Sync Center
Here some sync info (Vista related but for Windows 7 as well) perhaps it'll help a bit:
A One-Stop Shop For Device Synchronization
If you’ve ever worked on a project using multiple computers, you know how frustrating it can be when a file you need is on a different machine. To help alleviate this frustration, Microsoft included a feature in Windows Vista called Sync Center. Sync Center makes it easy to keep your information organized among your computer, network folders, and mobile devices.
If you know what synchronization (or “sync” for short) is all about, skip to “Use The Sync Center.” But an article about syncing devices with Vista would be incomplete without providing some basic information first, so here goes. Syncing is the process of keeping matched files in two or more locations. There are two primary types of synchronization: one-way and two-way. In one-way synchronization, any additions, changes, or deletions you make on one device (such as your computer) are replicated on another device (such as your portable music player). Because it’s a one-way sync, the reverse is not true. In other words, if you add, delete, or modify something on your portable music player, those changes won’t be replicated on your computer.
A two-way sync exchanges data in both directions: Regardless of which device you use to modify, delete, or add a file, the same changes will appear on the other device. Two-way sync partnerships are common when working on a computer and networked folder locations and when working with a computer and a PDA (personal digital assistant). The ability to synchronize with network folders isn’t available in Windows Vista Starter/Home Basic/Home Premium, so avoid these versions if you want to have this functionality.
And some more info here:
Sync Center can help you keep your data in sync when you store data on more than one device. You can use Sync Center to sync music with a portable music player, pictures with a cell phone, or documents on a PDA. (The device's software is almost always better though.)
Sync Center can help you keep your data in sync when you store data on more than one device. You can use Sync Center to sync music with a portable music player, pictures with a cell phone, or documents on a PDA. (The device's software is almost always better though.)
If you keep files on a desktop PC and on another device, such as on a mobile PC, music player, thumb drive, PDA, or mobile phone, you need some sort of syncing program to manage the duplicate data. For instance, you might carry a USB flash drive back and forth between your office and you home so that you can work on the files, say, on the weekends. However, if you do, you need some way to sync those newer and altered files with the older versions of the same files when you return to work. Sync Center can do that for you. The same holds true regarding portable music players. While you manage your music collection on your PC, you use a portable music player while away from the computer. You need to be able to sync the two so that any music you add to or delete from your computer is also added to or deleted from your music player.
Now, there are other programs that will have more features than Sync Center and you should use them. Media Player and iTunes are great for managing your music. Cell phone software is good for syncing your phone with your computer. And your office might offer syncing software for your documents. You get the idea. In a pinch though, Sync Center will do; just don't say I didn't warn you.
There are two ways to sync data between two devices. The first is a one-way sync. With this, anytime you change information on one device, like a PC, the same information is changed on the second. It's a one-way street. One-way syncs are often used for music players and cell phones.
The other type of sync is a two-way sync. This type of sync is a two-way street. You might create a two-way sync between a USB flash drive and an office pc. Changes made on the home PC and saved to the flash drive will sync to the network PC, and vice-versa. Two way syncs are generally used in work environments.
Here are some sync rules to remember.
•When two versions of the same file are different, Sync Center selects the most recent version to keep by default.
•When a file has changed in both locations, Sync Center tells you there's a sync conflict and lets you to choose which version to keep. You can keep both if you aren't sure.
•When two files are identical, no sync is performed.
•When you add or delete a file in one location but not the other, Sync Center adds or deletes the file to the other location.
To use Sync Center you must first create a relationship between the two devices, and then perform a sync:
1.Turn on the mobile or external device, and connect the device and the computer using a USB cable.
2.In the Start Search window, type Sync Center.
3.Open Sync Center.
4.In Sync Center, click Set up new sync partnerships.
5.Click the name of the device in the list of available sync partnerships. [See Image 1]
6.On the toolbar, click Set Up.
7.Select Sync this device automatically.
8.Under Available Playlists, select Sync Playlists.
9.Select any playlists listed that you want to sync, one at a time, and click Add.
10.To remove a playlist, select it under Playlists to Sync and click Remove.
11.Click Finish.
12.To sync, click your device in the list of sync partnerships, and click Sync.
Note that you can also choose to shuffle what syncs and change the priority of a playlist - which you may want to do with music or photos. Shuffling will play the synced music, photos, or videos in random order and priority will make sure the items at the top of the list are synced before anything else
Image 1
Sync Toy info:
SyncToy Installation Notes:
Upgrade:
- If upgrading from an earlier version of SyncToy (e.g. SyncToy 1.4 or SyncToy 2.0), it is **CRITICAL** to ensure that all folder pairs are fully synchronized using the previous version before running SyncToy 2.1 setup. Not following this guideline can lead to unintended behavior and partial data loss when running SyncToy 2.1 for the first time after upgrade. All folder pairs must also be fully synchronized at least once right after the upgrade is done.
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:
Fixed the data corruption issue when using SyncToy with NAS drives.
Fixed the issue that prevented uploading files to SharePoint when using SyncToy 2.0.
Fixed the issue that prevented delete changes from being synchronized when the sync option is set to “Echo”.
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).
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.
