The History of SyncBack
The first version of SyncBack was released as freeware in 2003 by Michael J. Leaver. Michael wrote SyncBack by himself to backup his files as nothing else met his requirements. SyncBack V2 was released in December 2003 and V3 soon followed in March 2004. Around that time MJLSoftware became 2BrightSparks as Michael J. Leaver was joined by Mike de Sousa. In December 2004 the business was registered as 2BrightSparks Pte. Ltd. and we were joined by Richard Gascoigne who became the third Director of the company until his retirement in early 2012. Mike de Sousa retired in September 2015.
In February 2005 we released a new version of SyncBack freeware and also our first commercial software: SyncBackSE V3.2.7. SyncBackSE shared the same source code as the freeware version, but SyncBackSE also had a great deal of additional code that provided significant new features. SyncBackSE was a greatly improved version of SyncBack freeware. As more features were added to SyncBackSE we decided to separate the code of SyncBackSE from SyncBack freeware altogether, so SyncBackSE had its own source code and no longer used the code from SyncBack freeware. At this point they became two entirely distinct programs that did not share any code.
In August 2008 we introduced SyncBackPro V5. SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE share the same code, just as SyncBackSE had originally shared the same code as SyncBack freeware. Over the years numerous features have been added to SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro, and SyncBack freeware has continued to be updated. However, since 2005 the gulf between SyncBack freeware and SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE has become ever wider. To rectify this, in November 2012 the old SyncBack freeware was replaced with the new SyncBackFree. Now the free version of SyncBack is built from the same source code as SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro. This ensures that when an improvement is made to a core function available in all versions, SyncBackFree, SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro, all three programs benefit from that fix, update, or new feature.
SyncBackFree is a vast improvement over the old SyncBack V3 freeware. It includes many of the advanced features of SyncBackSE (for example, being Unicode enabled), and now SyncBackFree also has the same user interface and shares the same help file which aids in the evaluation of different versions of the software. The release of SyncBackFree is therefore a win-win for everyone, as those who want a basic backup solution can now enjoy a program that inherits the up to date, rock solid reliability of its more powerful namesakes.
You can read the full Change history to SyncBack on our site, from the very first version of SyncBack to the latest and greatest.
New Features Available in SyncBackFree
SyncBackFree V11 is a huge improvement over the old SyncBack V3 freeware. The section below lists just a few of the many improvements over the old freeware:
•Nothing has been removed: SyncBackFree has every feature that the old SyncBack V3 freeware had and far more besides. No features have been removed.
•Unicode: The old SyncBack V3 freeware could not cope with non-English filenames without tweaking settings in the Windows operating system. Even then it could only handle filenames in English and one other language. SyncBackFree can cope with filenames in any language.
•Unlimited filename lengths: The old SyncBack V3 freeware could not use files whose total filename length was over 260 characters long. SyncBackFree has no practical restriction on filename lengths.
•Selections and actions: SyncBackFree allows you to select, in detail, which files and folders to include in a backup. The options are far more powerful than was available in the old SyncBack V3 freeware. You can now also review the actions that will be performed and change them.
•Newer versions of Windows: The old SyncBack V3 freeware was never tested or designed to be used on anything newer than Windows XP. SyncBackFree is designed for and tested on all versions of Windows from Vista to the latest version of Windows. As SyncBack V3 freeware is an old program, it will work on Windows 98, 2000 and XP (none of which are supported by Microsoft). SyncBackFree cannot be used on Windows 98 or 2000. Also, SyncBackFree cannot be used on server versions of Windows. If you are using a server version of Windows you must use SyncBackSE or SyncBackPro.
•Interface: The old SyncBack V3 freeware had an interface that was designed in the days of Windows XP and never moved on from there. SyncBackFree shares the same user interface as the more modern SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro.
•Logging: The old SyncBack V3 freeware logged everything in the HTML log files as they occurred during a profile run. This made the log files difficult to read as errors were mixed in with non-errors. SyncBackFree uses the same logging format as SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro which means you can easily find the errors and see what was copied and what was not.
•Portable: The old SyncBack V3 freeware used the Windows registry which meant it was not portable, i.e. you couldn't put it on a USB key and use it on another computer. SyncBackFree is portable.
•Compression: SyncBackFree uses a modern compression component so compression is faster.
•FTP: SyncBackFree uses a modern FTP component so it works with a wider range of FTP servers.
•Detect renamed files: The case of a filename (e.g. abc.txt or ABC.txt) may be important to you. If so SyncBackFree can be configured to detect differences in a filenames case and change them automatically as required. SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE can also detect changes in the case of folders.
•SyncBack Monitor: All versions of SyncBack can use the free SyncBack Monitor application on Android to monitor their local SyncBack installations.
•Password protected profiles: To stop your profiles being modified or deleted SyncBackPro and SyncBackSE can password protect them.
•Much more...: SyncBackFree includes numerous other new features which you'll discover as you use the new version and read this help file.
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