Which File Sync Software To Use For Local Drive To Local Drive ?

Hi,
Win7 64bit pro.
I am trying to to the right thing, I have internal drives same size partitions one pair with data the other as the backup set.
I want to run a prog on demand and have it append any changes on the source drive to the destination drive.
Run it daily or whenever I fancy, I dont want it asking me to set it to a certain time to run, I will run it when I wish !
Just what prog is decent and solid and will do file synch between drives and be able to run when i tell it to and append any changes or new files ?

I thought it was a simple ask but losing faith. and I dont want ftp or cloud stuff either, which seems to be everything I look at , I hate cloud and concept of paying out money per month that I dont have for what would have to be the rest of my life , bit like renting a car.

I have trialled EasyUS easysynch, got a few hundreds errors , there shoudlnt be that many, maybe 1 or 2, but it wouldnt show the paths to the failed files. They should not fail, I have been copy pasting with Terracopy all week and got just two failed files from 4Tb.

then trialled GoodSync this time 22 errors all jpg files yet NOT IN USE, yet it said error32 in use, internet for this said KIV at fault, turned off Kaspersky and tried again all 22 then ok, but I dont want to turn of my AVS every time I run the synch !!! BUT total file size source and destination drives dont match. not sure where errors lie so this is alarming as somewhere a file(s) is wrong. yet again I will have to nuke 1.6tb of work another 6 hrs wasted. 12 hrs so far. terrible waste of time.

Cobian backup is last version 2011 and no tech support from source, has no verification so who knows what errors might exist, I am told windows flags up errors but it didnt for the many hundred then also the 22 above !

Desperate for help now. I thought there would be loads of options out there, I dont mind paying a one off fee, but not subs, will never pay subs for anything.

DBenz

 

I have long used SyncBackFree without issues, though the UI could be much improved imo. There are paid for versions if you need more features.

 

Hi,
Many thanks for your suggestion, a vote for the one I have just downloaded.

How do you find their tech support, very helpful, fast etc ? what is best way of getting that ?

I saw that prog after posting this, but the free doesnt check files for integrity etc, make sure they are working files, the SE does, so I have dl the SE to test.
Will report back.
any other suggestions welcome.

I am so concerned about integrity full functional copy, must be 100% sure the files are exact as per originals.
DBenz

 

I haven't needed tech support but possibly my needs are not as strict as yours

 

Hi,
Full of glee that I have spotted one you also use, I ran SyncBack SE the verification one, on a drive of 25.9Gb used across to its empty backup drive R and, after waiting 50 mins seeing nothing, clicked a button to then see it set off actually copying, it had a panel with data sitting over another. Wont make that mistake again !

However when done, properties using windows explorer for the two drives show a mismatch, byte numbers dont match, worked my way downward from top comparing folders in source and destination and found a folder whos properties have different byte values, yet the contents match in numbers AND properties (bytes), not sure how a folder that has zero bytes value can differ when contents are the same, never ever come across that and I have been around since true original floppy discs !
Deleted the folder, copied it across again using normal copy paste with Terracopy and then the two folders, source and destination, matched in bytes, so this is worrying and casts doubts over the rest of the copied files.

So thats three progs now that cant perform a simple file copy from one drive to another. In this day and age thats appalling, gutted as had high hopes here especially as it verifies copies.
I shall seek tech support, but it is what it is. 2 days and yet to get a proper copy from one drive to another.

DBenz

 

You might not get fast support with free software, usually that is a perk of paying. But I can suggest Cobian backup, Toucan , and Robomirror
a GUI for robocopy, best simple copier there is.

 

for me, the only important thing, with backups, are the actual files. if the files are there, then i'm good.

i have also been using syncback ( both free and paid ) forever and rely on it heavily, at work and at home. you just have to highlight the backup job, then click options(?) and make sure that the 'skip differences window' is checked.

i have long noticed the discrepancy with folder sizes, between source folders and backup folders, but i never paid much attention to them, as long as they were "close", then i was cool with it. so i thought i would check the interweb and see what there is to see about different folder sizes. holy cow!! mac systems, linux systems, window systems, all have forums with people wondering why the folder sizes are different. and there are no set answers per se. hard drive size, file system used, partition sizes, block size, byte size, sector size, fragmentation of files, system files, hidden files, hard links, soft links, shadow copies, the difference between binary and decimal numbers, the list seemed endless. and different backup programs dealt with all these variables in different ways which could affect the size of any given folder.

you mentioned "I have internal drives same size partitions"... are they 2 different hard drives? same size? partitioned the same? or one partition per drive? i ran into a problem like this... for a new server at work, i bought 7 hard drives, all 146GB in size. i was going to create 3 mirrored sets and i would have one spare. i plugged in 6 drives and went into the BIOS of the hardware RAID card to configure the mirrored sets and was greeted size mismatch errors. and i was like...what?!? how can a 146GB hard drive not be the same as another 146GB hard drive, same brand, same manufacturer, same model. upon further inspection, the RAID card told me i had some 146.0 GB drives, some were 146.1 GB, and some were 145.9 GB. does the madness ever stop?

anyway, not that this is particularly useful to your situation, i guess all i wanted to say is that folder size is not the metric i would pay attention to. the number of actual files should be the same between source and destination. if i back up 1000 files, there should be 1000 files in the backup. every great once in a while, i'll go through the backup and randomly test some files, but they are always good. i fully trust syncback, but you need to find a program that you can trust implicitly.

good luck with it.

 

+1 for SynBackFree. Been using it for several years also

When you open the GUI do not hit the run button at the bottom as this will begin the process of copying depending on what options you have selected.

Instead under the Profile tab, where you have created and named your profile, right click on it and a context menu will open with several options. As a new user, I would suggest that you select the Simulated Run option which will only show you the differences.

 

Hi,

two identical drives for prime data and backup, same make model etc bought at same time , partitioned exactly same, and another two same purpose also bought same time also partitioned exact same etc etc.

after the synch ran there was not the same file count on one occasion yet no files hung back were shown.
In the past when I have done a copy paste I get a matching file count and the total size as bytes matches. even when I was employed and hat to copy hard drive to server the files matched on count and bytes, many GB again there.

every great once in a while, i'll go through the backup and randomly test some files, but they are always good. i fully trust syncback, but you need to find a program that you can trust implicitly.
I always try a few see if they will open.

I have had it many years ago that doing copy paste with win explorer, I found a file that wouldnt open, so then you think are there any more in the 30Gb copied, and how to find the duffers ?
to have to go through each and every file testing is impossible, I have to see the files numbers match and also the bytes and have a verification system in use with the copier.

does SyncBack SE have such a verification as to see a file missing or a difference in bytes after my experience scares the living daylights out of me.

FooGoo.
I tried Cobian, it has no verification but windows does and it uses windows, is that so ?
if a copy process has an error on a file where will that appear ?

DBenz

 

Furthermore (unable to edit post so replying to my own post !..silly forum edit system) I see..shock horror massive confusion... I have two folders FULL and INCREMENTAL with same folders in each, on my empty drive having done a Mirror sync to it. I just want it looking exactly like the source, I now have two of every folder, append for me means take the original and either on the destination drive update it, or delete it or copy across any new files, not create a second set of folders and append files to that.
For a default setting thats got me unsettled, just where is my updated file. Dont want that at all !!!
So what setting do I alter to stop that ?

DBenz

 

Then try FolderMatch I use that to sync folders, it is easy. Another program I heard was good was Beyond Compare
Last https://freefilesync.org/

Which program? Robocopy can make a log file, here is some documentation https://ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html

 

I guess I could use 'beyond compare' to verify Cobians results, I shall evaluate the one called FolderMatch as well and freefileSync though free ones are not so easy to get support from the makers, and forum support can be a day or not at all depending on if anyone knows a cause or answer. Cobian for example no answer after two weeks forum post. Pity the originator sold it on and the new owner killed it.

ViceVersa I hage found and is also being trialled at the moment, apart from pausing to ask if a recycle bin file can be deleted, and running it overnight doesnt see me around to say yes, and ditto at 99% for another system file approval, hopefully a setting to tell it to go ahead on such exists somewhere in it, it at least matched source and target on results of mirror if system files are ignored.

DBenz.