Before posting, and to avoid disappointment, please read the following:

  • This forum is not for 2BrightSparks to provide technical support. It's primarily for users to help other users. Do not expect 2BrightSparks to answer any question posted to this forum.
  • If you find a bug in any of our software, please submit a support ticket. It does not matter if you are using our freeware, a beta version or you haven't yet purchased the software. We want to know about any and all bugs so we can fix them as soon as possible. We usually need more information and details from you to reproduce bugs and that is better done via a support ticket and not this forum.

Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

SyncBackFree is the freeware version of SyncBack. It is *not* an evaluation version of SyncBackPro/SE.
Post Reply
Alez_Curquejo
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:55 pm

Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by Alez_Curquejo »

Hello, I am a private user and I want to make backup copies of an external USB disk to another external USB disk, I want to use the "mirror" option but I have a question, on the destination disk, there are other folders, my question is, when using mirror mode, folders on the target disk other than the folder with the same name as the source disk will be deleted?

Thank you so much.
cliffhanger
Expert
Expert
Posts: 606
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 5:59 pm

Re: Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by cliffhanger »

Hi, if you used just the drive-letter (say X:\) as the Destination in your profile, then yes, you are in danger of a mirror profile deleting stuff that was already present on drive-X (and which does not exist on your Source drive).

The trick is to create a new folder on your backup disk for the exclusive purpose of storing your backup (giving the folder a meaningful name, such as 'My Backup', or something more appropriate/specific/meaningful) and set up your profile so that the Destination points to

X:\My Backup\

(or whatever drive letter applies \ folder-name you decided was appropriate). This will limit activity by the profile to 'within' that folder, leaving the pre-existing content of that drive segregated. After configuring your profile, you should always do a Simulated Run and examine what actions the profile intends to take in respect of those folders you are concerned about (ideally, there should be none).

You might also care to read this article about locking drive letters to a specific device (Windows does not guarantee always assigning the same drive letter every time, especially if you change devices around frequently). Ignore the preamble (and disclaimer) about XP and skip to the reference to 'recent versions of Windows' and follow the steps outlined thereafter. Ignore the section (and hyperlink/article) re 'SERIAL and LABEL' values as those functions are not supported in SyncBackFree.
Alez_Curquejo
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:55 pm

Re: Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by Alez_Curquejo »

Thank you very much for the splendid response and the link, it has been clear to me, a greeting.
Alez_Curquejo
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2018 4:55 pm

Re: Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by Alez_Curquejo »

I did not find a way to mark your answers as valid, thanks again.
bringjak
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:10 am

Re: Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by bringjak »

Is it possible to restore files if they are deleted during a sync process, folders are Not in first drive ?
bringjak
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:10 am

Re: Folders on target disk, are deleted with mirror mode?

Post by bringjak »

Is it possible to restore files if they are deleted during a sync process, folders are Not in first drive ?
Post Reply