FreeFileSync Forum

As you noticed, I forgot to add the /w or /wait option to at least the first two start-commands in the batch script of my previous reply.
See e.g. https://ss64.com/nt/start.html

Do not add /w or /wait to the FFS On Completion command-line, when using that route.

It is only possible to Exclude files and/or folders (and their child-folders) based on their (own) name.
It is not possible to (automatically) Exclude a parent folder based on the name of any of the files or folders it contains matching a name or pattern.

If those tilde-files do not just start with a tilde ( ~ ), but with a tilde+dollar sign ( ~$ ) they are most likely remnants of Microsoft Office files, generally caused by improper termination of an MS Office application (e.g. a forced system restart). You should then be able to recognize the file e...

I don't know MAC, but if those packages/folders behave like folders in Windows, then just like in Windows FFS may simply not be able to retain folder modification timestamps.
See here.

If you want to run your left-right folder-pair Compare and Sync in sequence per pair, you can either • Run a batch/cmd file that starts your sync jobs in sequence, waiting for the previous job to end before starting the next sync job (via the "start" command). Something like start "C:...

By default, the FFS save-location for log-files is C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Roaming\FreeFileSync\Logs
So, you must have changed that previously.

@dpeteual:
Why literally repeat exactly what is described in the manual?

> ... because of the stupid and wrong registration ... That is quite presumptuous The only thing fair to say is that there is a mismatch between the way the FFS donation edition tries to enforce installation on just a fair (non-excessive) amount of computers and some less common OSs that continuousl...

> ... as this program allows multiple sets of information to be mirrored in one easier operation The feature of using multiple left-right pairs is already present in the standard (non-donation) edition of FFS, and is unrelated to the Parallel file feature present in the donation-edition (and the Bus...

As described, Update seems to be the way to go for syncing OldFiles => OldFilesBackup . > how ... to trigger a process that will empty the "OldFiles" folder without messing up the newly-updated "OldFilesBackup" folder. FFS does not seem capable of emptying OldFiles for you. Inste...

> There's probably an easier/more direct way ...

In the GUI of the installed FFS donation edition, go to Help / Check for updates now.
The screen that appears has a button "Home page".

There was nothing attached, but:
https://freefilesync.org/manual.php?topic=volume-shadow-copy
But is sounds strange that an exe-file would be locked, because exe-files generally do not get changed when in use.

> I still don't get it, because I need this particular folder to be treated differently then the rest of the sync. So I need to specify the folder in the rules. As per my previous reply, I don't understand what goes wrong. If all else fails, because " I need this particular folder to be treated...

See here.
So, it seems you would need to exclude *: without the folder-name part in front of it.
However, if that turns out to be true, I fail to see the logic behind it.

What does the log-file tell you?

> Then, on Windows, map a drive to the Mac SMB share. Run FFS and choose the appropriate drive letter. You can also access network drives without mapping them. In FFS's location bar type in the network folder address you want such as \\[NetworkComputerName]\[SharedFolderName] or \\[NetworkComputer-I...

Normally (normal) users don't have write access to system folders like \Program Files\.
Simply extract all content of the FFS installer ZIP-file to a single folder where you have write access, and install from there.

I assume you will be running FFS on either your Mac or your Windows machine. In that case, you only need to share your to-be-synced folder(s) on the machine on which you do not run FFS. In my view, the simplest would be sharing via the SMB protocol. Further info https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-h...

As you can see when comparing the listed features of the donation vs the business edition silent installation is only a feature of the business edition.
So, the error notification is correct.

... EDIT: I would suggest to add ability to give each pair a nickname for easier distinguishing because sometimes both folders have the same name, and drive letters is not practical to remember each time You sort of can. You could save each left-right folder pair as an individual *.ffs_gui or *ffs_...

... because the next change will then catch all that was missed earlier. ... True in essence, but worded a bit imprecise. After the RTS-launched FFS sync has ended, the next change in the RTS monitored folder(s) will make RTS launch a renewed FFS sync. This renewed FFS sync will then "catch al...

> And for which purpose is the Option "comparsion"?... What about being able to detect which files require sync actions ... Besides that: "comparison" is not an Option; it is a mandatory step in the flow of running a sync. The only thing "optional" about it is the compa...

> RTS still detects changes even if a sync is actively running, as far as I can tell. From the RTS Manual page Limitations: ... While RealTimeSync is executing the command line, monitoring for changed files is temporarily inactive. So, if your RTS command-line is set to execute an FFS sync, RTS is s...

Your picture shows that: • There are 511 files equal between your left and right location • There are 393 files in your right location that are not (yet) present in your left location, and FFS intends to copy righ-to-left. • There are 11 conflicts between your left and right-side, that FFS can not r...

If you hoover your mouse over the icon mid between a left- and right-side file in the Compare results window, it will tell you why FFS thinks it should take the proposed action on that file. But there also seems to be an issue that (at least presently) FFS is showing the same icons for moving or ren...

FFS is a sync tool, not a de-doubler or cleanup tool.

> It seems to be more efficient to have these files on the source as opposed to the backup, this way they would end up on both the source and the backup. And the user would not be faced with creating new configuration files which may be different than the originals. You are completely free to choose...

To the extent possible, FFS does preserve the modification date. However, there are some protocols (e.g. some (S)FTP flavors) that simply do not support preservation of the modification date, or the implementation of some protocols is shaky (e.g. most notable the MTP implementation in quite some And...

Such connection between Laptop/Desktop and Android phone uses the MTP protocol.
And the implementation of the MTP protocol on quite some Android phones "sucks".
search.php?keywords=mtp

What was your "Delete and overwrite" setting (Synchronization Setting, F8) That setting defaults to Recycle Bin, in which case you should be able to recover files from there, if available. If you changed that setting into Permanent, you only hope is a suitable recovery tool. If you changed...