How To Back Up?

NavyLCDR said:

I would use Free File Sync:
FreeFileSync - Free Backup and File Synchronization Software

Thanks, but I don't want to use a 3rd party app because I'd be giving it access to all of my files...

NiceAndShy said:

Thanks, but I don't want to use a 3rd party app because I'd be giving it access to all of my files...

You already are using a third party app that has access to all your files. The third party is Microsoft, and their app is called Windows.

NavyLCDR said:

You already are using a third party app that has access to all your files. The third party is Microsoft, and their app is called Windows.

Thanks, but I'd rather just use an app that was made by Microsoft.

Bree said:

That's a relief!

If you use File Explorer to copy and paste all files/folders from one disk to the other for any duplicate folder names you'll be asked:

Attachment 107190

If you tick 'Do this for all current item' and click Yes the folders will be merged. If duplicate file names are found you'll see:

Attachment 107191

Click 'Let me decide for each file' to get:

Attachment 107192

Now un-tick 'Skip...' at the bottom and tick both the 'Files from... ' and 'Files already in...' boxes at the top. A number will be added to any duplicate files you want to paste. If a file called image.jpg already exist the file of the same name you are trying to paste there will be renamed as image (2).jpg

NB: for a large amount of data this can take a very long time discovering all the files to copy and calculating the estimated time to complete. You may want to do the copying in smaller manageable chunks.

Wow, I really appreciate you for making this post for me!

This is the best way for me to "combine" or "merge" the two USB HDD's right? Would you recommend a 3rd party app? I'd only install a 3rd party app if it made this process much more reliable or much faster...

NiceAndShy said:

This is the best way for me to "combine" or "merge" the two USB HDD's right? Would you recommend a 3rd party app? I'd only install a 3rd party app if it made this process much more reliable or much faster...

This is the best Microsoft way to do this, but it has limitations. Say there two identical files (same name, same contents, in same folder) then you will end up with two copies on the one drive, the second one having ' (2)' appended to its name.

3rd party apps may have more intelligence and be able to spot (and not copy) such files, only copying ones with the same name but different contents. I don't have experience of any such app, but others may be able to advise.

Bree said:

This is the best Microsoft way to do this, but it has limitations. Say there two identical files (same name, same contents, in same folder) then you will end up with two copies on the one drive, the second one having ' (2)' appended to its name.

3rd party apps may have more intelligence and be able to spot (and not copy) such files, only copying ones with the same name but different contents. I don't have experience of any such app, but others may be able to advise.

I see! If I used your method that's built into Windows, would I need to go through each individual folder manually because this will take me a long time...

Thanks!

If you copy all duplicate named files then some may be duplicates with identical name/date/content, some may be be the same name and content but different dates and others may be the same name but different content.

If you let it skip files with the same name and date you should not the first type of duplicate above, but there's a small chance that two files may have the same name and date, but different content (so won't be copied) - your choice of which risk to take.

Bree said:

If you let it skip files with the same name and date you should not the first type of duplicate above, but there's a small chance that two files may have the same name and date, but different content (so won't be copied) - your choice of which risk to take.

Thanks so much for your continued help!

I'm not sure what you mean by "you should not the first type of duplicate above"?

If you copy all duplicate named files then some may be duplicates with identical name/date/content, some may be be the same name and content but different dates and others may be the same name but different content.

I was worried about this as well so I'm thinking of just going through each folder manually...

NiceAndShy said:

I'm not sure what you mean by "you should not the first type of duplicate above"?
.

Sorry, somehow the word 'get' got left out. Should have read...

If you copy all duplicate named files then some may be duplicates with identical name/date/content, some may be the same name and content but different dates and others may be the same name but different content.

If you let it skip files with the same name and date you should not get the first type of duplicate above, but there's a small chance that two files may have the same name and date, but different content (so won't be copied) - your choice of which risk to take.

NiceAndShy said:

I was worried about this as well so I'm thinking of just going through each folder manually...

Or use 'copy-and-paste' then, when it shows the list of duplicates for you, check the contents manually to decide if you need to tick the box to keep one, the other or both.