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SyncToy 2.0 & Windows 7 - does NOT work RRS feed

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    Other than some of the more positive reports here, I have to report (in line with a couple of others who experience the same issues) that  SyncToy does NOT work with Windows 7.

    * For small folders (few items) SyncToy will work fine

    * For larger folders (hundreds of items or more, nested folders), SyncToy will show either of the two behaviours:

       - It starts to synch and will hang sometime into the process, with the only option to kill it.

       OR, even more disturbing:
       - It completes the snych, reports success, but if you compare the left and right folder, you will find it did not complete.

    So, at this stage, SyncToy is NOT safe to use with Win7 and we should expect Microsoft to acknowledge this and provide an update as soon as possible. Thx!


    PS: Test-Setup: 2 PCs, one with Win 7 RC, the other with Vista SP2.

    Sunday, May 17, 2009 12:30 PM

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    Other than some of the more positive reports here, I have to report (in line with a couple of others who experience the same issues) that  SyncToy does NOT work with Windows 7.

    * For small folders (few items) SyncToy will work fine

    * For larger folders (hundreds of items or more, nested folders), SyncToy will show either of the two behaviours:

       - It starts to synch and will hang sometime into the process, with the only option to kill it.

       OR, even more disturbing:
       - It completes the snych, reports success, but if you compare the left and right folder, you will find it did not complete.

    So, at this stage, SyncToy is NOT safe to use with Win7 and we should expect Microsoft to acknowledge this and provide an update as soon as possible. Thx!


    PS: Test-Setup: 2 PCs, one with Win 7 RC, the other with Vista SP2.



    HI FranzKu,

    I cannot repro this issue on Windows 7. I am testing the below scenario and synctoy was work well.

     

    ·         OS: Win7 BETA build 7000(x86) and Vista Sp1(x86)

    ·         Sync source:  large folder(4000+ files and 200+ folder, total 1G+MB) on Win7

    ·         Sync destination:  a network share folder on Vista Sp1

     

    ·         Synctoy build version: 2.0.100.0

    ·         Microsoft Sync Framework Runtime/Services version: 1.0.1215.0 (check “add or remove programs” can get this version)

     

    Could you please take a look into your environment, and tell me what’s different with my scenario, it can help us to found out issue, thanks.

     

    Also, could you please take a try to run a large folder sync ONLY on Win7 machine(source and destination folder both on Win7 machine), if running is no problem, It may be a Network issues.

     

    I am looking forward your reply, thanks.

     

     

    Thanks,

    Yiming

    Joey Liang
    Your potential our passion This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
    • Edited by Yiming L Wednesday, June 10, 2009 10:28 AM
    Thursday, May 21, 2009 5:20 AM
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    Hi Joey,

    I am using the following setup:

    PC1 = Windows Vista, SP1, 32bit
    PC2 = Windows 7 RC, 7100, 32bit, LAN connection
    Both machines have all recommended OS updates installed.

    SyncToy is installed on PC1.
    Sync Source/Target = large folder, 16k files, 700 (nested) folders

    PC2 is represented as mapped network drive on PC1 (c:\users\xy\documents on PC2 = z:\ on PC1)

    Hope this helps
    Franz

    PS: I will do the Win7 only synch and report that too.




    Tuesday, May 26, 2009 4:15 PM
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    Sadly I have to confirm the initial statement: Synctoy 1.4 and 2.0 don't really work for me on Windows 7

    I'm on an AMD Phenom, 4 GB Ram, SATA HDD.
    I am using Synctoy to sync a fixed internal 250 GB Samsung HDD to an external 250 GB WD Passport USB Drive. 

    Synctoy 1.4. crashed during the intial sync, 2.0 wants to resync tons of files even when they are already in sync, resulting in a deadly slowdown after a while. It's so slow that even after letting it run overnight it's still not even half way through.
    With my old XP System everything is in sync after a few minutes (to an hour, depending on how long I didnt sync). 

    If someone knows any solution, please help!
    I couldn't stand it anymore and switched to "File Synchronizer" for now, but it's not really an option since file deletes and moves aren't recognized :(

    Thanks in advance.
    Tuesday, August 25, 2009 2:34 PM
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    My Synctoy 2.0 worked fine in Windows 7 until today when something got messed up with my whole network.
    Saturday, August 29, 2009 5:48 PM
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    Tried SyncToy 2.0 today on Windows 7 release and it doesn't work here either. The folder I tried synchronizing has apx 700 files (1 gig). It will traverse the folders and present a report (suggesting some overwrites where it shouldn't from what I can see) and then the GUI hangs.

    Live Mesh works fine though.
    Wednesday, September 9, 2009 5:42 PM
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    Have been using SyncToy with Win 7 since the RC. I have RTM on my pc and wifey has RC on hers. No issues here. The log file reports we are sync 'd and I can confirm this manually.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:19:131: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:19:141: Starting SyncToyCmd, version 2.0.100.0, built 8/12/2008 2:07:12 PM.
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:19:243: Started scanning directory : D:\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:19:243: Started scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:29:809: Stopped scanning directory : D:\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:44:616: Stopped scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:44:743: Preview of Update Brenda's Pictures (D:\My Pictures\, \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\) in time 00:00:25:495.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'
    Found 0 actions to perform.
    Found 37,816 files that did not require action.
    Analyzed 1,483.3 files per second.
    Avoided copying 70,425,032,086 bytes in 37,816 files.
    Saved approximately 15:07:30:00 by not copying any files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:44:812: SyncToy run of Update Brenda's Pictures (D:\My Pictures\, \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\) completed at 9/10/2009 8:48:44 AM.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'.
    SyncToy options were:
     Active for run all
     All files included
     No files excluded
     Do not check file contents
     Include read-only files
     Include hidden files
     Include system files
     Backup older files (send to Recycle Bin)
     All subfolders included
    SyncToy run took 00:00:00:066.
    Copied 0 bytes in 0 files in 00:00:00:66.
    Bytes per second 0.0, files per second 0.0.
    Avoided copying 70,425,032,086 bytes in 37,816 files that did not require action.
    Saved approximately 15:07:30:00 by not copying all files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:45:186: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:45:195: Starting SyncToyCmd, version 2.0.100.0, built 8/12/2008 2:07:12 PM.
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:45:301: Started scanning directory : D:\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:45:310: Started scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:45:365: Stopped scanning directory : D:\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:318: Stopped scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:403: Preview of Update Brenda's Videos (D:\My Videos\, \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\) in time 00:00:01:97.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'
    Found 0 actions to perform.
    Found 685 files that did not require action.
    Analyzed 624.4 files per second.
    Avoided copying 63,399,460,284 bytes in 685 files.
    Saved approximately 11:13:18:00 by not copying any files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:479: SyncToy run of Update Brenda's Videos (D:\My Videos\, \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\) completed at 9/10/2009 8:48:46 AM.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'.
    SyncToy options were:
     Active for run all
     All files included
     No files excluded
     Do not check file contents
     Include read-only files
     Include hidden files
     Include system files
     Backup older files (send to Recycle Bin)
     All subfolders included
    SyncToy run took 00:00:00:072.
    Copied 0 bytes in 0 files in 00:00:00:72.
    Bytes per second 0.0, files per second 0.0.
    Avoided copying 63,399,460,284 bytes in 685 files that did not require action.
    Saved approximately 11:13:18:00 by not copying all files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:836: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:845: Starting SyncToyCmd, version 2.0.100.0, built 8/12/2008 2:07:12 PM.
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:938: Started scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:48:46:944: Started scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:00:503: Stopped scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:06:768: Stopped scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:082: Preview of Backup Brenda's Pictures (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Pictures\) in time 00:00:20:140.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'
    Found 0 actions to perform.
    Found 41,342 files that did not require action.
    Analyzed 2,052.7 files per second.
    Avoided copying 121,372,170,317 bytes in 41,342 files.
    Saved approximately 19:25:44:00 by not copying any files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:297: SyncToy run of Backup Brenda's Pictures (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Pictures\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Pictures\) completed at 9/10/2009 8:49:07 AM.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'.
    SyncToy options were:
     Active for run all
     All files included
     No files excluded
     Do not check file contents
     Include read-only files
     Include hidden files
     Include system files
     Backup older files (send to Recycle Bin)
     All subfolders included
    SyncToy run took 00:00:00:212.
    Copied 0 bytes in 0 files in 00:00:00:212.
    Bytes per second 0.0, files per second 0.0.
    Avoided copying 121,372,170,317 bytes in 41,342 files that did not require action.
    Saved approximately 19:25:44:00 by not copying all files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:668: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:678: Starting SyncToyCmd, version 2.0.100.0, built 8/12/2008 2:07:12 PM.
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:774: Started scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:07:774: Started scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:08:159: Stopped scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:08:554: Stopped scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:08:657: Preview of Backup Brenda's Videos (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Videos\) in time 00:00:00:878.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'
    Found 0 actions to perform.
    Found 1,342 files that did not require action.
    Analyzed 1,528.5 files per second.
    Avoided copying 125,436,239,182 bytes in 1,342 files.
    Saved approximately 21:41:12:00 by not copying any files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:08:724: SyncToy run of Backup Brenda's Videos (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\My Videos\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Videos\) completed at 9/10/2009 8:49:08 AM.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'.
    SyncToy options were:
     Active for run all
     All files included
     No files excluded
     Do not check file contents
     Include read-only files
     Include hidden files
     Include system files
     Backup older files (send to Recycle Bin)
     All subfolders included
    SyncToy run took 00:00:00:064.
    Copied 0 bytes in 0 files in 00:00:00:64.
    Bytes per second 0.0, files per second 0.0.
    Avoided copying 125,436,239,182 bytes in 1,342 files that did not require action.
    Saved approximately 21:41:12:00 by not copying all files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:09:078: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:09:087: Starting SyncToyCmd, version 2.0.100.0, built 8/12/2008 2:07:12 PM.
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:09:183: Started scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\Music\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:09:183: Started scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Music\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:11:006: Stopped scanning directory : D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Music\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:12:402: Stopped scanning directory : \\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\Music\
    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:12:567: Preview of Backup Brenda's Music (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\Music\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Music\) in time 00:00:03:378.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'
    Found 0 actions to perform.
    Found 5,860 files that did not require action.
    Analyzed 1,734.8 files per second.
    Avoided copying 12,994,351,436 bytes in 5,860 files.
    Saved approximately 07:13:08:00 by not copying any files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:49:12:644: SyncToy run of Backup Brenda's Music (\\BRENDA-PC\Brenda's DATA Drive\Music\, D:\Brenda's Stuff\Brenda's Music\) completed at 9/10/2009 8:49:12 AM.
    SyncToy action was 'Contribute'.
    SyncToy options were:
     Active for run all
     All files included
     No files excluded
     Do not check file contents
     Include read-only files
     Include hidden files
     Include system files
     Backup older files (send to Recycle Bin)
     All subfolders included
    SyncToy run took 00:00:00:073.
    Copied 0 bytes in 0 files in 00:00:00:73.
    Bytes per second 0.0, files per second 0.0.
    Avoided copying 12,994,351,436 bytes in 5,860 files that did not require action.
    Saved approximately 07:13:08:00 by not copying all files.

    SYNC: 09/10/2009 08:53:48:206: -------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thursday, September 10, 2009 1:59 PM
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    I sadly had to switch to Allway Sync since I can't live without an automatic sync of my project files :(

    Still, it takes even Allway Sync unreasonaly long to copy single files -- a small txt takes almost a second, resulting in a lot of time for thousands of them. 

    I somehow get the feeling copying large files like videos, music and pictures works fine, but small ini, txt and cfg or temp files doesn't work. 

    Little Charlie, did you copy a LOT of files (thousands) or just a bunch of large files?
    • Proposed as answer by MaryGladys Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:22 AM
    Saturday, September 19, 2009 10:35 AM
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    I sadly had to switch to Allway Sync since I can't live without an automatic sync of my project files :(

    Still, it takes even Allway Sync unreasonaly long to copy single files -- a small txt takes almost a second, resulting in a lot of time for thousands of them. 

    I somehow get the feeling copying large files like videos, music and pictures works fine, but small ini, txt and cfg or temp files doesn't work. 

    Little Charlie, did you copy a LOT of files (thousands) or just a bunch of large files?

    OmniCaron,

    The way I got it to work was I installed it under compatibilty mode for Windows Vista.  Then, when I also RUN it, I also run it under Vista compatibilty (right click on the setup executable and configure the properties there...then again to the shortcut when you actually want to run it).

    I have a TON of files, small and big...and although Live Mesh looks appetizing....5 GB is frankly too little for the stuff I have. 

    Sure Windows 7 is great with that homegroup stuff, but I am lazy at backing up and I do need offline files.
    Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:25 AM
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    I tested another method that worked fine, as I was also having problems with large folders (My Pictures) I use Synctoy on My Netbook to syncronize things like My Pictures and some select documents, the small documents folder worked fine, but the My Pictures folder was failing on initial Sync (%GB in size) I gave up the initial Sync when it had failed to create 30 of my folders. Anyway.

    For a folder that will not have massive amounts of changes
    you shoudl be able to manually copy the folder over once, and then use Synctoy for changes only.

    I mean that theory worked flawlessly for me.

    Just a sugggestion for any o fyou having issues. I however did not have the issue where Synctoy froze right up...
    Saturday, October 24, 2009 8:22 PM
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    I am having issues w/ SyncToy 2.0 x64 on Windows 7 Professional x64 (retail).  When SyncToy gets to a folder with 25,000 files in 3,000 folders and totally 17GB in size, the application will eventually start to consume massive amounts of memory until the system runs out of resources (I have 8GB of RAM) and hangs. It even happens if I do a preview only during the analysis.  I have tried what Mitchellb suggested of first copying the folder to its backup location on another drive and then running the sync, but SyncToy still exhibits the same problem.

    SyncToy ran perfectly under Vista Ultimate x64 with the same folder.  If you need me to provide any additional information I can do so.
    Sunday, October 25, 2009 8:16 PM
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    Good evening!

    I'd have to agree Synctoy 2.0 x64 is not functional with Windows 7 x64. All the excellent suggestions mentioned above were met with epic fail. Affirmation of this is Microsoft's troubleshooting compatability program in the end confirms the program is incompatible no mattter which compatability version I use. This, of course, is most disheartening.

    Saturday, October 31, 2009 2:40 AM
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    Good Day,

    Used Synctoy 2 with Vista HPrem 64 and it worked just fine.

    Just 'clean-installed' Win7 HPrem 64 on same machine and set up new 'folder pairs' and Synctoy works, again, just fine.

    No problems.
    Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:07 PM
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    Good evening!

    I'd have to agree Synctoy 2.0 x64 is not functional with Windows 7 x64. All the excellent suggestions mentioned above were met with epic fail. Affirmation of this is Microsoft's troubleshooting compatability program in the end confirms the program is incompatible no mattter which compatability version I use. This, of course, is most disheartening.


    I'm sorry Frank but I beg to differ! As SyncToy 2.0 is not designed for Windows 7, I did the same as MaryGladys and went into properties on the Installer exe and selected run in compatibility mode for Windows Vista BEFORE I installed it - and I have no problems whatsover running the 64-bit version of SyncToy 2.0 on Windows x 64-bit!
    HP Pavillion a6632uk, AMD Phenom(tm) 8550 Triple-Core Processor, 3GB RAM, Vista Home Premium
    Friday, November 13, 2009 10:24 AM
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    I note the comment that Sync Toy 2.0 is not designed for Windows 7. Has this now changed with the release of v2.1 which lists Windows 7 (64 bit) as an acceptable OS?

    Does the installation of  Microsoft Sync Framework 2.0 add much in the way of overhead that could impact on PC performance?

    Friday, November 13, 2009 11:54 AM
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    I agree with all the issues reported. I have used Sync Toy for a while and loved it on XP. I have been trying to get it working on Windows 7 for a month and did everything stated above with no success. I Sync with a NAS device.

    L
    Monday, January 18, 2010 5:44 PM
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    I have recently installed Windows 7 on a desktop PC and a laptop.  In the past I have used Synctoy to keep files on the two computers the same.  I also use Synctoy to backup the computers to a remote hard drive.

    The backup to the remote hard drive is working fine with windows 7.  The syncing between the two computers will not work.  I use a wireless home network to connect the computers.  I can set up the Sync pairs without problems.  When I go to run the pair, I get a message saying the destination file cannot be found.  I realize this may just be some type of program setting which is blocking the transfer of data.  The files involved are "Public" on both computers. 

    Any suggestions?

    agreen59

    Thursday, April 22, 2010 4:31 PM
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    Running Win7 x64 and SyncToyCmd 2.1 to backup MyDocs and Desktop to an external HD.

    I was having problems with massive memory consumption and slow execution. Per suggestion above I changed EXE to run in Vista compatibility mode and presto, no more memory issues and fast execution. Worked for me....

    Friday, May 21, 2010 8:02 PM
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    I also had a SyncToy hang problem. I solved it. It isn't Windows 7, because I've been using ST on Win7 since the first beta. It isn't a 'number of files' issue, because I've used it to sync folders with well over 500,000 files, almost all of which were small html and text files. It isn't a 'drive size' issue, because I've synced 2 terabyte disks. My biggest sync job involved two SATA 2T disks and two 500G PATA disks onto four SATA 2T disks. It took many days, but there were no errors and no problems. I have been using ST since WinXP, and have synced between XP, Vista and 7, using both NTFS and FAT, 32bit and 64bit. I've never had a problem...until about a week ago. One of eleven of my folder pairs caused ST to hang. I used 'Change Options' -> 'Select subfolder' and unchecked all sub-folders so ST would just sync the loose files. Success. Then I re-selected the first folder, synced...success. On the fourth sub-folder, ST hung. So I deleted the Right Folder pair from the other computer, copied my Left Folder over from Windows Explorer, ran ST, and everything is running again with no hangs. So, apparently(?), I had a corrupt file on the Right Folder side. To further clarify, I have all sizes of files from 0 bytes to backup .zip files of over 4 gigs. I have multiple deeply nested folders, 8 and 14 folders deep. I HAVE noticed, though, that at least on older editions of Windows, I've been allowed to create illegal file and folder names. Perhaps people with problems have illegal file or folder names? Windows team: how about a tool to help users find and fix illegal names? Bing gives 11000000 results for 'windows illegal file name'. It would probably help your own support teams if nothing else.
    • Proposed as answer by krkosska Wednesday, January 12, 2011 6:59 PM
    Wednesday, January 12, 2011 6:50 PM
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    I have had some issues with SyncToy 2.1 on Win7-64. It seems that the 'hang' that some people report is simply a failure to update the screen correctly. Wierdly, I have also seen this behaviour in long running Excel Macros when using Application.StatusBar = "some text". It runs for a while and appears to hang but in fact, it is still working behind the scenes as the task manager and performance monitor will confirm. Its just the screen text not updating as it should. I think there is a bit of code somewhere in an update (maybe a .NET library?) which has changed screen updating behaviour in the interests of performance. It is a very big nuisance and needs to be fixed!

    As for the left and right folders in a pair becoming the same that some have reported, I noticed that this happens when I Copy and Paste the path from the left folder to the right folder during setup without using "Browse". For some reason, edits after the Paste operation are not saved. If I browse for both folders, it doesn't seem to happen.

    I have also seen people saying that sync works when run manually but not when scheduled. I think that is probably a permissions issue.
    Wednesday, December 28, 2011 1:03 PM