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SyncToy 2.0 help file comments RRS feed

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    Hi, I have 2 comments to the help file topic "Folder Pair Options":

     

    1. Referring to

    "Save overwritten files in the Recycle Bin:" ... "If this option is unchecked, the older file is overwritten with the newer file or, if it's being deleted, it is deleted permanently. The older file can not be recovered in that case, but less disk space is used."

    I think you should indicate that for Vista users, it may not be necessary to turn the option on, because the file can usually be recovered also by using the Previous Versions feature.

     

    2. Referring to

    "Check file contents: This option is off by default. When running with “check file contents” selected, SyncToy will perform a SHA1 hash against all files. This hash, which is mathematically guaranteed to produce a unique value for the file's content, is used to compare files when determining whether files on both sides of the folder pair are already in sync."

     

    Unless I'm seriously mistaken, I don't think the hash gurantees a unique value for each file. It only gurantees different values for different files.

     

     

    Regards,

    Michael

    Saturday, August 23, 2008 9:59 AM

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    SHA1 would guarantee (that's not an accurate statement, but beyond a reasonable doubt correct) a unique value for every unique file. So if one left file is one bit off from a right file their hashes wouldn't match and they would be marked different. Question is, how it determines which different one to overwrite. Most likely answer is whatever file has file metadata that has a later date.

     

    I am glad you pointed out the SHA1 hashing... it takes time to hash files. I have that option disabled and it is still taking a long period of time to go through the directories that have large files. My guess is that it is still doing a hash on the files even though you uncheck that box. If it isn't doing SHA1 then it is doing MD5... are you have to research and confirm that?

     

    Tuesday, October 14, 2008 3:06 AM
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    Thanks for the feedback. We have made a note of it and will look to updating it in future releases.

     

    Also, to comment on the 2nd comment - if the checkbox is turned off, we do NOT hash the file contents. Have you upgraded to the final SyncToy 2.0 build? How long does it take to detect changes on your large directories and what are the directory sizes?

     

    Tuesday, October 14, 2008 8:29 PM
    Answerer