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SyncToy v2.0

I've been using and recommending SyncToy 2.0 Beta for a while now, but I just noticed it went final a few weeks back:

Brief Description

SyncToy helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers quickly and easily.

Overview

SyncToy 2.0 for Windows is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.

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.

SyncToy 2.0 adds a huge number of new features. Check out the Web site linked above for details. This tool is awesome.

Published Aug 28 2008, 05:47 PM by pthurrott
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Comments

 

mikegalos@msn.com said:

Absolute endorsement here, too. SyncToy is one of those little gems that you end up really depending on and that nobody seems to know about.

It came out of the Professional Photography group at Microsoft which is why almost nobody has heard about it and has become a pretty standard tool in setting up workflow for studios but it's so useful in general that it has developed almost a cult following.

August 28, 2008 5:00 PM
 

Ocean said:

Paul -- how are you using SyncToy?

I know that you are a fond user of Mesh.  That hasn't replaced this?

I now dump all my files (and even my copy of  Portable Firefox!) on my Mesh and there they are waiting for me no matter which machine I'm using.  I used to keep certain files synced with several different portable memory devices, but the mesh makes that a thing of the past.

August 28, 2008 5:44 PM
 

cgdams said:

Yep, this tool is wonderful. I've been using for years now, beginning with version 1.x, and while the 2.0 beta still had some performance issues with really large directories, the now final version works fast and accurate.

BTW, if you try it: Don't be surprised about the time it can take to synchronize a large drive/directory for the first time. Synctoy builds up it's (persistent) internal database of informations about the files and folders in that first run, and that can take quite some time. Once it's done, further runs on the same drive/folder pair are really fast. When i did the daily synch of my documents folder to my notebook some minutes ago, it took just 1 min 20 secs to compare about 53,000 files in 6,840 foders. Awesome.

August 28, 2008 5:47 PM
 

pthurrott said:

I think of SyncToy and Mesh as complimentary. I use Mesh for my "core" files (mostly documents I'm working on regularly). But I use SyncToy to sync bigger directories of photos, videos, and music from machine to machine on my home network. It's much faster than Mesh, and if you just need the files locally (i.e. on the home network) it's a better solution.

August 28, 2008 6:37 PM
 

Ocean said:

Cool.

Thanks!

August 28, 2008 6:47 PM
 

mikegalos@msn.com said:

Ocean,

Where SyncToy also shines over Live Mesh is the selective types of sync it can do. The Live Mesh sync app is about keeping folders identical. SyncToy allows for syncing things and NOT keeping them identical. A couple of examples:

Copy any new items added to directory A to directory B but don't put new items added to directory B back in directory A.

Copy any new files in directory A to directory B and directory C and let me edit files in directory B without reflecting those changes in directory C and also let me delete files from directory A without deleting them from directory B or directory C. (Very common where A is a transfer location from cameras, B is an editing workspace and C is an archive of unedited files on a removable drive.)

August 28, 2008 7:02 PM
 

yert said:

Mesh is great for documents one is working on constantly that are smaller, and SyncToy is great for devices that have no connectivity such as cameras. I'm sure there are myriad other uses, but I've had more use of Mesh as of late...

August 28, 2008 8:00 PM
 

shark47 said:

It sounds similar to Allway sync. I didn't like the previous one because it wouldn't automatically sync files for me on a schedule or when I inserted removable media- at least, I thought it didn't. Does anyone know if it does so now?

August 28, 2008 8:05 PM
 

mikegalos@msn.com said:

shark47

I don't know if there's a way to tell SyncToy to run as an AutoPlay but you can schedule SyncToy with the Windows Task Scheduler. The help file has detailed instructions for setting it up in both Windows Vista and Windows XP.

August 28, 2008 8:21 PM
 

aemarques said:

Wow! I beat Paul by 5 days! I can rest in peace now! ;-)

techhoje.blogspot.com/.../synctoy-20-em-verso-final.html

August 29, 2008 4:34 AM
 

shark47 said:

Thanks Mike. I'll check it out.

August 29, 2008 6:45 AM
 

Lindy said:

Sync Toy rocks for PC users.  I have setup my parents with it as a backup app to an external HD.  So instead of long backup times, its one long backup, and now just small syncs.

August 29, 2008 11:17 AM
 

Fanfoot said:

Love the program, both in the original 1.1 form, and the newer 2.0 version.  

In Windows XP at least with large directory copies so unreliable, SyncToy has substituted for even simple directory copies you do repeatedly.  And like you say, its a great backup program with lots of choices.

HOWEVER, I've had some problems with SyncToy 2.0, at least prior to this version.  Cloning a network share to a local USB attached Drobo under Windows XP was leaving lots of directories and files uncopied.  Going back to the 1.1 version resolved the problem.  Now this directory is pretty massive, on the order of 2TB, but still...  2.0 would run and claim to be complete, but lots of files wouldn't get copied.  Kind of unacceptable.

September 3, 2008 12:30 AM
 

mikegalos@msn.com said:

Fanfoot

Prior to this version, 2.0 was still in beta so hopefully you reported the bug so they could track it down and fix it.

If not, and it still has the problem, I'd suggest going to connect.microsoft.com and reporting it so it can be fixed in a future version. I've seen this type of copy bug show up and be specific to certain controller card BIOSes so it may be one they really need a repro case to fix.

September 3, 2008 1:20 AM

About pthurrott

Paul Thurrott is the guy behind the SuperSite for Windows. Way behind. :)
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