncToy, BTW, is not an MS product but rather one done by a third party.

[OSUKid7]

Originally Posted by tregnier

Years ago, I used the Briefcase option in Windows to do the same thing. It disappeared in recent versions of Windows...at least I can't find it.

It's still there. Right click in any folder (including the desktop) > New > Briefcase.

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by OSUKid7

...You can already do scheduling. ...

Man-O-Man ops: I've used that so many times I don't know why I didn't think of it. I guess I just looked in the available menu options and figured it wasn't there and just shut down my brain a little too early.

Thanks - that was beautiful
Jeff-

[Darius Wey]

Originally Posted by lapchinj

Man-O-Man ops: I've used that so many times I don't know why I didn't think of it. I guess I just looked in the available menu options and figured it wasn't there and just shut down my brain a little too early.

You might want to have a flip through the help files if you get round to it. It's quite detailed and you might pick up a couple of neat tricks you may have thought were not possible previously.

[OSUKid7]

Glad I could help. I love how it logs it to Event viewer so I can keep track how the nightly syncs go.

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by smd

Does anyone know how it handles a failed sync?

Yeah I had a failed sync the first few times I ran it and it recovered nicely. Although I haven't had my computer reboot in the middle of a sync I did have errors arise before the actual copy is done. It seems that SyncToy makes a plan of what it has to do and if it can do it. If it can't then it just gives you a message.

Sorry I could only give a half an answer

Jeff-

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by Deemo

...For file access it's still PCAnywhere or Remote Desktop. I can't see why they would complain unless you were syncing all your mp3's etc...

Yeah remote desktop has worked fine for me. But the company that I for until very recently had outsourced their 12,000 plus servers in North America to Perot Systems and I was always having problems transfereing files (no MP3's). If a file or files were too big a report was made to my site manager of the offending IP address and the bandwidth being used 8O . Then we would have to unruffle feathers and ask for permission to move these large chunks of data. Of course it would have to be done at night so forget about moving MSDN subscription downloads for our beta testing. Really screwed up our work routine. I just started bringing my pajamas with me.

Ahhh! the joys of progress :silly: .

Jeff-

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by Darius Wey

...You might want to have a flip through the help files if you get round to it...

Yeah I think that's a great idea. I think I'll dump it out into a pdf and load it onto my x50v (and also print it out). Seems like a perfect read for a the ride on the bus.

Jeff-

[Rob Alexander]

8O Okay, it's free so I get that part, but why all the excitement about what it does? There are many free and inexpensive programs that have been doing this for years. I'm surprised that everyone is only now discovering how valuable this concept is... and it really is valuable.

I've used Second Copy (http://www.centered.com/) since 1999 and it has been totally reliable with both easy set up for simple tasks and all the customization you could ask for if you're looking to do something more complicated. It'll even keep a user-specified number of copies of older files that it deletes for added security in case you want to recover an earlier version of something you altered and then synched into oblivion.

I use it to synchronize between my home and work computers using a tiny 60GB USB HDD. Synching this way has the added benefit of creating an automatic backup system since there are 2-3 current copies of every work file in 2-3 different locations.

I can't tell you that you should pay money for Second Copy instead of using the free one from MS -- only you know what your data is worth -- but I can tell you that, in more than 5 years of use, it has never crashed, lost a file or otherwise misbehaved. These files are my work product, so when it comes to trusting a program to accurately synch the right file and delete only those that are really supposed to be deleted, I'll stick with a program that has a proven track record.

[lapchinj]

Originally Posted by Rob Alexander

8O Okay, it's free so I get that part, but why all the excitement about what it does? There are many free and inexpensive programs that have been doing this for years...

Yeah I just downloaded a copy to look at. Especially coming with a track record of 5 years Second Copy is worth an install. But so far SynchToy is doing everything I ever wanted and I'll probably stay with it. I don't need much and it seems to fit the bill.

I guess all my excitement about SynchToy is because I never really found anything that would do just what I wanted. Not that I turned over every rock or googled on the subject but I've tried a whole mess of products that I've heard about. I've never heard about Second Copy or some of the others being mentioned here but they are all worth a look and see.

Jeff-