Since I had some problems getting started with version 3.1, partly due to that
user documentation for FreeFileSync is sparse and a bit difficult to find, I
think I should give some hints here that other new users might find helpful.
User Documentation is in the Readme file, available from the Windows Start
menu after installation.
To get started with (for example) synching a folder from the hard disk to a
memory stick, proceed as follows:
1. Create an empty folder on the memory
stick where you want the synced
folder to be.
2. Start FreeFileSync. The intended use is to always first make a Compare, then a Synchronise. However, the first time you must proceed a little differently, as is described below.
3. Enter the location of the memory stick folder and the hard disk folder in the left and right sides. You can do this by dragging&dropping each folder onto FreeFileSync. It is possible to add more folder pairs to the configurtaion using the green +-button at the right side, but perhaps you should try things out with a single folder pair first.
4. At this point, consider saving the configuration using the button with a red arrow in the lower right corner (FreeFileSync will prompt you to save when exiting, but better safe than sorry!)
5. Now, you obviously want to make a first Compare, to see if the tool will do what you expect. So, press the Compare button. IMPORTANT: In version 3.1 you would now typically get an error popup saying that "There is no database file yet". You should Ignore this error, so that the Compare proceeds. Now you should see all the files in the hard disk folder, and an indication that the tool will copy them from the hard disk to the memory stick. Check this carefully.
6. Now it is time to synchronise. Press the Synchronize button. FreeFileSync will indicate the copying progress. When this has completed, you might want to check that all the files have been copied, and perhaps experiment a bit to see that changes, new files and deletions are synchronised the way you expect.
7. From now on you are all set. To make an automatic sync of changes, deletions and new files on either the hard disk or the memory stick, start FreeFileSync, do a Compare (check that it looks OK), then do a Synchronize (IMPORTANT: always do a Compare first, or else Synchronize will not know exactly what copying that needs to be done - a little counter-inituitive, but that is how the tool works)
8. If you wish to automate things a bit, FreeFileSync can make a "batch file" for you under the Advanced menu. Details on how to invoke FreeFileSync batch files are given in the Readme file (from the Windows Start menu).
That is it, the use of the tool should now be pretty much self-explanatory and
intuitive.
Good luck!
Getting Started (version 3.1)
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- Site Admin
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Two small remarks:
> Create an empty folder on the memory stick where you want the synced
folder to be.
This step can be simplified: It's sufficient to enter the new directory as
target (even though it does not yet exist, just ignore the error during
comparison). It will be created automatically during sync.
> IMPORTANT: always do a Compare first,
There shouldn't be a way to do things wrong here, as sync-button is active not
before after comparison.
> Create an empty folder on the memory stick where you want the synced
folder to be.
This step can be simplified: It's sufficient to enter the new directory as
target (even though it does not yet exist, just ignore the error during
comparison). It will be created automatically during sync.
> IMPORTANT: always do a Compare first,
There shouldn't be a way to do things wrong here, as sync-button is active not
before after comparison.
