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backup or mirror?

SyncBackFree is the freeware version of SyncBack. It is *not* an evaluation version of SyncBackPro/SE.
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Paligap
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backup or mirror?

Post by Paligap »

I have an external drive that I want to always match what is on an internal drive. The internal drive contains music files that I am in the process of manipulating, and in some cases, creating and deleting. Would a backup or mirror profile be the best way to accomplish the updated matching of the two drives?
Gary A
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Re: backup or mirror?

Post by Gary A »

Mirror will do what you want. When you set up the Profile, select the internal drive as the Source and the external drive as the Destination.
Paligap
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Re: backup or mirror?

Post by Paligap »

Gary A wrote:
Wed Jun 03, 2020 1:25 pm
Mirror will do what you want. When you set up the Profile, select the internal drive as the Source and the external drive as the Destination.
Thanks. Two quick questions:
  • Do I need to delete the files that already exist on the external drive (using the lame software that came with the drive) before I run the mirror profile the first time?
    Does the mirror profile copy every file from the source drive every time it runs, or does it check to see if files already exist on the destination drive?
Gary A
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Re: backup or mirror?

Post by Gary A »

Since I don't know what files are on the external drive, I can't safely answer if you should or should not delete what is currently there. If it's a new drive and don't want anything that's currently on it, you can always do a quick format from Windows File Explorer.

No, the mirror profile will only copy files that have changed since it was last run. Depending on the total bytes to be written, the first run will be the longest because all the files in the folder & sub-folders will have to be copied. Subsequent runs will be quicker since only files that have been changed will be copied. Files deleted on the Source will also be deleted on the destination.
Paligap
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Re: backup or mirror?

Post by Paligap »

Well, it's currently more or less a mirror of the internal source drive, but it has a weird file structure where the files seem to exist in two folders, History and Volume. This is due to the WD backup software I've been using to backup the files. There's also a huge DIR file which basically accounts for the difference in free space between the two drives. This was also created by the WD backup software.

Since I probably want a clean start before I start using SyncBackFree, I think I'll just format it. Thanks.
Gary A
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Re: backup or mirror?

Post by Gary A »

Whenever I buy a new external HDD, the first thing I do is a quick format to erase everything on it. I have no need for any programs provided by the manufacturer. But that's just my preference. I'm sure other users may take a different approach.

I have developed a backup routine that works for me. Daily data backups using SyncBack and weekly whole disk images using Macrium Reflect. I also use cloud storage for irreplaceable data files in case of a worse case scenario where my home and everything in it is totally destroyed.
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