How do I sync my documents across multiple PC's?

[TimRobinson]

I'm sure a few here have come across this problem, I have 3 PC's at home (2 main PC's and a laptop) and I keep downloading files like ebooks/audios etc to one of the PC's (whatever I'm on at the time) and then can't find it later...

How do you keep your documents synced across all your pc's?

I could have a central server for the home PC's however what about the laptop when I'm using it not at home?

Cheers, Tim

[ericabiz]

Hi Tim,

Windows includes a built-in sync method that I use called "Offline Files."

1) Designate one PC as your "primary." Then set up a folder with all your documents, right-click on it in Explorer or My Computer, and select "Share." Once you've shared it as a network drive, open it on your other computers and map it as a network drive.

2) After mapping it, on your other computers, right-click and select "Make Available Offline." You can also configure options:

Windows XP Professional: Use Offline Files When You're off the Network
How to use offline files in Windows XP

This allows you to synchronize when you're ON the network (at home), and then stores all changes to files you make while you're away. Then, once you log back on, you can synchronize again (or set it to auto-sync when you log on to the network.)

I also set up Jungle Disk as a network drive so I can access those same files anywhere: Jungle Disk - Reliable online storage powered by Amazon S3 - JungleDisk

Since Jungle Disk uses the Internet to sync, and Offline Files uses your local network, Offline Files is faster -- so use it first.

This is my setup:
Desktop PC - "My Documents" points to a folder called "shared", which I also have shared as "shared". All my documents, downloaded ebooks, etc. are in this folder.
My laptop has a mapped network drive (E: ) which corresponds to \\mydesktopcomputer\shared
My laptop has E: set to synchronize with my desktop automatically
I also have Jungle Disk set to back up "shared" on my desktop to the Internet

When I'm away from home, I edit files on shared on my laptop and it syncs them back up when I get home!

It sounds complicated, but it's straightforward to set up. It only took me about 15 minutes to set up the whole scenario with Offline Files, and it is free -- it comes with Windows!

Good luck!
-Erica

[Michael Silvester]

Hi Tim,

I use the software from BeInSync - Secure Remote Access, File Sync and Online Backup Software

It syncs all my files right across to all my computers
and I can access the files over the internet also if I
am using a computer other than mine.

Its a life saver man!

Take Care,

Michael SIlvester

[novasoft]

Hey Tim,

I use second copy to sync data on my pc's and backup drives. Its a very easy to use software and well worth the money.

Cheers
Satya

[TimRobinson]

Awesome thanks guys! I'll check them all out

[JamesFraze]

I use rsync, it comes with either your basic linux distribution (if you like linux), or you can install http://www.cygwin.com/setup.exe to get it working on windows.

It can sync, folder to folder (like your Drive C: to a USB)

The cool thing though is that you can also do an encrypted sync across a network too. It's probably a bit more complicated to setup than the recommendations above, but it is free.

I script it, then setup the script on a cron (or windows schedule). Here is the rsync script that I use:

rsync -ra --progress --size-only /path1/* user@themachine:/path2/

/path1/ would be something like: /cygdrive/c/files for "c:\files"

user@themachine:/path2/ is saying to send the files via SSH to a remote machine (you'd need to install cygwin and SSH on the other machines, or SSH comes with linux by default). You could send it to a different drive though: /cygdrive/f/files

So, here is an example of doing it from c:\files (your hdd) to f:\files (a usb), on same computer:
rsync -ra --progress --size-only /cygdrive/c/files /cygdrive/f/files

Save that into a text file and then call the text file with your scheduling software (or simply execute the text file manually by typing it's name).

It's free, fast, secure across networks, and works great, even for many GB of data.

I have a full detail that I"ve written but I'm not sure all of the info on it will be helpful to you. If you want it, let me know. (it tells how to force it over certain ports, setup secure key generation, edit crontab, reset keys/passphrases, etc) It's very geekified