Dennis
22-09-2009, 07:57 PM
I found a rather nice, free “back up” application from Microsoft, called “SyncToy”. Here is a link to a "Whitepaper (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en)" - click the "Download" button for a pdf.
Here is the overview:
"SyncToy 2.0 for Windows is available as a free download (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en)from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.
SyncToy can help you synchronize, copy, backup and maintain folders of files on your computers. SyncToy is a PowerToy, available as a free download, built by Microsoft Corporation that helps you get all your files exactly where you want them. SyncToy also helps you manage disk space by making sure that you do not end up with multiple copies of the same file with different names. SyncToy will help you back up your files more quickly by only backing up the files it needs to, to help you save time, instead of backing up every file in a folder whether it has been changed or not.
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 have been using it for a week or so and find it easy to use and reliable, so far. As it is not part of the WIndos OS, there is no MS Support although there is a user forum at:
http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/synctoy/threads/
Basically, you create a “Folder Pair”; the source on the “Left” and the target on the “Right”. Thus you back up from the “Left Folder” to the “Right Folder” - see attached screen copies.
Cheers
Dennis
Here is the overview:
"SyncToy 2.0 for Windows is available as a free download (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C26EFA36-98E0-4EE9-A7C5-98D0592D8C52&displaylang=en)from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.
SyncToy can help you synchronize, copy, backup and maintain folders of files on your computers. SyncToy is a PowerToy, available as a free download, built by Microsoft Corporation that helps you get all your files exactly where you want them. SyncToy also helps you manage disk space by making sure that you do not end up with multiple copies of the same file with different names. SyncToy will help you back up your files more quickly by only backing up the files it needs to, to help you save time, instead of backing up every file in a folder whether it has been changed or not.
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 have been using it for a week or so and find it easy to use and reliable, so far. As it is not part of the WIndos OS, there is no MS Support although there is a user forum at:
http://social.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/synctoy/threads/
Basically, you create a “Folder Pair”; the source on the “Left” and the target on the “Right”. Thus you back up from the “Left Folder” to the “Right Folder” - see attached screen copies.
Cheers
Dennis