Hi,
let me show you a strange thing in Windows 10 version 1803.
In the first picture I am synchronizing for the first time folders '_Com_1' and '__Sincro__' from H: (pen drive) to F: (computer drive).
As you can see FFS is detecting 37k files (25 GB). It's all '_Com_1' since '__Sincro__' is negligible.
In the second picture there are properties of '_Com_1' as seen by Windows: only 13k files (4 GB). These are even different in F: and H:.
In the third picture I ask for properties selecting the whole content inside '_Com_1'. Numbers increase but are still not correct.
Folder '_Com_1' is actually 37k files as stated by FFS (and properties on a Windows 7 machine). And FFS carried out the synchronization correctly.
So, it's a Windows bug.
You can find a discussion about this here:
I also encountered this bug in my tests; to be precise, it's a bug in Windows Explorer for the lastest Win10. Since FreeFileSync has no affiliation with Explorer (thank goodness) it is not affected.
I've added this as a new item for: https://freefilesync.org/faq.php#explorer-mismatch
Thanks for the link!
Thank you for your post Zenju. I thought that the difference in file count between the source and target backup folders in Windows File Explorer Properties was at least in part due to the Exclude Filter. In any case, if the Compare in Filesync showed that the source and target folders matched perfectly after the sync, and there was a message after the sync that it was completed successfully, can we ignore the difference in file count between the source and target folders as shown in the File Explorer Properties and conclude that the sync is accurate and reliable and that there is nothing to be concerned about?
@Ted: Practially speaking, yes, but generally, I'd just find out what the mismatch is about. That's easy to do and doesn't take very long when you narrow down into a pair of mismatching folder counts. Maybe this even leads to a new item for the FAQ.
Zenju, I checked the mismatch for the Favorites folder which is one the folders that showed a mismatch. There were two more files in the source folder than in the target backup folder. Before doing the backup, I deleted all the conditions in the Exclude Filter, including desktop.ini. I found that one of the extra files in the source folder that was not copied to the backup was desktop.ini (in Favorites Bar subfolder). This suggests that Free FileSync did not back up desktop.ini even though this file was not in the Exclude Filter. Perhaps Windows won't let this file be backed up regardless of whether Free Filesync is set to exclude it or not. Is this something that you can test on your system to confirm whether this is a general principle or just occurred on my system?
I could not find the second file that was part of the mismatch but I suspect that it was also a hidden file that Windows will not allow to be backed up.
Also, Free File Sync renamed the Favorites Bar folder as Links folder. I am not sure if this is due to Windows or Free Filesync.
I found that one of the extra files in the source folder that was not copied to the backup was desktop.ini (in Favorites Bar subfolder).
Ted F, 19 Feb 2019, 01:58
Maybe you have a second filter set at folder pair level. Desktop.ini is listed correctly in my test with %csidl_Favorites%.
Also, Free File Sync renamed the Favorites Bar folder as Links folder. I am not sure if this is due to Windows or Free Filesync.
Ted F, 19 Feb 2019, 01:58
This is a localized path name (= Windows feature).
I assume that you are saying that you were able to backup desktop.ini by removing this file from the Exclude Filter. I only had one folder pair in my test. Where should I look for a second filter set at the folder level?
Zenju, an interesting thing occurred. In backing up my Favorites folder using a Mirror sync, if I clear the Exclude Filter "prior" to doing a Compare, then all of the files are backed up including the two desktop.ini files. If I do a Compare first and the clear the Exclude Filter, then only one of the two desktop.ini files is backed up. At that point, if I do another Compare, I see that LInk\desktop.ini is on the source side but not in the backup folder. If I then do another Mirror Sync, this second desktop.ini file gets successfully backed up. Thus whether all of the desktop.ini files get backed up the first time, even when the Exclude File is cleared, seems to depend on whether a Compare is done before or after the Exclude filter is cleared. Are you able to reproduce this on your system?
