Author Topic: Synchronize 2 usb disk (Read 34,276 times)

limelect · « **on:** September 18, 2016, 07:56 AM »

Looking to synchronize 2 usb drives (make them the same).
A proven software. Option to be portable.

tomos · « **Reply #1 on:** September 18, 2016, 08:20 AM »

Should probably be moved to General Software Discussion board?

tomos · « **Reply #2 on:** September 18, 2016, 08:37 AM »

Quote from: limelect on September 18, 2016, 07:56 AM

Looking to synchronize 2 usb drives (make them the same).
A proven software. Option to be portable.

hi limelect,
there's been a couple of threads here re syncing / software, but they're hard to find if you cant remember the names of the software :-/

You could start here: FreeFileSync - automated backup - Mini-Review.

There was a sync software developed by a member here which got an extremely good response, Bvckup 2 (dont know about portability)
dc thread

limelect · « **Reply #3 on:** September 18, 2016, 08:48 AM »

I saw that FreeFileSync already thanks.

As for back up (which is not the case) i use
The excellent Cobian v11 (he has v12)

tomos · « **Reply #4 on:** September 18, 2016, 08:52 AM »

So . . .
could you please give some more specific information about what want; what you've tried and why it's not what you want/need?

I mean I could recommend Directory Opus -- the options are broad here...

MilesAhead · « **Reply #5 on:** September 18, 2016, 10:50 AM »

I have been using DSynchronize from here:
http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/

It is portable. I have stayed with v. 2.31.9 as newer versions have changed the settings format and added features not applicable to my needs. The latest version may in fact be better but it ain't broke so...

By default it should be set to one way synch from source to destination overwriting destination if source is newer. If the USB is large you may need a larger scale program. Or it could be that my Laptop has only 4 GB ram. But when syncing the last time a drive with 77 GB it seemed to crash after successful completion of the sync. Perhaps the new versions have fixed this bug. But it only happened once so it may have been a fluke.

Very simple interface. Click a folder for source and destination. In your case it would be the root folders of the USB drives.

4wd · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2016, 12:30 PM »

There's always Robocopy: How to use robocopy in Windows for backup and sync like rsync in Linux

MilesAhead · « **Reply #7 on:** September 18, 2016, 05:31 PM »

Quote from: 4wd on September 18, 2016, 12:30 PM

There's always Robocopy: How to use robocopy in Windows for backup and sync like rsync in Linux

Also there is RichCopy

It is MS employee written software and I do not think it is developed anymore. But it is multi-threaded and copy has several conditions that may be invoked. One being the source file is an update of the target.

I seldom use it. But it can be handy for special situations.

Shades · « **Reply #8 on:** September 18, 2016, 06:49 PM »

PathSync v0.35.
Very small (200KByte extracted, including 140KByte of source code), open source and portable sync software. For its size a very capable synchronizer. You need to indicate which drives/folders need to be synced, choose the direction of the sync and after that hit the 'Analyze' button so get a list of the differences and the action PathSync is about to execute. Click on the 'Synchronize' button to do the actual syncing (duh).

Optionally you can apply filters for files and/folders to be included/excluded and you can store these settings in a text-based configuration file for later use. You can make as many of these configuration files as you want. You can even configure a (portable) diff program to help you figure out which file does need to be synced or not, in case you have a doubt.

The speed with which it analyzes differences between folders is a very pleasant surprise. And it works on every version of the Windows operating system (including Windows 10).

limelect · « **Reply #9 on:** September 19, 2016, 09:09 AM »

Thank you all.
tomos to clarify.
I have 2 GENERAL USB DISKS.
They hold general information.(NOT main disk).
The information was never put on both.
But since the information is SIMILAR i need to make them equal
so i will have exact duplicate of my information.(as if i saved information on both).

1. What i am concern is for files with HEBREW names.
2. Long file names (and directories).
3. Problems i could not expect.Since my information is critical.
4. This is why i am looking for a mature software,and not a beta ,beginner .....

P.S see my software which dose not do what i need but is the base
http://limelect.com/downloads/disk-directories-compare/

MilesAhead · « **Reply #10 on:** September 19, 2016, 12:19 PM »

As Shades has pointed out it is a good idea to have a sync with preview. Especially in your case where you intend to sync in both directions. I would recommend FreeCommander XE since FreeCommander has always had an excellent sync with 2 way preview with each operation in the preview deselectable. However it still has the hassle of chasing around to get the .chm help file. I do not understand why this has gone on for so many years. It is not like bandwidth is back in the early 1990s anymore.

But if curious you can find FreeCommander XE on PortableApps.com. Where you can find the help file that goes with it I have not been able to ascertain after 15 minutes of searching.

limelect · « **Reply #11 on:** September 19, 2016, 12:28 PM »

MilesAhead This is exactly what i want. Sync BOTH WAYS.
As with the others programs they have a delete function included in the sync process
which frighten me. I NEVER WANT TO DELETE ANY FILE.
I need either update to the newest or add BUT never delete.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #12 on:** September 19, 2016, 12:40 PM »

Quote from: limelect on September 19, 2016, 12:28 PM

MilesAhead This is exactly what i want. Sync BOTH WAYS.
As with the others programs they have a delete function included in the sync process
which frighten me. I NEVER WANT TO DELETE ANY FILE.
I need either update or add BUT never delete.

This installer has the help file:
http://freecommander.com/en/downloads/

make sure to get the one on the bottom for 32 bit with help file included. I cannot find the one for the PortableApps version. ~~I guess when you decide to go portable you can copy the FreeCommander.chm from this installation, then uninstall. Whew.. why the gyrations I don't know.~~ Edit: I guess I was a bit flustered by this time and did not notice there are help files in various languages a bit further down on the page.

Now I can uninstall the installed one and try setting up the portable one again.

Edit ends.

I have used the previous version of FreeCommander written in Delphi for many years. I do not remember getting burned on a sync. It is very intuitive to use. On this version there seems to be no button on the Toolbar for it. But in Folder Menu you can click Syncronize or use Alt s hotkey. There may be a way to make a button for the toolbar. I hope so because I used the sync in FreeCommander a lot.

A good idea may be to copy your USB flash drives to folders on the HD before you sync the first time. A program like TeraCopy may do it a bit faster than Windows drag and drop depending how large the USB drives are. But then you will have a way to undo things if something weird happens.

As for the Hebrew filenames I was never very knowledgeable about Unicode and code pages etc..

MilesAhead · « **Reply #13 on:** September 19, 2016, 12:42 PM »

Since I was this far in I decided to "install" the PortableApps version and placed the help file in the specified subfolder. The help file does come up.

As a test of the Sync I set the "left" folder to drive E: and the "right" folder to a USB I use to back up the E: partition.. just iso images, data files, downloads etc..

The E: partition has roughly 31,000 some odd files in 304 folders. The FreeCommander XE compare including subfolders shows them all as "=" which is correct since I just synced them with DSynchronize a couple of days ago.

I feel confident that the synchronize code is likely the same as in the previous version of FreeCommaner or based on it. So I doubt there are any major bugs. Since I am doing this sync job on a regular basis I may as well use FreeCommander XE to do it.

limelect · « **Reply #14 on:** September 19, 2016, 08:15 PM »

MilesAhead great job thanks

MilesAhead · « **Reply #15 on:** September 19, 2016, 09:57 PM »

Quote from: limelect on September 19, 2016, 08:15 PM

MilesAhead great job thanks

You are most welcome. I hope it works out to suit your needs.

limelect · « **Reply #16 on:** September 22, 2016, 03:47 PM »

MilesAhead I finally got to my freecomander and found it is on FOLDERS only not on DISK.
A lot of work to sync 2 FULL DISKS.
Back to starting point.
Thanks
P.S it has a delete function which frighten me

MilesAhead · « **Reply #17 on:** September 22, 2016, 05:02 PM »

Quote from: limelect on September 22, 2016, 03:47 PM

MilesAhead I finally got to my freecomander and found it is on FOLDERS only not on DISK.
A lot of work to sync 2 FULL DISKS.
Back to starting point.
Thanks
P.S it has a delete function which frighten me

Just navigate to the root folder on each side. For instance E:\ and G:\
and select the check box to recurse into subfolders.

How big are the USB drives?

limelect · « **Reply #18 on:** September 22, 2016, 08:30 PM »

Ok you are right what is left is to try.
Size >700G
Now to figure out how to do it safely.
because it is 2 disks and saving both is >1.8 tera
So may be i will buy a new 2 tera hd back up and try

MilesAhead · « **Reply #19 on:** September 22, 2016, 10:24 PM »

Quote from: limelect on September 22, 2016, 08:30 PM

Ok you are right what is left is to try.
Size >700G
Now to figure out how to do it safely.
because it is 2 disks and saving both is >1.8 tera
So may be i will buy a new 2 tera hd back up and try

That is a pretty good chunk.

I used to have USB 3.0 docking stations with 1 TB WD Black bare drives and a small stack of plastic drawers for my media files. Trouble is the HD used for back up gets too big to back that up. One little mistake and you get the drive not recognized dialog of death. It's very disappointing.