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filkertomMost file management programs -- xplorer^2, Directory Opus (yes, Amiga peeps, it's still out there), eighty gazillion programs, really -- have functions which you have to pay for the full version to get. Completely understandable; they want to reimburse their developers. But my file manip needs are reasonably small and simple.
Except for one particular feature: synchronization.
I've got something near sixty thousand audio loops for use with Acid Pro. Whole lotta storage going on. And I've got 'em in two places: an internal drive on the desktop machine, and an external I can plug into the laptop. Problem is, because of what I've been using where and such, some new downloads got saved to one, some to the other. Over several months, there was about a gig and a quarter of disparity between those two drives, and I really wasn't looking forward to going through it manually. And the file manager programs not only were no help, because they wanted me to upgrade to get synchronization, and because once you upgraded, comparison of the two folders was relatively easy, but the actual steps for synchronization were much more of a pain.
And so I Googled. Found a few command-line programs. Oh, yeah, I wanted to do this in DOS in the twenty-first century. Feh.
But I also found Allway Sync for Windows.
Simple, clear interface. I picked the two folders, clicked "Analyze". Took about three minutes. Let me know in the "Important Message" section seven files which had different versions on each drive, and wanted me to confirm which version I wanted. Let me know how many files were on both drives (it was comparing directory trees, not really deep analysis -- I know I've got some dup'd loops), and how many weren't, and which was going which way.
I clicked "Synchronize."
Took about twenty minutes.
Over fourteen thousand files, over a gig and a quarter of data, boom.
I don't need to sync much, but when I need it I need it done right. Allway Sync did it right, fast, and easy.
So, what's your newest freebie software you can't live without? (Be sure to mention the operating system.)
Except for one particular feature: synchronization.
I've got something near sixty thousand audio loops for use with Acid Pro. Whole lotta storage going on. And I've got 'em in two places: an internal drive on the desktop machine, and an external I can plug into the laptop. Problem is, because of what I've been using where and such, some new downloads got saved to one, some to the other. Over several months, there was about a gig and a quarter of disparity between those two drives, and I really wasn't looking forward to going through it manually. And the file manager programs not only were no help, because they wanted me to upgrade to get synchronization, and because once you upgraded, comparison of the two folders was relatively easy, but the actual steps for synchronization were much more of a pain.
And so I Googled. Found a few command-line programs. Oh, yeah, I wanted to do this in DOS in the twenty-first century. Feh.
But I also found Allway Sync for Windows.
Simple, clear interface. I picked the two folders, clicked "Analyze". Took about three minutes. Let me know in the "Important Message" section seven files which had different versions on each drive, and wanted me to confirm which version I wanted. Let me know how many files were on both drives (it was comparing directory trees, not really deep analysis -- I know I've got some dup'd loops), and how many weren't, and which was going which way.
I clicked "Synchronize."
Took about twenty minutes.
Over fourteen thousand files, over a gig and a quarter of data, boom.
I don't need to sync much, but when I need it I need it done right. Allway Sync did it right, fast, and easy.
So, what's your newest freebie software you can't live without? (Be sure to mention the operating system.)
