Topic: SyncToy provides synchronization of different directories for Windows systems.

[Software Santa]

SyncToy provides synchronization of different directories for Windows systems.

Quick Details
Version:
2.1
Date Published:
11/24/2009
Language:
English


Overview
There are files from all kinds of sources that we want to store and manage. Files are created by our digital cameras, e-mail, cell phones, portable media players, camcorders, PDAs, and laptops. Increasingly, computer users are using different folders, drives, and even different computers (such as a laptop and a desktop) to store, manage, retrieve and view files. Yet managing hundreds or thousands of files is still largely a manual operation. In some cases it is necessary to regularly get copies of files from another location to add to primary location; in other cases there is a need to keep two storage locations exactly in sync. Some users manage files manually, dragging and dropping from one place to another and keeping track of whether the locations are synchronized in their heads. Other users may use two or more applications to provide this functionality.

Now there is an easier way. SyncToy, a free PowerToy for Microsoft Windows, is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without additional complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another case. Unlike other applications, SyncToy actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder.

SyncToy2.1 is powered by the latest synchronization engine from Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 and provides better performance and robustness. The new features and improvements included in SyncToy 2.1 release are:


    * Better Performance: The speed of file copy operations is significantly increased across the board.

    * Improved Robustness: Much more resilient to transient network and file system errors and better error reporting which pin-points which file the sync failed on in case there’s a fatal error that stops the sync.

    * Folder pair configuration backup: Folder pair configuration is automatically backed up under %localappdata%\microsoft\synctoy\2.0. User can replace SyncToyDirPairs.bin with the backup copy to resolve last saved configuration.

    * Bug Fixes:

          o Fixed the data corruption issue when using SyncToy with NAS drives.

          o Fixed the issue that prevented uploading files to SharePoint when using SyncToy 2.0.

          o Fixed the issue that prevented delete changes from being synchronized when the sync option is set to “Echo”.

          o Fixed the UI issue where reported file time were off by the difference between local time and UTC when destination is a FAT volume.


The major new features and improvements included in previous SyncToy 2.0 release are:


    * Dynamic Drive Letter Assignment: Drive letter reassignment will now be detected and updated in the folder pair definition.

    * True Folder Sync: Folder creates, renames and deletes are now synchronized for all SyncToy actions.

    * Exclusion Filtering Based on Name: File exclusion based on name with exact or fuzzy matching.

    * Filtering Based on File Attributes: The ability to exclude files based on one or more file attributes (Read-Only, System, Hidden).

    * Unattended Folder Pair Execution: Addressed issues related to running scheduled folder pairs while logged off.

    * Folder Pairs With Shared Endpoints: Ability for folder pairs associated with the same or different instances of SyncToy to share end-points.

    * Command line enhancements: Added the ability to manage folder pairs via the command line interface.

    * Re-Architect Sync Engine: The SyncToy engine has been rearchitected to provide scalability and the ability to add significant enhancements in future releases.

    * Sync engine is also more robust insomuch that many single, file level errors are skipped without affecting the entire sync operation.

    * Sync Encrypted Files: Sync of Encrypted files works when local folder and files are encrypted, which addresses the common scenario involving sync between local, encrypted laptop PC folder and remote, unencrypted desktop PC folder.

    * 64-Bit Support: SyncToy now has a native 64-bit build (x64 only) for 64-bit versions of Windows.

    * Folder pair rename

    * Sub-folder Exclusion Enhancements: Descendents created under excluded sub-folders are automatically excluded. Usability improvements for the sub-folder exclusion dialog.

    * Folder Pair Metadata Moved: Folder pair metadata removed from MyDocuments to resolve any issues with server-based folder pair re-direction setup.

    * Setup Improvements: Integrated setup with single self-extracting archive file and no extra downloads if you already have .NET Framework 2.0 installed. Enabled silent install for the SyncToy Installer file (see readme.txt file for more information).



Please continue to send us feedback about our tool, using the SyncToy - File Synchronization forum (listed below).

Note: We've taken great care to ensure that this tool operates as it should, but it is not part of Windows and is not supported by Microsoft Technical Support. For this reason, Microsoft Technical Support is unable to answer questions about SyncToy. To speak to other users and contribute feedback about your experiences with SyncToy, please use the SyncToy forum at http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/synctoy/threads.


System Requirements

    * Supported Operating Systems:Windows 7;Windows Vista;Windows XP

Microsoft .NET Framework v2.0
1GHz Intel P3 processor or equivalent
256MB RAM, 512MB RAM recommended
20MB free disk space

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&DisplayLang=en