Digital Home Thoughts

Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

Register in our forums so you're ready for our next giveaway contest...


Zune Thoughts

Loading feed...

Apple Thoughts

Loading feed...

Laptop Thoughts

Loading feed...




Go Back   Thoughts Media Forums > DIGITAL HOME THOUGHTS > Digital Home Software

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-28-2008, 02:30 AM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291
Default Microsoft SyncToy v2.0

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en

"There are files from all kinds of sources that we want to store and manage. Files are created by our digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops. Increasingly, computer users are using different folders, drives, and even different computers (such as a laptop and a desktop) to store, manage, retrieve and view files. Yet managing hundreds or thousands of files is still largely a manual operation. In some cases it is necessary to regularly get copies of files from another location to add to primary location; in other cases there is a need to keep two storage locations exactly in sync. Some users manage files manually, dragging and dropping from one place to another and keeping track of whether the locations are synchronized in their heads. Other users may use two or more applications to provide this functionality. Now there is an easier way. SyncToy, a free PowerToy for Microsoft Windows, is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without additional complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another case. Unlike other applications, SyncToy actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder."

I installed this yesterday and I really like it.  It has finally let me set up backups the way they should be done and should be much speedier.  I've actually set it up to do three separate synchs of my user data (which totals 82 GB).  The first synch goes to a second hard drive installed in my PC.  I set a Windows task to automatically perform this synch ever time I boot up.  A second synch occurs weekly to network storage.  Finally I set up an on-demand synch with a USB drive to let me quickly update my off-site backups.  Now that they are all set up, synching the changes will be MUCH quicker than the full backups I was previously doing.  Plus, having a fully automated synch will protect me from my own laziness!

 
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-28-2008, 09:28 AM
marlof
Contributing Editor Emeritus
marlof's Avatar
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,350

I used SyncToy a lot on my old computer. With the new one, I switched to the freeware Karen's Replicator. It does a similar thing, but in the end I found it slightly easier to setup (especially in scheduling). What I like about products like this is that it copies full files, and when you're looking for a file in your backup, you're not stuck with a compressed format that needs a seperate application.
__________________
enjoy being here while getting there
 
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-28-2008, 01:40 PM
signothefish
Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 165

Another recommendation for Karen's Replicator. Been using it for years now. It's indispensable.
 
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 08-28-2008, 02:07 PM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291

Yep, scheduling is the one place I see SyncToy as lacking. At least they recongnized this enough to put right in the help area how to set Vista and XP to do the scheduling for you.
 
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 08-28-2008, 05:18 PM
Jason Dunn
Executive Editor
Jason Dunn's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160

Myself, I use SyncbackSE. It's not free, but it's pretty cheap and is absolutely fantastic:

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncbac...-features.html
__________________
Want to contact me personally? Use this. Want to read my personal blog? Check it out. Want to follow me on Twitter? Here you go.
 
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-28-2008, 05:33 PM
txa1265
Intellectual
txa1265's Avatar
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 190

Sad ... I have been using Vice Versa free edition for many years ...

Quote:
ViceVersa - FREE!
This software is copyrighted - Copyright 2001 TGRMN Software
heh ... I just installed this and also downloaded the other one! Thanks for these!
 
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 08-28-2008, 07:41 PM
JesterMania
Thinker
JesterMania's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 378

This type of software was what I was looking for all along. It sure beats using a backup/archiving tool to create a huge archive and having to delete and re-create it everytime. With this software, I can set up multiple sync profiles too so I can keep my backup HD partition, PSP, Pocket PC, and Nokia N95 all in sync. Awesome! I just select which profile and tell it to do an Echo and all done.
 
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 08-28-2008, 09:49 PM
Kursplat
Intellectual
Kursplat's Avatar
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 158

Jason, SyncBack looks nice. I haven't tried it yet, but from the feature list, I will probably end up with the Pro version. I often have to sync/back up 10s of thousands of files, so it sounds like the Pro version is better suited for that. Plus I like the idea of scripting support if I want to really get fancy.
 
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 08-28-2008, 09:51 PM
palur
Intellectual
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 193

I could not sync the storage card in my pda with any folder on the computer. It does not let me select the Storage card at all from the PDA, though it can see under the hierarchy.
Pchh!
 
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 08-28-2008, 10:45 PM
Chris Gohlke
Contributing Editor Emeritus
Chris Gohlke's Avatar
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 2,291

palur - is your storage card listed at an actual drive letter?
 
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:38 PM.