FreeFileSync Forum

> Is the donation a once-off amount or does the software deactivate the Donation Version after a period of time? In the past, your donation would expire after a time depending on the amount you donated. This did not mean your software would deactivate; it would continue to work indefinitely, but you...

It is as xCSxXenon says. RealTimeSync (RTS) does not have any timing schedule to trigger its command line (normally an FFS sync). So, there must be something (a program, virus scanner or whatever) that creates a change that triggers RTS to launch its command line. You can use the %change_action% env...

> but I now have a backup

No, you now have a copy.
That is something different than a backup.

> If not, can I compare a subfolder while uploading to the root folder?

FFS first runs a Compare on the entire tree in scope of the sync.
And only after that Compare has finished, you can review the proposed sync actions and (if OK) start the sync.

> is it anyhow possible to compare on filenames

FreeFileSync (FFS) only compares left and right-side files that have identical names (and are in identical folders with respect to the left and right base locations). FFS doe never compare files of different names.

External drives normally do not have a Recycle-bin. In some cases (e.g. some NASs) they do/can have a recycle-bin, but not one that FFS is aware of. For external drives is then best/simplest to use Versioning. That is always to a self-selected location, that should be accessible by FFS. Regarding yo...

Yep

> ... so my best final settings would be Mirror Variant + Permanent Delete. What do you think? Am I correct? If you feel you may never have the need to restore a file you accidentally deleted from your LEFT location and then ran your Mirror sync, or feel that you never mess up and may want to restor...

> One last question: ... will always be valid and will be updated with the new release version to download? Yep! But note: the donation link-page will always provide the latest FFS version; there is no "archive" of previous donation versions available. So, if you feel you ever may have the...

There is no need to uninstall your previous edition.

From what you describe, Mirror seems to be the way to go.
Only if you would select the Custom variant you can change the Action for the Difference categories;
for the pre-defined variants they are fixed.
For "Delete and overwrite", choose the method fitting your needs/requirements.

Clear now! Note that there are further differences between the Mirror and Update sync variant. For the Category "Right side is newer": The action for Mirror is "Update right item", thereby overwriting the right-side item with the older left-side item. The action for Update is &qu...

> ... I think I found out that the correct setting for me would be the Mirror variant and not the Update variant, mainly because of the last option regarding the item existing only on the right side that I want to be deleted. The last part of your line above is a bit unclear, but: Look at the descri...

> As I have only text files in all folders this is good news and hope thats will be working. I answered that FFS can/does NOT do what you describe. Even not when the files involved are plain text files. The script/batch file I am referring to, would be a self created cmd/com, PowerShell, Basic or wh...

The layout of your FreeFileSync (FFS) GUI looks "messed up" (e.g. not showing your left and right base location(s) ). You can reset the FFS GUI layout via Tools / Reset Layout. For seeing the "content" of your sync locations, you first need to run a Compare. After that, by defaul...

If you use the Mirror sync variant, any files pre-existing in your destination/target (right-side) location that do not, or no longer, exist in your source (left-side) location, will be deleted from your target location. If you use the TwoWay sync variant, after running the first sync, any files del...

1) and 2) Not possible. FreefIleSync (FFS) can not merge files. But even batch/script files could only do that if the file-content would be plain text or plain text based. 3) and 4) Also not possible. And even harder than a plain merge, as the overlap between file-content would need to be determined...

Sorry, xCSxXenon is right. I made a confusing typo.
My second folder pair should have read:
C:\folder1 => E:\folder1

By default, FFS uses "Fail-safe file copy" (found in the FFS Options). This creates an overhead compared to "simply copying and pasting files", especially if pre-existing files are overwritten by your sync. And obviously, in case you would have set the VerifyCopiedFiles flag to T...

Your problem description is not completely clear (at least to me). > But for some file, always the same files, it asks for copy even if they are identical and the cloud version is newer This part is clear: If you run a Mirror sync from D:\[SomePath1] to P:\[SomePath2], after a sync the content of P:...

Yes you can. Simply define multiple left-right folder pairs , e.g. a first pair: C:\folder1 => D:\folder1 and a second pair: C:\folder1 => D:\folder1 You should only do this when using a Mirror or Update sync variant, because these variants do not modify the content of their left-side locations. And...

> ... is there a way to copy and rename the source file, ... For FreeFileSync (FFS) the short answer is: no! You can however use Versioning , that lets you retain deleted or overwritten files in a user specified location, as many versions as you want and as long as you want. And (by default) nicely ...

Amen

Consider using RealTimeSync (RTS)

The function of RealTimeSync is to execute a command line each time it detects changes in one of the monitored directories, or when a directory becomes available (e. g. insert of a USB-stick). Usually this command line will trigger a FreeFileSync batch job.

> ... I want instantaneous sync Apparently not, because you want to have the opportunity to change the filename first. The only option is then to create the file in a folder that is outside the folder tree(s) being monitored by RealTimeSync (RTS), then change the filename, and only then move the fil...

> ... so before syncing for the first time I copied all the files in Windows Explorer ... As FFS copied 206MB and still intends to copy 12.9GB, it seems that, unless the changes to your left-side location are quite substantial since your copying in Windows Explorer, FFS intends to re-copy the entire...

You don't need to use the Credential Manager. You can choose to always enter the username and password manually, and select NOT to save it for later (re)use. Or simply run your syncs as a different user; the safer way to go anyway. See e.g. the second part of this reply . Regarding using a Password ...

Obviously, you can still check if the lost data is still there; in whole or in part.

> If you had offered help, ... , my posts would never have even headed towards ranting. Before your reply of March 25, you never asked for help other than the hypothetical "How do I recover my lost music?", and even that only after putting the blame at the program ("I have lost hundre...

Don't know, so better recover from the recycle before running another sync ...
Or doing anything else on your PC ...