Hi everyone! I'm hoping someone can help me select a job type and set it up to do what I want to do:
I have a desktop computer where my music library is stored. It is a very large library.
I also have a laptop, which is the computer that I use on a daily basis. I frequently purchase and download media / music using the laptop, and then I want to send my new files to the desktop to back them up.
I do NOT want to mirror the drive, obviously. I want to keep what I've added to the laptop, and ADD it to the desktop.
The closest function I can figure out so far is to use COMPARE to find the files that aren't on the desktop yet, and then transfer them over.
Is there a way to automate that process even more? So freefilesync will just copy the stuff over automatically? I don't need this to be a watch folder per se, I am fine with starting the process when I want it to happen.
thanks in advance.
help setting up a job - first timer
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- Joined: 8 Mar 2017
The synchronisation type you want is "Update >" "Update" will copy new and updated files from the Left Side to the Right Side. Make your laptop music folder the Left Side and your desktop computer music folder the Right Side.
So that you can see how this works test it first by making test folders and sub-folders on the laptop and desktop computer, each with content you are using only for test purposes. A few minutes of testing in that way and the penny will drop on how the Update synchronisation works. Broadly "Update" works like this:
(1) If there is a new file on the Left Side that doesn't exist on the Right Side, the file will be added to the Right Side.
(2) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side and both have the same time-stamp, nothing will happen.
(3) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side but the file on the Left Side has a later time-stamp (i.e. is newer) than the file on the Right Side then the file on the Left Side will be copied (to overwrite) the file on the Right Side.
(4) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side but the file on the Right Side has a later time-stamp than the file on the Left Side nothing will happen.
(5) If a file is deleted on the Left Side but still exists on the Right Side then nothing will happen. FFS will not delete the file from the Right Side.
(6) If a file exists on the Right Side but not on the Left Side FFS will not copy the file from the Right Side to the Left Side.
All in all, FFS Update Synchronisation is one-way, from Left to Right only - unless you manually intervene on a per-file basis and tell it to do something other than this default way of working. As said, test this for half an hour and you'll see how it works. Testing it first will also give you confidence that FFS will handle the file copies in a way that is desirable to you. Straightforward really.
P.S. "Compare" doesn't actually do anything with respect to actually copying files. If you press the Compare button then you will just be given a list of files and information on how FFS intends to handle those files. Also there is useful button at the bottom of the FFS window where you can toggle Show/Hide files that won't be copied. This is very useful for dealing with very large file lists where you don't need to view files that won't be copied.
So that you can see how this works test it first by making test folders and sub-folders on the laptop and desktop computer, each with content you are using only for test purposes. A few minutes of testing in that way and the penny will drop on how the Update synchronisation works. Broadly "Update" works like this:
(1) If there is a new file on the Left Side that doesn't exist on the Right Side, the file will be added to the Right Side.
(2) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side and both have the same time-stamp, nothing will happen.
(3) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side but the file on the Left Side has a later time-stamp (i.e. is newer) than the file on the Right Side then the file on the Left Side will be copied (to overwrite) the file on the Right Side.
(4) If there is a same-name file on the Left and Right Side but the file on the Right Side has a later time-stamp than the file on the Left Side nothing will happen.
(5) If a file is deleted on the Left Side but still exists on the Right Side then nothing will happen. FFS will not delete the file from the Right Side.
(6) If a file exists on the Right Side but not on the Left Side FFS will not copy the file from the Right Side to the Left Side.
All in all, FFS Update Synchronisation is one-way, from Left to Right only - unless you manually intervene on a per-file basis and tell it to do something other than this default way of working. As said, test this for half an hour and you'll see how it works. Testing it first will also give you confidence that FFS will handle the file copies in a way that is desirable to you. Straightforward really.
P.S. "Compare" doesn't actually do anything with respect to actually copying files. If you press the Compare button then you will just be given a list of files and information on how FFS intends to handle those files. Also there is useful button at the bottom of the FFS window where you can toggle Show/Hide files that won't be copied. This is very useful for dealing with very large file lists where you don't need to view files that won't be copied.
