1 to 1 copy with folder changes

[ms308680]

As a note, I have tried this on the new version, and quite a few old versions as well. Please let me point this out

FreeFileSync is able to detect moved files on one side and can quickly apply the same move on the target side during synchronization instead of a slow copy and delete. To make this work, FreeFileSync requires database files ("sync.ffs_db") to compare the current file system state against the time of the last synchronization.

The manual states clearly that it will "apply the same move on the target side during synchronization instead of a slow copy and delete"

As a test, Empty your recycle bin and test this on your system the way you say it is working, if it is indeed working and you are only re-organizing files on the source (left) to match your already synced (mirror) drive on the right, then when you run the sync, YOU SHOULD NOT get any files in your recycle bin (as long as you actually did not delete any files from the source) if this is working as intended. If you are getting files in your recycle bin, then it is only copying files then deleting the files that no longer exist instead of sending the gathered commands to just move the files at the target.

I have tried modifying permissions, the only thing I have yet to try is conflicting programs... I install a lot of programs by default, but these programs were already installed when I performed that first (and only) successful series of tests on April 26, 2020.

I have tried with and without "Fail-safe file copy", "Copy locked files", "Copy DACL, SACL, Owner, Group".

With and without Administrative permissions (for FFS)

My hair is not long enough to pull out or I would be.

I have even tried this on an older OS, Windows 2011 SBS Server (Went back to the last version of FFS that officially supported Windows 7.

I have tried on Windows 10 using compatibility modes (Win 8, Win 7, Win XP)

I am going to try an older Windows 10 build sometime this week. No, not virtualized, I will be installing it on bare metal on a computer.

I will again explain a purpose I am using this for:

Folder Structure:


Engineering Packs\0-999\
Engineering Packs\1000-1999\
Engineering Packs\2000-2999\
Engineering Packs\3000-3999\
Engineering Packs\Hold for revisions
Engineering Packs\New and revised

There could essentially be 1000 folders in each of the folders above and possibly more in "Hold for revisions" or "New and revised" while unlikely, but possible.

Released Engineering packed will be in the #ed directories, and a pack that needs changes to it will be put in "Hold for Revisions"

After the engineer gets done with the changes, it will be put in "New and revised" to be reviewed by another engineer before being re-released to the pack folders.

Since a lot of changes and moving can be done here, with not a lot of changes happening except for in the hold for revisions folder, the "Detect moved files" feature is really beneficial here so that move commands are sent to the target instead of file(s) and folder(s) being deleted and re-copied.



Local Share Master (Share on server)


External Drive Clone (Backup clone for external safekeeping NOT ONLINE, occasional sync with the possible rotation of drives)

I do hope this clarifies a situation that this can be used for, and how what it currently IS doing IS NOT what it is supposed to be doing.

I thank you for your time, and I believe it would do everyone a world of good if the developer could record a video of how the "detect moved files" is supposed to work, how to get it to work correctly, and so on.

[ms308680]

Hello,

Please allow me to apologize first off since I am a bit aggravated for not getting any response/update for a project that I did and have still donated to over the years, so for the main feature as to why I backed this project and it not to work immediately after I switch to the donation edition I hope you can understand my frustration and aggravation.

I have not gotten a response after this as to why this is not working properly for me, currently on Version 11.21 (Donation Edition) and it still does the delete and copy instead of performing the move like the feature says it should work. Like I said when I first tested this it did work, that is why I go the donation edition, immediately after using the donation edition (both portable and installed) I could never get it to work again. I have tried many test scenarios and to be pretty blunt now, the main reason I got the donation edition was that "it did what I wanted" but never did again. I have tested this across many different computers and still no love. I have tried leaving everything at the default settings with synchronize as the default and it still wants to delete and copy instead of move. I would love this to work as intended and I have jumped through all the hoops that everyone has mentioned in this post with no update for 2 years. I do apologize for seeming frustrated, but I really figured someone would have come up with a "why" only me by now. All drives are formatted as NTFS, I have "Copy locked files and Copy DACL, SACL, OWner, Group enabled and changed the freefilesync program to always start with administrative privileges. And of course, I know that I have to do a first sync before this will work, I am "testing" this again after a 1st fresh sync, and have been "testing" this about once a quarter for the past 2 years.

Again, please forgive my frustration, but all the posts here added up and kind of treated me like an idiot when posting to forums is the last-ditch effort since my field is IT to begin with.

Really would love this feature to work properly since I have been doing this by hand still to preserve the life of the drives.

Thank you so much and I really hope someone can show why this is being so stupid.

Is there a file size limit for this feature? The file sizes I generally handle are all the way from a few Kilobytes to many Gigabytes

I have even just tested this with Windows UAC set to the lowest setting, tried on a fresh install of windows with nothing else on the system but the freefilesync and still nothing.

[Zenju]

All drives are formatted as NTFS,

Good, move detection is available, then.

I have "Copy locked files and Copy DACL, SACL, OWner, Group enabled and changed the freefilesync program to always start with administrative privileges.

There's no need for any of these, but shouldn't matter with regards to move detection.

And of course, I know that I have to do a first sync before this will work

Yes, this is the biggest possible gotcha if missed.

I am "testing" this again after a 1st fresh sync, and have been "testing" this about once a quarter for the past 2 years.

It's not clear at all what exactly you're doing. Maybe you could screen capture a video that shows the steps you take in your tests. There are no known issues regarding move detection (except for file system limitations, but those don't apply to NTFS).

[ms308680]

This goes all the way back to when I first made this post without knowing what "detect moved files" was

It seems that you have setup FFS to do a "Two way" sync, the default when creating a new sync job.

Go to Synchronization settings and select the "Mirror" variant, use the option [x] Detect moved files.
Done!.
This setup do exactly what you are looking for.

This way you will be "mirroring" you Active drive on the Clone drive:
moved files will be moved, deleted files will be deleted, changed files will be updated.

after he posted this, I made a small scale test like I say in the next post

I will test this. I was actually using one way since I completely missed that setting.

Thank you so much! This will be a much nicer solution :)

Exactly what I was looking for. I apologize to everyone here for being so ignorant. I could not think of what to call this feature so looking it up on google got me nowhere.

:) Thanks

When I tested this, I got a completely different icon than the delete and copy when performing the test that actually said move, and I have not been able to get this icon ever again since those tests.