How should I sync 10GB of documents data between my 2 Windows 10 PCs?

Ztruker · 15 Apr 2019

Some things are worth paying for, this is one of them. Look at some of the programs mentioned, including Mirror Folder that I mentioned.

clam1952 · 15 Apr 2019

Anibor said:

In FreeFileSync, the window with the bundled software was replaced by an eco-friendly window several months ago.

Thanks for that haven't checked if anything had changed for some time! In which case it's worth the OP trying it.

x509 · 16 Apr 2019

ship69 said:

> I paid for Goodsync, File Sync Backup Software | GoodSync, which has been bulletproof reliable for me,

GoodSync looks good. However according to one review "Good Sync Free" is not genuinely "Free" is it a time-bombed trial. This level of dishonesty is worrying. And the paid-for version is disgustingly expensive at $49.95. For something I only use about once per week, that is way, WAY too much money.

Mirror Folder also seems too expensive. Plus I only want it to sync on demand, because I want it to sync ALL my data (currently about 10GB) and this could take up a lot of processing resources if happening randomly, rather than when I require it.

The majority of mobile phone apps are only a few $ at most. Occasionally one might even spend $10, but that would be tops. And this seems a fair level of pricing.

Any other suggestions?

I'm not going to shill here for Goodsync, except to say that their website is quite explicit about the time-limitations on the free version. That reviewer was being snarky.

You can't directly compare mobile phone apps with PC (and Mac) apps. The pricing structures are totally different (and most mobile phone app companies don't make money).

For me, the issue is peace of mind and the value of my time spent on maintenance tasks. I want to "set it and forget it" for the sync applications. I don't know about MirrorFolder, but GoodSync can support a large number of different "jobs". Each "job" can be fine-tuned as to which drives and directories to sync. It can exclude file types like *.bak or ~*.docx [Microsoft Word temporary file]. It can include just a few folders or just a few file types, like *.NEF [Nikon RAW files].

I started out comparing about 10 different sync utilities, and settled on Goodsync. All updates have been free.

x509

ship69 · 16 Apr 2019

x509 said:

I paid for Goodsync, File Sync Backup Software | GoodSync, which has been bulletproof reliable for me

OK SynToy has just failed catastrophically for me. When sync-ing between A to B and then B to C it deleted an entire directory for no good reason. It also moved a directory into the wrong place. Utterly hopeless.

Gun to my head, I am trialling GoodSync. Early days but so far it seems fine. One thing I don't understand: Why are both the numbers of files and the number of bytes still not exactly the same between well... anywhere and anywhere!
In GoodSync with View All selected there are just a few bytes different in size

i.e. After a two-way sync A) to B) and then B) to C) :

A) On my PC's C: drive my folder is: "8,450,787,442 bytes"
B) On my SD card my folder is: "8,450,787,394 bytes"
C) On my laptop my folder is: "8,450,787,410 bytes"

Sure the differences are only very small in %age terms, but why are they different AT ALL??! It makes me nervous...

And if in Windows Explorer, I right-click on the folder on my PC, and select Properties, it comes up with a slightly different size again(!).
The "Size" is: "8,457,872,052 bytes"
The "Size on disk" is: "8,503,140,352" bytes
Contains: "23,798 files, 1,444 Folders

But on my laptop the sizes are:
Size: "8,451,844,526 bytes"
Size on disk: "8,497,111,040 bytes"
Contains: "23,800 files, 1,444 folders"

I can see why "Size on disk" will be different, but surely actual size of all my files should be the same after I have done a sync. And certainly the number of files should be the same, no?

So why all these differences??! (And should I be worried?)

thomaseg1 · 17 Apr 2019

That means I have to carry an external HDD around with me. Also I imagine that the disk access speeds will be much slower than using the solid state drive (SSD) that I have one of which in my PC and my laptop.
I use a external monster ssd 128 gig 3.0usb. easy to carry in your pocket. used to use it to take files to and from work.

ship69 · 17 Apr 2019

thomaseg1 said:

That means I have to carry an external HDD around with me. Also I imagine that the disk access speeds will be much slower than using the solid state drive (SSD) that I have one of which in my PC and my laptop.
I use a external monster ssd 128 gig 3.0usb. easy to carry in your pocket. used to use it to take files to and from work.

So the master copy of your data is on an external SSD, yes?
Does it use USB 3.0?

If so surely the data transfer rates are much slower than using an internal SSD, no?

thomaseg1 · 17 Apr 2019

Not that much slower about 100megs per second.
never actually got the full 150mb/s off any 3.0 usb

thomaseg1 · 17 Apr 2019

of course, if you want the full 3.0/6.0 a hot-swap box might be the way to go.

Kari · 17 Apr 2019

ship69 said:

I already give Micro$oft way, way, WAY too much money through paying for MS Office 365 Business account. Would I need to pay extra to get Premium Onedrive as well. It seems to come with OneDrive but I don't know if it is "Premium". Either way I am rather reluctant to share data with Microsoft as I don't trust them.

Depending on your O365 Business plan, you have at least 1 TB online storage available. Plan 1 comes with online versions of Office suite only, and 1 TB OneDrive for Business, plan 2 and O365 Business Premium give you Office desktop applications up to 5 computers and, in case you subscribe to at least five licenses unlimited OneDrive for Business.

Quoting Microsoft about Plan 2 and Business Premium:

Unlimited personal cloud storage for qualifying plans for subscriptions of five or more users, otherwise 1 TB/user. Microsoft will initially provide 1 TB/user of OneDrive for Business storage, which admins can increase to 5 TB/user. Request additional storage by contacting Microsoft support. Storage up to 25 TB/user is provisioned in OneDrive for Business. Beyond 25 TB, storage is provisioned as 25 TB SharePoint team sites to individual users.

I would simply start using OneDrive for Business to sync. Before you start doing it, enable and force two-factor authentication on your O365 admin site for all users of your tenant, to assure no one else gets in to your ODfB.

ricardobohner said:

Microsoft only offers 5 GB of space in onedrive for free. You have 1TB because of your Office 365 subscription. When you cancel it they will reduce it to 5 GB again.

OP has OneDrive for Business, that does not apply to OP's case.

Anyway, regarding normal, personal OneDrive you are talking about, Microsoft has quite a consumer friendly policy: When a subscription is cancelled, all files currently in personal OD will remain there, MS will not remove / delete any user data from it.

Let's say you have 20 GB on personal OD when your O365 Home or O365 Personal subscription is cancelled. All 20 GB of data will remain intact, and you can download any files from OD to local computer. However, you can only delete data. You cannot edit documents, nor can you add anything before you have deleted data until it goes under the free OD's 5 GB limit.

Kari

ship69 · 17 Apr 2019

No.
1. I don't trust Microsoft not to get hacked.
2. I don't trust them not to read my files.
3. And I more to the point, I can't stand the way we are all sleep-walking into the hands of a very small number of multi-national companies. Most of whom don't pay their share of taxes. And all of whom are in league with the security services.

I just want to sync my data between 2 PCs !

Recap:
- One PC is on a (very long) Ethernet connection to a virgin media hub. And I don't have another Ethernet cable that long for my laptop.
- SyncToy between my PCs via a SDCard has proved to be catastrophically unreliable, particularly if I rename a directory.