How to FFS?

Get help for specific problems
Posts: 1
Joined: 7 Dec 2018

firevoldemort

1)
I just installed Freefilesync.

I have many folders that need backing up anytime changes are made (I know I need to use Realtimesync afterwards to achieve this) from a SSD to a HDD. Both are internal SATA drives in the same system.

Hit a problem.

So I need any changes made to my files/folders to be replicated onto the backup HDD. That includes moves and deletion.

So I selected Mirror with Move folders option ticked.

Now I started testing with test folders and created a folder with some folders and sub folders and files to simulate.

Ran into a problem. When moving a file outside of the source folder... say to the desktop, Freefilesync (from now on 'FFS'), thinks that I deleted the file.

So when I click compare it tells me it's going to delete the file.

Files have the potential to be moved anywhere on the SSD. So what can I do?


2)
Next, when I open the desktop folder, many icons are missing. But some are there. Example Microsoft Word is there.

I checked the desktop folder on two different machines and found that on both this issue is present.

In both cases I am logged into the main account (on PC there is only one account anyway).

Why is this the case?
User avatar
Posts: 2248
Joined: 22 Aug 2012

Plerry

1)
If you move files out of the (left) base folder location(s) or one of its sub folders, that file is removed from the "scope" of the sync and is thus considered to be deleted/removed.
If you use the Mirror sync variant, running the sync will then also remove that file from the destination location.
If you don't want files deleted/removed from the source location to be removed from the destination location (assuming they exist there), you should the Update sync variant.

2)
Desktop icons are a combination of icons defined at computer/system level for all users and icons defined at individual user level.
In Windows 10, the all-user icons are stored in C:\Users\Public\Desktop,
the individual ones in C:\Users\[UserName]\Desktop.
When you run a sync that includes Desktop, only C:\Users\[UserName]\Desktop will be included in the sync.
What complicates matters even more is that a user can delete an all-user defined icon from his/her Desktop.
This simply means that that all-user icon will not be shown for that user anymore, but will still be in C:\Users\Public\Desktop and visible for other users.