Loss of Windows 10 Briefcase

Discuss new features and functions
Posts: 1
Joined: 26 Jul 2017

tquinn

I've been an avid user of the Windows Briefcase for many years. Unfortunately, Microsoft has just removed that tool from Windows 10 with the latest "Creators" update.

I saw a comment that suggested that FreeFileSync might be a good replacement for Windows Briefcase. But as I looked over the FAQs and tutorials, I didn't see an answer to my specific question. So here it is:

With Windows Briefcase, I could pick and choose individual folders or subfolders, and even individual files, from my desktop computer, and place them in a Windows Briefcase on a jump drive. This permitted me to only bring along those files I would expect to use for my work, hence allowing me to collect a reduced set of files and folders that would fit on my 32 GB jump drive (I have over 100 GB of data files on my desktop computer). I might put into the Briefcase some top level fully populated folders, and I might just bring only 5 of 20 subfolders that were in a different top level folder on the desktop computer. And I might just take one single file from somewhere down in another top level folder.

After collecting those selected files in the Briefcase, I plug the jump drive into my laptop to do remote work, and save all changes to the files on the jump drive. When I'm done and return home, I plug the jump drive into the desktop computer, and do an "Update All" to replace the changed files back to the desktop computer.

I can see how FreeFileSync might work if I kept the folder structure on the source drive (in my case, the desktop computer) exactly the same as on the desktop computer. But if I did that, I wouldn't be able to get all of the 100 GB+ data on the 32GB jump drive.

I haven't yet seen where I could use FreeFileSync to manage the "briefcase-like" subset of a computer's folders and files as I've been doing. Am I correct that FreeFilesSync cannot do what I want, of is there a way to get that done with this tool?
User avatar
Posts: 2290
Joined: 22 Aug 2012

Plerry

You can define multiple left-right folder pairs,
and next to that you can use include-and/or exclude filters.
That might bring you close to where you want to be.

If you use multiple left-right folder pairs, you can use global filters
(applicable to all of the multiple left-right folder pairs) and/or
local include- and/or exclude filters (applicable per specific left-right folder pair)