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How does SyncBackFree work?

SyncBackFree is the freeware version of SyncBack. It is *not* an evaluation version of SyncBackPro/SE.
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Skyglider
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:05 am

How does SyncBackFree work?

Post by Skyglider »

I do periodic backups of my internal D: data HDD to external USB HDDs using Macrium Reflect Free. Now I want to mirror my entire D: HDD to another internal internal E: HDD, to have daily backups of my data drive. Not realtime mirroring but on demand mirroring. Thinking about using SyncBackFree to do the mirror. Both D: and E: drives are mechanical HDDs and not SSDs.

Have a few questions about SyncBackFree (SBF):

1. Using SBF to mirror, can I just specify the source as D: and the destination as E: and have all of the files mirrored? Or do I have to select all of the folders on D: individually?

2. I realize that the first mirror will take a long time to copy ALL of the folders and files from D: to E:. But on subsequent mirrors, about how long will the job run? My D: drive is 1.5TB and has about 800GB of data on it.

I would like to get a general idea of how SyncBackFree works so I can decide whether to install it.
Thanks.
Conrad Chung
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Posts: 152
Joined: Thu Dec 05, 2013 3:01 pm

Re: How does SyncBackFree work?

Post by Conrad Chung »

What type of data do you have in D:? If D: does not contain any system files (Windows files, temp files, etc) and only personal files (like PDF, Office files, text files, etc) then it shouldn't be an issue.

One thing to note is that SyncBack is a backup utility designed to backup files-based data that are created by the user (that is, files created by you).
Cloning or imaging drives are not supported, neither is backing up an entire drive that contains system files since those will surely fail during backup.

However, SyncBackFree is only a 32-bit program so it can only utilize 2GB of RAM. Given that you have so much data, it might fail halfway due to insufficient memory.

It's best that you try it out on your end and if it fails, try Mirroring folders in batches (i.e., select a subset of folders via "Modify > Simple > Choose sub-dir and files" and when the profile completes, select the next set, and so on).
Skyglider
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Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:05 am

Re: How does SyncBackFree work?

Post by Skyglider »

Conrad Chung wrote:
Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:19 pm
What type of data do you have in D:? If D: does not contain any system files (Windows files, temp files, etc) and only personal files (like PDF, Office files, text files, etc) then it shouldn't be an issue.
All of the files on my D: drive are pure data only. Like documents, spreadsheets, pictures, videos, music, etc. My OS (Windows 10), system files and programs are on my C: drive which I will not be trying to mirror using SBF.
One thing to note is that SyncBack is a backup utility designed to backup files-based data that are created by the user (that is, files created by you).
Cloning or imaging drives are not supported, neither is backing up an entire drive that contains system files since those will surely fail during backup.

However, SyncBackFree is only a 32-bit program so it can only utilize 2GB of RAM. Given that you have so much data, it might fail halfway due to insufficient memory.

It's best that you try it out on your end and if it fails, try Mirroring folders in batches (i.e., select a subset of folders via "Modify > Simple > Choose sub-dir and files" and when the profile completes, select the next set, and so on).
OK, I'll give it a try. Thanks.
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