Need a free backup/sync program for Windows 7

[Acidicheartburn]

Are there any free and easy to use backup/sync programs that can keep a record of what files have been added/modified in a folder and when a device is plugged in synchronize (manually, or automatically when the device is plugged in) the two folders by moving/changing only the files that are new/different?

Detailed info pertaining to my usage:

I have an entire music folder dedicated to all of my albums I have purchased and ripped on my desktop's HDD, but I also copy this music folder to an external flash drive for backup and use on my laptop. Every time I add new albums to the folder on my desktop I want it to also go on the same folder on the flash drive, but I don't always have the flashdrive hooked up to the desktop, so automatic continuous backup is not possible. I have no quick and easy way of doing this apart from remembering what albums I added and copying them over manually, or copying the entire music folder back onto the flash drive and choosing not to overwrite any files. This is a wasteful, time consuming, and tedious process.

Thanks,

~Acid

 

[Carson Dyle]

I use Robocopy from Microsoft to do things like this. Robocopy is a command-line tool, but extremely powerful in its capabilities. There's also SyncToy from Microsoft, which is similar, but has a GUI.

If you use Robocopy, create a small batch file to hold the command to sync the folders. Something to watch out for is that USB flash drives don't always get the same drive letter each time you attach them (depending on what other USB devices might be attached), so keep that in mind.

 

[Binky]

Puresync should work for this. I believe it can trigger a sync upon USB insertion. It is free for personal use.

 

[Acidicheartburn]

I definitely want something with a GUI, and I don't know how to create and edit batch files, but I'll look into SyncToy.

 

[Acidicheartburn]

Puresync looks like it might be what I'm after. I'll give it a try, thanks.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Macrium Reflect..........never let me down.

 

[Kalimera]

Hi,

I am also using Puresync and it works for me. Good luck!

 

[Acidicheartburn]

I just took a look at Puresync and tried it out. It's not the most absolutely easy to use program (there's a LOT of options) but it's good enough for me and does seem to have everything I need, so I'll probably use that.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[balloonshark]

Any other suggestions? Perhaps something free, open source and with no 'extra goodies' included. I'm looking for something to sync folders and backup folders both manually and on a schedule.

 

[mikeymikec]

+1 robocopy

SyncToy from Microsoft is also free, but AFAIK not open source. No "extra goodies" in that.

- edit - Ah, Carson Dyle already suggested that.

 

[ronbo613]

I use SyncBack Free, it does a good job and the price is right.

 

[Auric]

Also FreeFileSync.

 

[Acidicheartburn]

Any other suggestions? Perhaps something free, open source and with no 'extra goodies' included. I'm looking for something to sync folders and backup folders both manually and on a schedule.

I don't know if its open source, but PureSync seems to have everything else you're looking for. There are a few advanced features you can't use if you don't buy the full version but the free version has scheduled and manual backup. You can do full backups, synchronize (so that two folders are both changed to equal each other), and mirrored backups (like a regular backup but files not in the original folder are deleted in the backup folder when a backup is initiated). All of this can be done manually or on a schedule.

I also found it easy to set up an automatic synchronization to my USB drive when I plug it in. You can even make it do all this in the background without bothering you at all about if, or have it alert you at every step of the process.

The one thing I found that is omitted from the free version is constant sync where it immediately updates the backup folder when a file is changed/added/removed from the original folder.

 

[Carson Dyle]

You can do full backups, synchronize (so that two folders are both changed to equal each other), and mirrored backups (like a regular backup but files not in the original folder are deleted in the backup folder when a backup is initiated).

Be very careful that you understand how you're synching. You probably do not want two-way synching. Typically, you would want one way synching, like the latter type that you describe (your "mirrored backups", although they're actually nothing like backups).

You would normally keep a master copy of the library on your PC and you want to sync (mirror) that on another drive such as your USB key. You would want deleted files on the source to also be deleted on the target. Note that a deletion isn't always a deletion - sometimes it's just a renamed file or folder. There no simple/fast way to know that a file or folder has been renamed, so they're typically seen as a deletion of the old name and a new file/folder with a new name.

 

[balloonshark]

I use SyncBack Free, it does a good job and the price is right.

Thanks for the suggestion. I installed this last night. This thing has a ton of options if you dig into the program. I always like options but holy cow. I need to do a little reading and trial error before I try it on a real folder.

Also FreeFileSync.

Thanks. I wanted to try this program but it comes with open candy.

I don't know if its open source, but PureSync seems to have everything else you're looking for. There are a few advanced features you can't use if you don't buy the full version but the free version has scheduled and manual backup. You can do full backups, synchronize (so that two folders are both changed to equal each other), and mirrored backups (like a regular backup but files not in the original folder are deleted in the backup folder when a backup is initiated). All of this can be done manually or on a schedule.

I also found it easy to set up an automatic synchronization to my USB drive when I plug it in. You can even make it do all this in the background without bothering you at all about if, or have it alert you at every step of the process.

The one thing I found that is omitted from the free version is constant sync where it immediately updates the backup folder when a file is changed/added/removed from the original folder.

Thanks. Let's say I want to backup my downloads folder on C: to my F: drive. The folders have slightly different contents and I only want to copy the contents of C:\downoads without removing the extra files in F:\Downloads. What type of backup do I use? Just an ordinary backup?

 

[Carson Dyle]

Thanks for the suggestion. I installed this last night. This thing has a ton of options if you dig into the program. I always like options but holy cow. I need to do a little reading and trial error before I try it on a real folder.

That's exactly what you should do with ANY program. Read the documentation (holy cow) and then do some experimenting with test folders and only unleash it on live data only when you're absolutely 100% sure that you know what the software will do with your files. Synching software has the potential to be very dangerous.

 

[balloonshark]

You are right. I normally do more trialing than reading though. It's just how I learn. But I get your point because data can be lost. It's the same with imaging. At some point you have to make sure your imaging app works and the only way is to restore an image.

By the way, I wasn't kidding about those options. Here are pics. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/SyncBack.shtml

 

[Carson Dyle]

By the way, I wasn't kidding about those options. Here are pics. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Back-Up-and-Recovery/SyncBack.shtml

Just one reason why a command-line program may be easier to use. With robocopy, to mirror one folder to another, it's simply:

robocopy /mir "D:\Music" "R:\Backup\Music"

If you wanted to do as mentioned above and not remove any deleted material in the target, it would be (the source is ALWAYS first, then the target):

robocopy "D:\Music" "R:\Backup\Music"

To also copy any empty folders to the target, add /e

robocopy /e "D:\Music" "R:\Backup\Music"

In all of the above, only files that are new, or have different timestamps (modified date) or file sizes will be copied. There are many (many) more options: for logging, for displaying progress, for copying file and folder permissions, for removing archive bits (if you want to use it for doing conventional backups), for skipping files, and on and on. But the beauty is that doing simple things is really simple.

What does a batch file look like? It's just a text file containing DOS commands and having either a .bat or .cmd file extension. Robocopy comes standard with Windows Vista and Windows 7 (not sure about 8.x), so you don't need to install it and you don't need the entire EXE path. I use something like this to backup (mirror) my music library folder once a month to my external backup drive:

@echo off
robocopy /mir E:\Music R:\Music

Give it a name like bumusic.bat and that's all you need to type to run a batch file that can be as complex as you want to make it.

 

[Acidicheartburn]

Be very careful that you understand how you're synching. You probably do not want two-way synching. Typically, you would want one way synching, like the latter type that you describe (your "mirrored backups", although they're actually nothing like backups).

You would normally keep a master copy of the library on your PC and you want to sync (mirror) that on another drive such as your USB key. You would want deleted files on the source to also be deleted on the target. Note that a deletion isn't always a deletion - sometimes it's just a renamed file or folder. There no simple/fast way to know that a file or folder has been renamed, so they're typically seen as a deletion of the old name and a new file/folder with a new name.

I agree with what you're saying. In this case, Synchronization is actually what I need for the music folders on my HDD and USB drive. While I typically only rip albums on my desktop and copy them to my USB drive, once in a while I do find myself ripping albums on my laptop and copying them to the USB drive. In this case, synchronizing the two folders ensures album transfer goes both ways.

I also have already found use for the "mirrored backups" (that's the name PureSync gives them). I have a few folders I frequently add and delete files from that I also have backed up on a second HDD so to ensure the backup directly reflects (no pun intended) the master folder the "mirrored backup" is the best option.

 

[Acidicheartburn]

Thanks. Let's say I want to backup my downloads folder on C: to my F: drive. The folders have slightly different contents and I only want to copy the contents of C: downoads without removing the extra files in F: Downloads. What type of backup do I use? Just an ordinary backup?

After playing around with some dummy folders I set up to test the program, it looks like in PureSync you would want to use a plain "Backup" in order to copy new files in C: to F: without removing extra files in F:.

If you want the file transfer to go both ways [I.E. new files in C: are copied to F: and new files in F: are copied to C:] then you would want to use "Synchronization". This will simply add files that are present in only one folder to the folder where they are not present. You can, for example, set up Synchronization to delete files present in C: that are not in F: but you need to be careful with which method you set the program to use for detecting file changes.

For example, I set up two folders "Test 1" and "Test 2". Test 1 had two empty .txt documents inside, labeled "A" and "B" respectively, while Test 2 had never contained any files at all since its creation. On the default compare method of using date and file size comparison, when I set the program to "Delete files in Folder 1 [Test 1 in this case] that were deleted in Folder 2", both files A and B were deleted in Test 1 even though they never existed (and therefore were never deleted) in Test 2. So instead of adding files A and B to Test 2 the program simply deleted the files in Test 1 that were not present in Test 2 and I was left with two empty folders. This shows how the program is limited in its knowledge of the file history between folders and you must therefore be very careful with how you configure Synchronized folders if you enable file deletion.

 

[balloonshark]

Carson, I have windows 8 and it does indeed have the robocopy.exe. I'll play around with your examples and see if I can figure it out. Thanks!

Acidheartburn, Thanks for your explanation. I see what you're saying about being careful. I'm going to do a little testing first and see what happens.

 

[Auric]

Thanks. I wanted to try this program but it comes with open candy.

Universal Extractor or Less MSIérables (lessmsi) allow bypassing many unnecessary installers. Otherwise, and particularly with recent versions of FreeFileSync, the installer may be run sandboxed (e.g. Sandboxie) and the files recovered.