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SyncToy does not produce exact mirror of folders and files RRS feed

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    Hi,

    I use SyncToy 2.0 to "echo" folder I kept in my notebook (Vista) to my desktop (XP SP3). The funny thing is i won't be able to get the exact folder, file size and count between both. I have about 10K files which occupies 15GB.

    However, no problem at all if I sync from my notebook to portable hard disk (USB), as i will get the same file count, folder and total size.

    Could it be issue between Vista and XP?


    Wednesday, August 27, 2008 2:35 PM

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    Just to add, the options selected is as follow:

        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
    Wednesday, August 27, 2008 2:40 PM
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    Was your folder on the XP machine empty before you started doing the Echo? Remember that Echo won't delete files on the Right which were already present there before you started synchronizing (and which are not present on the Left).

     

    Wednesday, August 27, 2008 4:48 PM
    Answerer
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    I did that earlier, at least 2 or 3 times to remove all folders and its contents completely, but not able to get exact copy. It takes around 1-2 hours to complete the full sync, so frustrating, as also not sure which files are omitted.

     

    Just wondering those thumbnails file, does it get copy too by SyncToy? I noticed this file is created when we view the thumbnails on the desktop or laptop. Again, this is just a guess, XP and Vista may create different way.

     

    Anyway, I can't figure out the difference. Any tool to recommend to compare between 2 folders across the network?

     

    Thursday, August 28, 2008 5:06 AM
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    XXCOPY has switches that will allow you to list files that are in one and not the other.

     

    Tom

    Thursday, August 28, 2008 3:20 PM
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    The only files that SyncToy does not synchronize are two system files: thumbs.db and desktop.ini (and then only if these files are marked with the System AND Hidden attributes). It's quite possible that's the difference. The reason these files are not synchronized is because it's common for people to use SyncToy to synchronize their My Documents folder and these files do not make sense to synchronize to other PCs - these are local-only files.

    Thursday, August 28, 2008 6:52 PM
    Answerer
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    Looks like thumb.db could be a culprit. Will check and verify again.

     

    BTW, if this would be the case, can we have this as option available for us to select in the next release of SyncToy (perhaps 2.1)? I personally feel comfortable to see everything in sync, particularly if we are referring to huge library of pictures and data files, not so much on MyDocument folders.

     

    Still a burning question: why then echo to USB portable hardisk could produce exact copies then? Very strange, isn't it?? Now starts to speculate is it due to NTFS and FAT32 thing? Again, need to check later on this.

    Friday, August 29, 2008 2:34 AM