Performing compare between 2 directories: left D:, right T:.
- The file "Google Drive/desktop.ini" is on both sides and has same checksum, but has different timestamps.
- Comparison (F6): File time and size, don't include symbolic links, don't ignore time shift.
- Synchronization: Mirror
All files are detected except this one. Total Commander does detect the difference.
Oh I see, on my exclude filter it's too. After removing it worked. Had other .ini files which got copied so got me suspicious but turns out they have other name with ini extension. Wonder why desktop.ini is excluded by default anyways... I think Windows relies on that for folder settings or something like that.
Thanks for the tip wouldn't have realized by myself.
I'm also wondering if it should still be excluded. At least it contains info about folder customizations, unlike thumbs.db, which is just a cache that is rebuilt automatically if needed. Also it's very small in size, so backing it up won't hurt much, unlike the recycle bin folders.
The reason I see keeping it excluded would be the case where there are tons of folders with little content. Every folder has a default.ini file that contains display information, as you know. A lot of small files lend to a slow transfer speed due to more access times. The delay added could be huge in some cases, mainly where access times are especially long, such as slow hard drives and some network storage where access times are extended from security or logging services. Granted, that can be mitigated by adding the exclusion. Either way, some group of users are going to have to be aware of the settings, but I'm guessing it would be perfectly fine for 99% of users.
Well this is strange, on my main computer, every folder has the ini file, but not my other machines. I had never thought to check since I thought my main PC was set to default settings. I am guessing that at some point I set a view for a folder then applied to all folders, causing the file creation. My apologies!
For backup purposes it´s fine to include the 'desktop.ini'.
But synching to USB or between different machines/OSs it can cause problems.
It´s up to you which preset is better. Uprgrading from an older version it´s in the default exclude list. Installing new it´s actually out of the exclude list. Got me wondering.
Never heard of that. Nevertheless kind of dump from such a software. It´s for the lookalike and MUI-Setting of the folder not for a software.
They use *.ini files yes, that´s something different. In case you mean that. And are not excluded through 'desktop.ini'. '*.ini' would exclude them.
VladimirII, 22 Jul 2020, 18:12
PortableApps Desktop.ini:
[.ShellClassInfo] InfoTip=Contains portable app files and application data IconFile=.\PortableApps.com\App\Graphics\WindowsFolderIcons\explore.ico IconIndex=0
The software wouldn´t stop running, you were just surprised the folder looks 'normal'.
My single Apps from PortableApps.com, I never used the package, even don´t have a desktop.ini in their folders.
Desktop.inis are machine and OS related. To have it copied in backups is fine, syncs between devices should avoid it. Which let´s say error is easier to handle? A change in a running system or forgetting it in a backup? Also thinking of first time users without experience.
Need an example. win 8.1 -> NAS, Win 7 -> NAS, Win XP -> NAS, Win 10 -> NAS, NAS -> all
So all have the same working files available with an dynamic backup.
