How to Use SyncToy for Data Backups  

This is a tutorial on using SyncToy. If it isn't for you move on. No need to continually dish the thread with use this or that instead. And you could always write your own tutorial using your own app.

Be careful/cautious with junction points. Libraries are essentially junction points. They can lead to nested duplicate copies, folders being copied that were specifically excluded (because they are in another library), etc. Hard to tell here without seeing, but this may be the cause with ignatzatsonic's MP3s. Just a w.a.g.

For the record, I use SyncToy in Contribute mode, since my intention is not a 2-way sync, per se. It is to archive folders/files with all versions, including those that have changed. Mine is one-way only, with the updated/changed destination files going to the Recycle Bin for review (sanity check) then deleted. Nothing is ever purged from the destination until I do it manually, and start a new Archive. Just my use of the tool.

(yes, I am a bit of a pack rat......)

f14tomcat said:

Mine is one-way only, with the updated/changed destination files going to the Recycle Bin for review (sanity check) then deleted. Nothing is ever purged from the destination until I do it manually, and start a new Archive. Just my use of the tool.

That would be my way... updating files on the destination drive.

f14tomcat said:

Did you decide after all to not include this?

Not got around to it yet - will soon.

Sorry to come late to this thread, but may I ask does SyncToy just perform a copy function like Karen's Replicator? I ask as I try to use my old faithful Macrium Reflect free to back up (image) an images drive (a spinner, not solid state), about 800 GB, and it fails. I forget the error it mentions but when it says check the logs it doesn't say where the log is and the couple places I see where Macrium puts logs nothing is mentioned in those log files about errors.

Anyway, I then also tried AOMEI and EASEUS and both of those failed to make an image. So I'm now using Karen's replicator and it merely uses a Copy function, which, as you can imagine, with 800 GB is taking a couple days! I should have run some test on the disc before I started, It's a 1.5GB spinner, but I will after the copying is done.

The disc is full of images my wife uses for her art. jpg, Nikon Raw files, Canon Raw files, Photoshop PSD files. and is painfully slow to access as many are over 50MB in size.

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I did find a solution in one of these forums and that is to use an elevated CMD and type net stop vss then type net start vss. Doing that allowed Macrium to backup properly.

I imagine that SyncToy just copies and pastes like Replicator so speed would be the same. I don't know if putting an image of this partition on a large SSD would speed up access to the pictures or not. It would be a $180 experiment.
John

I want to start syncing large Reflect backup files stored on an internal hard drive with an external USB drive so I have another copy stored elsewhere. Is SyncToy a good utility for this or is there a better free tool more suited to the task? Note the download links given don't work.