Frequently Asked Questions Hub
Frequently Asked Questions: General Questions
For New Users
What is the difference between a Backup and a synchronization?
Does SyncBack provide me with warning dialogues?
When I run a profile in SyncBack, does it copy every file?
Why does the first run of a profile take longer than subsequent runs?
Does SyncBack support my storage device?
How do I backup to a CD-R, DVD+R, or DVD-R disk?
How do I backup to a CD-RW, DVD+RW, or DVD-RW disk?
Troubleshooting and Error Messages
Does SyncBack have any known issues or bugs?
Why is SyncBack having problems copying files to and from my Novell network server?
Why am I getting 1223, 121, 64, or 55 errors when copying files?
Why are multiple SyncBack programs running at the same time?
I have deleted files from my source directory, but they are still in my destination directory. Why?
Why don't the files in my destination directory have the correct last modification date & time?
Why is the Desktop.ini file never copied correctly?
The Desktop.ini file appears in the Differences even though I've copied it. Why?
NTFS compressed files are copied, but the destination copy is not compressed. Why?
For New Users
Q: What's the difference between a Backup and a synchronization?
A: A backup copies files in one direction: from the source to the destination. A synchronization copies files in both directions: from the source to the destination, and from the destination to the source. If you want to keep the same set of files on two computers, e.g. your notebook and your desktop computer, then you'll probably want to synchronize. If you want to keep copies of your important files for safe keeping, e.g. on another drive, then you'll need to backup.
Q: Does SyncBack provide me with warning dialogues?
A: SyncBack won't prevent all mistakes but it does provide a great deal of feedback to users before many of the tasks commence. For example, in the 'Auto Close' settings window ('Modify' > 'Expert Mode') the user is shown a window with the following dialogue before the task is completed. This encourages the user to think carefully about the actions they take:
Warning: This will forcibly close the programs which could result in lost data. For example, if you are forcibly closing Microsoft Word, you will loose whatever changes you've made to any documents you were editing.
Q: When I run a profile in SyncBack, does it copy every file?
Q: Why does the first run of a profile take longer than subsequent runs?
A: SyncBack only copies files that have changed. When you run a profile for the first time, it will probably need to copy all the relevant files from your source to the destination, however, on subsequent runs it will only copy files that have changed and so will be considerably faster.
Q: Does SyncBack support my storage device?
A: SyncBack supports any system that can be accessed like a normal drive, including CD-RW/DVD+-RW formatted using UDF, CompactFlash, external drives, floppy disks, etc.
SyncBack uses the SHFileOperation API call, the same as used by Windows Explorer, or the CopyFile Win32 API call, depending on your profile settings. Experiment by creating a test profile to see if SyncBack works with your storage device. You need to test for creating new files, overwriting files, and deleting files. Ensure you've installed the latest drivers for your device.
Q: How do I backup to a CD-R, DVD+R, or DVD-R disk?
A: Some packet writing software, e. g. DirectCD and InstantWrite, support UDF with CD-R's. However, some software does not, e. g. InCD. Carefully check your documentation to see if it is supported. With a rewriteable disk you can afford to make mistakes. With a write-once disk, you cannot. See the next question
Q: How do I backup to a CD-RW, DVD+RW, or DVD-RW disk?
A: First, test your profile with a hard drive to make sure your profiles settings are correct.
Second, format your CD/DVD using the UDF file system before using it with SyncBack. This is very important. SyncBack cannot put files onto a CD/DVD unless it has been formatted in UDF format. You may need to do a full format (instead of a quick format). Free programs listed below can achieve this.
Third, eject and re-insert your CD after formatting it otherwise you may get errors saying there is no CD in the drive.
Free
For free software that can format the CD/DVD in UDF:
Download HP DLA 4.60 (this page also provides additional information about why a previous version of the HP DLA can cause bluescreens on Windows 2000, XP and XPSP2):
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00242757
An additional download is also required for the HP/Sonic DLA 4.95.1c:
http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/hpcpqnk/us/download/22226.html
After downloading both files, follow these steps:
1. Remove all other packet writing software
2. Run install of DLA 4.60
3. Restart your computer
4. Run install of DLA 4.95.1c
5. Acknowledge message to remove v4.60
6. Restart your computer
7. DLA 4.95.1c install continues automatically, proceed with install
8. Restart your computer
As an alternative method you can download free packet writing software (that let's you use SyncBack with a CD formatted with UDF) at:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41602%20
This is a newer version (V4.80) of the Veritas DLA software suggested in the SyncBack V2 forums (V3.59).
- Format your CD before using it with SyncBack. Eject and re-insert your CD after formatting it otherwise you may get errors saying there is no CD in the drive.
- You may need to do a full format (instead of a quick format).
- The installation notes say This package will only unpack on systems that have IBM CD-RW or DVD Recordable drives installed. However it does install on PC's without IBM drives but if it fails to install, then download and install the following (which is an older version with no restrictions):
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/personal_computing/software/DLA359.exe
Then install the new version over it.
Commercial
Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator: http://www.roxio.com/en/products/ecdc/index.jhtml
Pinnacle Systems Instant CD/DVD: http://www.pinnaclesys.com
Nero InCD: In some situations SyncBack will not recognise UDF formatted CD's created using Nero InCD. The cause of this problem is unknown and there is no known solution.
Note: copying a large number of files to a DVD can take an extremely long time.
Troubleshooting and Error Messages
Q: Does SyncBack have any known issues or bugs?
A: SyncBack has been tested, not only by the developers, but also by SyncBack's community forum at www.2brightsparks.com/bb/. There are however some minor known Features and Bugs.
Q: Why is SyncBack having problems copying files to and from my Novell network server?
Q: Why am I getting 1223, 121, 64, or 55 errors when copying files?
A: This is probably a hardware problem. Check your network cable is connected properly on both your computer and hub or router. Try switching off your hub/router for a while and switching it back on. The following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article may provide you with other solutions:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;325487&sd=ee
Some users have also found that not using the Windows shell for copying & deleting files fixes some network problems. See the Copy/Delete Settings section for details on how to not use the Windows shell.
Q: How is it that I can have multiple SyncBack programs running at the same time?
A: If you run SyncBack with no command line parameters, it will check to see if there is another SyncBack program already running that was started with no command line parameters. If so, it will not start. When you run SyncBack with command line parameters, e. g. from the Windows Task Scheduler, then it will run, do its job, and then exit (it will not automatically exit if you use the user interface).
Q: How do I remove files in my destination that are no longer in my source?
A: Modify your profile and select 'Delete from destination' on the 'Advanced' tab.
Q: Why don't the files in my destination directory have the correct last modification date & time?
A: Windows has two main filesystems: FAT (including FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32 - FAT = File Allocation Table) and NTFS (New Technology File System, or NT File System). When you format a disk, or partition, you choose which filesystem to format it in. For Windows 95/98/98SE/ME, you can only format using FAT. For Windows NT/2K/XP/2003 you can choose either FAT or NTFS.
There are important details that must be taken into account when copying files between FAT and NTFS filesystems. The most important of these is that the last modification date & time for files in FAT filesystems is accurate only to within 2 seconds. You never get odd-seconds on a FAT partition. For example, the last modification date & time of a file can be 13:00:20 but will never be 13:00:21. On NTFS filesystems it is accurate to within 10 milliseconds. Therefore, when a file is copied from an NTFS filesystem to a FAT filesystem it is extremely likely that the copy on the FAT filesystem will have a different last modification date & time than the original. It will be rounded up to the next even number of seconds. There is nothing any program can do to change this. It is a limitation of the FAT filesystem itself.
When copying files from one NTFS filesystem to another, then the last modification date & times should be identical. However, sometimes, usually when copying over a network, the date & time may be slightly different. You can request that the date & time on the copy be identical, but if Windows itself does not change the time to the one requested, then there is nothing that can be done.
For this reason it is highly recommended that you set your profiles to ignore date & time differences of two seconds or less (this is done by default when creating a new profile).
Another issue is that FAT records times on disk in local time. However, NTFS records times on disk in UTC (GMT). This can cause problems when the local time is changed for daylight savings, i. e. the difference in date & time between files will be one hour or more.
Q: Why is the Desktop.ini file never copied correctly?
Q: The Desktop.ini file appears in the Differences even though I've copied it. Why?
A: The Desktop.ini file stores configuration settings for a folder, e.g. what special icon to use. If you copy this hidden system file from one directory to another using Windows Explorer, then Windows will change the files contents in the destination directory. Therefore these files will never be the same. There are two ways to avoid this: add Desktop.ini to the list of Files NOT to copy (see Filter Settings), or tell SyncBack not to use the Windows shell to copy files (see Copy/Delete Settings).
Q: NTFS compressed files are copied, but the destination copy is not compressed. Why?
A: Windows itself will not copy over the file as compressed. It will however copy over correctly NTFS encrypted files. Note that when the destination is a Zip file, only FAT attributes are copied (read-only, hidden, system, and archive). FTP destinations do not copy over any file attributes.
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