HELP!!!

[majex45]

I have downloaded Freefilesync and wanted to add some new music to my backup hard drive from a USB stick (about 8 GB) onto a 300GB hard disc (with about 150 GB of music already on it).
I selected Mirror (ie send data from USB stick to hard drive but not the other way around) and Freefilesync has deleted everything from my hard drive and put on the contents of the USB stick (150 GB lost and 8 GB added).
How can a program allow such a catastrophic action without several layers of warnings????????????
I can recover the files but they are no longer in the correct folders (Led Zeppelin > Masters> Whole Lotta Love) but hundreds of individual files, randomly aranged.
I have lost hundreds of hours of work due to a stupid program.
How do I recover my lost music?

[majex45]

Surely Freefilesunc is working on a solution. How soon will we have it?

[xCSxXenon]

FFS did exactly what you said to do. When you select to "mirror" the source to the destination, and the source has a certain set of files and nothing else, FFS will make the destination have the same set of files and nothing else, mirroring the source.
Here's the lessons to takeaway:
- Read documentation
- Have backups
- Run tests

As someone who does data recovery professionally, you are best off taking it to get looked at by a professional. You can try some free software solutions. The professional will have a better chance at retrieving the structure. The more you use the drive, recover chances and quality go down. You may be have gone too far already by trying to recover on your own. Using a tool like ddrescue to first clone the drive-bit-for-bit is my #1 rule.
Good luck

[majex45]

I still think there should be a warning that you are about to delete data from the target drive, it is non inituitive. Not difficult to add the warning I imagine, and at least one other on here has done the same thing as me.
It is easy for a professional to say "it has done what you asked" but a non-techie would not know it is possible let alone so easy to delete so much data.
I have managed to recover the data thanks to Recuva which has a tickbox which allows you to save in the original folder structure. Thanks Mozilla. Think again Freefilesync.
I used to use Alwaysync which was great until it became Bestsync when it became too difficult to use. Is this a conspiracy of professionals to make us amateur, non-techies use thier services?

[Zenju]

FreeFileSync did show a warning, which you apparently missed:

The following folders are significantly different. Please check that the correct folders are selected for synchronization.

The warning is triggered when more than 50% of items will be created or deleted.

[majex45]

Yes, I knew they were significantly different otherwise I would not need to synchronise them. I was trying to add extra files (and folders) to a lot of original data. They were the correct folders that I needed to synchronise.
Nothing said "There is a lot of data on the target drive - we are going to delete it"
When I look in a "mirror" at home I can see myself - a giant death ray does not come out and destroy the original.
Stop trying to justify poor programming, treat your users as humans; apologise and fix it.

[Zenju]

You deliberately selected "Mirror", which is not the default option, without understanding what it does.

You did not check the statistics about file deletion shown at the bottom at the screen, and a second time in the popup where you confirm the synchronization.

Also, you did not look at the main grid that is showing all file operations before they are executed, which is basically the whole point of this sync tool.

[majex45]

You deliberately selected "Mirror", which is not the default option, without understanding what it does.

You did not check the statistics about file deletion shown at the bottom at the screen, and a second time in the popup where you confirm the synchronization.

Also, you did not look at the main grid that is showing all file operations before they are executed, which is basically the whole point of this sync tool.

I selected the option that would only send data from the USB to the hard drive.
I confirmed I wanted to SYNCHRONISE the data.
I must have seen the main grid and not understood what it meant - another sign of poor design.
Just admit - there should be a Microsoft type warning "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE A WHOLE HARD DRIVE OF DATA?" or "SAYING YES AT THIS POINT WILL DELETE 150Mb OF DATA - ARE YOU SURE?" It is not difficult and (at least) two people have been caught out by this problem. That's two too many.
It is very easy to feel smug that a newbie or two have crashed all their data but good software design does not allow incompetent people to make such severe mistakes. Please fix it before someone loses their college dissertation or patient records. For heaven' sake this is so easy to do I don't understand why you don't do it. Is it because of liability issues or is it because you like to feel superior to the rubes who shouldn't be allowed to operate a computer anyway?

[majex45]

If I remember rightly (and I am now too frightened to open the software) the default sends data in both directions. Thus I would have sent 150Mb to a 16 Gb USB disk. Would that have deleted everything from both disks?

[majex45]

If I remember rightly (and I am now too frightened to open the software) the default sends data in both directions. Thus I would have sent 150Mb to a 16 Gb USB disk. Would that have deleted everything from both disks?

I just tried it again using two small USB drives. The default is MIRROR and I got this message.

Untitled 1.odt

(124.89 KiB) Downloaded 489 times

[majex45]

Not sure if I got this message the first time. Maybe yes, maybe no. If so I still don't know what the message means.
I read it as "you cannot delete this data to the recycle bin".
Well I didn't want to delete it to the recycle bin so it seemed fine.
I have found (by trial and error) that you can change from the default "Synchronise MIRROR" to "synchronise UPDATE" which seems to do what I wanted in the first place. But this is NOT THE DEFAULT on my version.

[xCSxXenon]

lmao Another one lost to RTFM

[majex45]

lmao Another one lost to RTFM

No,lost to AOMEI. IMAO is far too correct for me to say.

A warning is not too much to ask, surely?

[xCSxXenon]

FreeFileSync did show a warning, which you apparently missed:

The following folders are significantly different. Please check that the correct folders are selected for synchronization.

The warning is triggered when more than 50% of items will be created or deleted.

[majex45]

FreeFileSync did show a warning, which you apparently missed:

The following folders are significantly different. Please check that the correct folders are selected for synchronization.

The warning is triggered when more than 50% of items will be created or deleted.

I have already answered this one.
I KNOW the two folders are significantly different. The warning does not say "This program is about to delete all your data" Nothing was mentioned about DELETE. I wouldn't have continued if the word DELETE had been applied to my data. I was trying to add lots of data to lots of different date. What I didn't expect is the program to delete everything that is not on the smaller, destination drive.
God! How many times to I have to say this. There shoud be a LARGE warning "This program is going to delete your life's work due to the strange syntax used to describe what you are trying to do."
Stop trying to justify this error and provide a proper warning for those who do not have a degree in computer science.

[majex45]

Perhaps one or two of you geniuses will describe what settings I SHOULD have used.
Let me explain again what I was trying to achieve:
I have a hard drive with lots of music ripped from CD. This in in the form of Artists>Albums>Tracks in alphabetical order; ie Abba is before Bjork is before Clannad etc. In turn Abba's Greatest Hits is before Arrival etc.
On a separate USB stick I have music ripped in the same format but not the same music as that on the Hard drive. This was ripped later, ie not at the same time as the foregoing music.
I want to add the music from the USB stick to the Hard Drive music so that additional albums by Abba go in the Abba folder, Bjork in Bjork etc etc.
I obviously (do you understand this?) DO NOT want to delete all the music I have previously put on the hard drive.
This was a simple operation using Alwaysync but they have been taken over by Bestsync and the GUI (here I go, using tech speak I barely understand) has become very difficult to use- hence my foray into Freefilesync. What settings shoud I use and why?

[Plerry]

In your case, the suitable sync variant is the Update variant.
This will copy every left-side item to the right, if that item only exists on the left side (similar to the Mirror variant),
will overwrite existing right-side items, if the left-side item is newer (similar to the Mirror variant),
will do nothing, if the right-side item is newer (different from the Mirror variant),
and will do nothing, if the item exists on the right side only (different from the Mirror variant).

For each of the variants, in your Synchronization settings (F8) you can see the Action that will be proposed for each of the Difference categories. By hoovering your mouse over a Difference or Action icon, you should see a popup text explaining the meaning of the Difference category, respectively corresponding Action.
If none of the available pre-defined variants (Two-way, Mirror or Update) suits you needs, you can always define a Custom sync variant, where you can select your own Action for each of the Difference categories, by clicking on the Action icon below a Difference category.

[Zenju]

Perhaps one or two of you geniuses will describe what settings I SHOULD have used.

You're just too kind, Plerry. But at this point, this topic is just an excuse for majex45 to vent, and doesn't deserve more responses.

[majex45]

In your case, the suitable sync variant is the Update variant.
This will copy every left-side item to the right, if that item only exists on the left side (similar to the Mirror variant),
will overwrite existing right-side items, if the left-side item is newer (similar to the Mirror variant),
will do nothing, if the right-side item is newer (different from the Mirror variant),
and will do nothing, if the item exists on the right side only (different from the Mirror variant).

For each of the variants, in your Synchronization settings (F8) you can see the Action that will be proposed for each of the Difference categories. By hoovering your mouse over a Difference or Action icon, you should see a popup text explaining the meaning of the Difference category, respectively corresponding Action.
If none of the available pre-defined variants (Two-way, Mirror or Update) suits you needs, you can always define a Custom sync variant, where you can select your own Action for each of the Difference categories, by clicking on the Action icon below a Difference category.

Hi Plerry,
Thank you for your comprehensive and helpful reply. I now understand which option I should choose - and why. However my original point remains valid. A warning should be offered if someone is trying to do something stupid- like delete 150 Gb of data.
Once again, thank you for your helpful reply.
Majex45

[majex45]

Perhaps one or two of you geniuses will describe what settings I SHOULD have used.

You're just too kind, Plerry. But at this point, this topic is just an excuse for majex45 to vent, and doesn't deserve more responses.

If you had offered help, like Plerry, instead of gloating about how clever you are and how stupid I am, my posts would never have even headed towards ranting.
Thank you again Plerry.

[Plerry]

> 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 hundreds of hours of work due to a stupid program."), instead of where it belongs: at yourself.

I understand your frustration, but it is only the result of own doing by:
1) Not reading the manual AND
2) Not watching the tutorials AND
3) See below AND
4) After running the Compare, not checking if the proposed sync actions met your expectations AND
5) Ignoring the warning you DID receive. That is the one you wrote about "A warning should be offered if someone is trying to do something stupid"

3) Changing the sync variant from the default TwoWay into Mirror.
After installing the program, and for all new syncs, the default IS TwoWay.
The settings you checked, are for the Last Session (top left Configuration window), or for any saved sync configurations shown there in which you changed it from the default. If any of those show a different sync variant than TwoWay, it is the result of your own doing.

[majex45]

> 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 hundreds of hours of work due to a stupid program."), instead of where it belongs: at yourself.

I understand your frustration, but it is only the result of own doing by:
1) Not reading the manual AND
2) Not watching the tutorials AND
3) See below AND
4) After running the Compare, not checking if the proposed sync actions met your expectations AND
5) Ignoring the warning you DID receive. That is the one you wrote about "A warning should be offered if someone is trying to do something stupid"

3) Changing the sync variant from the default TwoWay into Mirror.
After installing the program, and for all new syncs, the default IS TwoWay.
The settings you checked, are for the Last Session (top left Configuration window), or for any saved sync configurations shown there in which you changed it from the default. If any of those show a different sync variant than TwoWay, it is the result of your own doing.

Sorry Perry, I did ask for help in my very first post. "How do I recover the data?" (I paraphrase). Why is my question "hypothetical", I wanted information to solve a REAL situation, not a hypothetical one.
A hypothetical one would be "If I were to use Mirror, will this delete all my data on the target drive?"
I wanted to know if freefilesync could undo what had been done. No one has yet told me it cannot in so many words although, due to the vehemence of the replies, it cannot.
I did not want two way sync, obviously, as 150Mb of data would not fit onto the 8Gb USB stick.
"Mirror" to my mind is not a very good description of the effects of the program. If I look into a mirror I see myself and my image obliterates the area I cover, it does not obliterate the walls,windows and furniture in the of the rest of the room. ie the 8GB would alter older versions to the newer version but leave everything else intact.
"Mirror" in FFS (Ah, the penny has dropped where the name came from), replaces everything in the room with your reflection, in a vacuum. Spooky. This woud be a good plot for a sci-fi story.

Anyway, let's assume I was stupid for trusting a programme to do what (in my mind) seems logical. At least one other person has contacted the forum with the same problem, can we agree this is two too many and put a warning that even computer illiterate people can understand?
I am not a techie, my interest lies in the music,not in the computer. For those who love programming and (also) those who love telling non-techies how stupid they are, good luck to you but please spare a thought for those less fortunate than yorselves.

[majex45]

I have just viewed the introductory tutorial again. Just as I thought, the lady uses "one way mirror" with no mention that it would delete everything that was originally on the target drive.

[majex45]

I have just viewed the introductory tutorial again. Just as I thought, the lady uses "one way mirror" with no mention that it would delete everything that was originally on the target drive.

It has gone suspiciously quiet. Was I imagining things or does the tutorial tell me to do exactly what I did?

[WonderingAboutThat]

I'm a new user and your experience certainly raises red flags for me. I'm curious, did you select a specific folder within your external hard drive to place the music in from your usb drive (for example, you create a folder in your external drive that's titled "USB Music" and then select that folder for the one way mirror? Or did you select the main external drive by itself to transfer the music to?

Did you choose the one direction mirror, going only from the source to the target?

I used it for the first time and it seemed to work fine for me with the one direction mirror transfer, moving one folder from my desktop to a specific folder on my external.

[majex45]

I'm a new user and your experience certainly raises red flags for me. I'm curious, did you select a specific folder within your external hard drive to place the music in from your usb drive (for example, you create a folder in your external drive that's titled "USB Music" and then select that folder for the one way mirror? Or did you select the main external drive by itself to transfer the music to?

Did you choose the one direction mirror, going only from the source to the target?

I used it for the first time and it seemed to work fine for me with the one direction mirror transfer, moving one folder from my desktop to a specific folder on my external.

I followed the tutorial. I selected the complete USB stick to go to the hard drive. The files were not in a folder such as "music"on either drive.
So when I open the hard drive I see the artists list folders with the album folders inside and the tracks (files) inside that.
One direction mirror as shown in the tutorial.

[WonderingAboutThat]

Sorry to hear that mate. Must be frustrating.

[majex45]

Sorry to hear that mate. Must be frustrating.

Yes, I had many people telling me how stupid I was to do it wrong. Now I have quoted the tutorial no one seems interested any more.
Allwaysync (now Bestsync) have told me how I can use that program so I think I'll go back to them.

[xCSxXenon]

LOL
That video literally says
A "mirror" synchronization determines the differences between a source and a target folder, then copies and deletes files on the target folder as needed until it has become an exact copy of the source
No one said you were stupid, just that you made a mistake. Now I'm calling you stupid, because it literally explains it in the FIRST 25 seconds! That's awesome

I hope Bestsync is designed to ignore what the user tells it to do, otherwise you'll have the same problems as you fail to comprehend simple concepts

[majex45]

LOL
That video literally says
A "mirror" synchronization determines the differences between a source and a target folder, then copies and deletes files on the target folder as needed until it has become an exact copy of the source
No one said you were stupid, just that you made a mistake. Now I'm calling you stupid, because it literally explains it in the FIRST 25 seconds! That's awesome

I hope Bestsync is designed to ignore what the user tells it to do, otherwise you'll have the same problems as you fail to comprehend simple concepts

Yes, you are correct, I missed the word "Delete" in the tutorial (it is a little indistinct on the soundtrack and could be emphasised a little more) and forgive me but I cannot find a one way synchronisation (update?) on the tutorial. Where will I find it?
I may not have heard the tutorial correctly but I still contend that "Mirror" does not describe what the program does. Mirrors do not delete things. Part of the image is replaced with a newer image but the background is not deleted. Look in a mirror and you will see that the rest of the room is still there.
Allwaysync (now Bestsync) does not delete the existing data; it just updates with the new information. In my case it adds tracks, albums or artists as necessary. It does NOT delete everything in the background.
I will stick with Allwaysync as this is easier for a non-techie to understand and did not need a tutorial to allow me to use it, unsupervised.
Farewell, I hope you all feel suitably smug in your superiority.