- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows XP
- Date added: September 18, 2008
- Total Downloads: 28,978
- Downloads last week: 586
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 17 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
If you're looking for a convenient, uncomplicated, and stable synchronization tool, you could do much, much worse than Microsoft's SyncToy. Part of the Windows XP PowerToys add-ons, this tool makes it easy to keep folder contents identical on one machine or across a network.
The first time you run it, SyncToy will guide you through creating a pair of linked folders. Labeled as Left and Right, it will then ask you to choose from one of five synchronization methods. Echo works like a standard one-way sync, copying all files from Left to Right. Synchronize is bidirectional; Contribute works like Echo but it won't delete files removed from the Left folder; Subscribe only updates files in common that have been updated; and Combine merges Synchronize and Contribute so that files are updated in both directions, but none are deleted. SyncToy does support encrypted files.
SyncToy also offers up a preview, preventing accidental loss of data. However, the two feature omissions are hard to ignore: you can't synchronize across the Internet, and there's no scheduler. For the former, Microsoft does offer a different tool, FolderShare, but by requiring users to manually sync all folders leaves SyncToy behind other free backup apps.
Publisher's description
From Microsoft :The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers. 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.
Version 2.0 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
What's new in this version:
Version 2.0 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.8 stars out of 17 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 13 user reviewsSee all 13 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: SyncToy 2.0
"great product use it all the time to sync HD to USB"
Pros: simple and easy to use. can see what will happen before actually sync'ing
Cons: non to report - its free
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Version: SyncToy 2.0
"no matter which of my PCs I use - my data is with me"
Pros: awesomely simple, incredibly useful
Cons: none at all
Summary: If you have more than one PC - syncing will greatly help. No more USB-drives. For me it's really a finding. And free. From Microsoft. Oulala.
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Version: SyncToy 2.0
"I love it. It's free, easy to use, works great for me!"
Pros: None for me.
Cons: Free, easy to use.
Summary: I needed a quick, simple back up to a USB storage device. Set up doesn't take long, and from then on it's pretty much a one click deal.
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Version: SyncToy 2.0
"Lets me sync my laptop to my desktop over wifi!"
Pros: It's free, and it does what it's supposed to do -- sync! One can even add it to the task scheduler, so that it syncs folders in the background.
Cons: None at the moment.
Summary: If you want to keep your documents, pictures, music, and videos in sync between different computers, this is the right software for you.
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Version: SyncToy 2.0
"Nice, but boesn't work NTFS to FAT (bug rprtd aug08)"
Pros: does sync nicely, does what it says on the tin
Cons: Doesn't work NTFS to FAT (bug not fixed in nearly 1 year) - see http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/synctoy/thread/f00b8777-d70c-4ba9-a6e6-52f1be3e55a3.
Also can't modify a folder pair, have to recreate it - See all 13 user reviews Write review
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