Automatic Sync and Open Command Window

[alanbo]

This is a great piece of software - just what I needed to keep two laptops in sync. I managed to set up automatic syncing with the help of mfreedberg, 25 Jan 2013, 23:19 in the Help forum and his/her very useful two scenarios.

I managed to set up suppression of the popup window with the help of hiroo916, 17 Jun 2014, 08:25, also in the Help forum, and also an illustration in an article called "How to Run FreeFileSync's RealtimeSync 24/7 as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp" from Core Technologies Consulting.

However, I am not very tech savvy, I was disappointed to read the advice to RTFM, because although I managed to set up all the above I didn't understand the reasons for everything I was doing - not very au fait with command line, batch files, etc.

What I cannot figure out from the manual or forum posts is this: when RealTimeSync is running there is a command window running with this text in it: C:\windows\System32>"c:\program files\freefilesync\RealTimeSync.exe" "c:\myscripts\MyRealTimeSyncSetup.ffs_real", and task manager shows the Windows Command Processor with sub processes:

Console Window Host
RealTimeSync - Real-Tme Command Line Launcher
RealTimeSync - Real-Tme Command Line Launcher (32 bit)
Windows Command Processor

Sometimes there are two FreeFileSync - Folder Comparison and Synchronisation processes as well, one 32 bit and one not. Sometimes one or more of these processes are greyed out.

Does this command window have to stay open? If I close it then all the processes are terminated, and no sync occurs. Why are there two RealTimeSync and FreeFileSync processes - one sometimes greyed out? Is there any way that this popup window can be suppressed?

[taob]

Yes, the console windows will appear by default when a command is being run. You can minimize the windows to get them out of the way, but if you close them any programs running in them (like RealTimeSync) will also be terminated. The FFS manual does mention a way to prevent the console window from appearing, but it's a fairly advanced technique. You may want to enlist the aid of somebody local to help you with it if you can't figure it out. The details are here, in the very last blue "Note" box at the bottom of the page:

https://freefilesync.org/manual.php?topic=realtimesync

[Zenju]

Yes, the console windows will appear by default when a command is being run.

This shouldn't be the case, unless you've put a console application there. (e.g. as implicitly invoked by a .cmd or .bat file)

[taob]

OP mentioned command lines and batch files, so it sounds like perhaps one of the threads he found has instructions to do it that way.

[alanbo]

I asked this question elswhere, but it didn't get answered:

The RealTimeSync icon in the taskbar has a message "Waiting until all directories are available". I'm currently syncing 2 PCs - I may want to sync 3 PCs in the future. Does this message mean that all 3 PCs would need to be on for sync to occur, or will sync occur if only 2 of the PCs are on, i.e. some directories are available, not all directories are available?

The FFS manual does mention a way to prevent the console window from appearing, but it's a fairly advanced technique.

Zenju referred me to this section of the manual, but it was too advanced for me.

After a bit of research I added the line "echo off" at the start of both .bat files. This resulted in only one command window opening when the PC starts up - see pic. This can be closed without it stopping the RealTimeSync processes running, so automatic sync continues.

freefilesync.JPG (27.5 KiB) Viewed 1325 times