How to keep backup drives synchronized in Windows 8.1?

November 29, 2014 7:32 AM

How should I keep two backup drives synchronized in Windows 8.1? I think I want something like Rsync. Why can't Windows do this easily? Or can it?

I've got a new Windows 8.1 laptop. The SSD is not all that large, so I'm keeping my audio/visual working files on two identical USB 3.0 hard drives, one "working" drive and one "backup." All I want to do is plug them both in and tell windows to make the backup drive the same as the working drive. In Linux I think I'd use rsync, but shouldn't the corporate fanciness of Windows be able to do this? I've searched a lot on this question but everything seems to be about Onedrive, Skydrive, "work" folders syncing to networks. Isn't there some way to tell file explorer to make drive 2 match drive 1? If not, what third party software do I want?

posted by Mngo to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

It sounds like you want Robocopy, or a third-party alternative like Teracopy.
posted by Aleyn at 7:46 AM on November 29, 2014

SyncToy 2.1, a Microsoft Power Tool
SyncToy on Wikipedia

After many years with dual boot Linux & Win, using Linux backup tools, I switched to Win 7 & Linux on VirtualBox last month. Had the same problem finding a drive synchronizer as you do. SyncToy was the first one I found that wasn't cloud or network oriented. So far, so good.
posted by Homer42 at 7:49 AM on November 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Robocopy is a command line tool written by people who despise command line interfaces. I'd use SyncToy or Unison.
posted by flabdablet at 8:22 AM on November 29, 2014

Look at CrashPlan's free solution if you just want one to back up to the other but don't necessarily need the files readily accessible and modifiable on the second machine. If both systems are going to be modifying the files, check out BitTorrent Sync.
posted by jferg at 9:17 AM on November 29, 2014

The last release of SyncToy is over 5 years old and pretty much abandoned. Someone asked about problems with it last year, for instance.

I use the crossplatform, frequently updated FreeFileSync these days for my manuals.
posted by distressingly thick sheets at 9:37 AM on November 29, 2014

Does FreeFileSync still come bundled with gratuitous malware?
posted by flabdablet at 10:03 AM on November 29, 2014

Would something like bvckup2 work? If so it's on sale this weekend.
posted by phil at 1:06 PM on November 29, 2014

Robocopy, once you figure out the correct command-line parameters, works great for synchronizing two drives. There's an option in it to do a "test run" without actually copying anything, to see if you used the right options.
posted by Simon Barclay at 4:07 PM on November 29, 2014

I was curious about FreeFileSync, which I have seen described in various places as coming bundled with malware. So I just downloaded version 6.11 from the official project page linked by distressingly thick sheets, and tried it in a VM; and to make the installer work, you do indeed need to accept an EULA granting the Open Candy Network permission to collect non-personal information from your computer and recommend additional software.

Simulating a user who just keeps clicking Next without reading anything got me both FreeFileSync and UniBlue SpeedUpMyPC installed in my VM.

As a working netadmin and general PC fixit guy whose consistent experience with UniBlue software has been that PCs work better without it than with it, my strong recommendation is that you do not install anything from UniBlue.

So if you want to try FreeFileSync, be aware that the current version does come bundled with foistware that you will need to pay attention in order to opt out of.
posted by flabdablet at 2:54 AM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Looks like SyncToy or Unison would work for me. I'm also checking out Richcopy, which seems to be another MSFT in-house product and a kind of successor to Robocopy.
(Phil, I didn't see evidence of a sale at the bvckup2 link, but I'll hold of on that anyway if these free options work).
With those three possibilities, I'll hold off on checking out FreeFileSync. Flabdablet, I love that you started up a little research project b/c of this thread! I'm usually pretty good at catching "foistware" but I'd just as soon use something that is either open source or distributed by the OS company I have already paid money to.
Thanks all!
posted by Mngo at 1:25 PM on November 30, 2014

Best answer: FreeFileeSync is open source, and apart from the need to pay attention during installation, looks quite useful. It also seems that its developer is by no means alone in having gone to the dark side.
posted by flabdablet at 4:06 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks to all for these responses. It is SO stupid that the "best answer" isn't actually a feature in Windows itself, for what seems like such a basic activity, but it's clear that there are multiple third-party work-arounds. For anyone coming to this thread later, just want to say that the various issues with all of these solutions seem to make it even more important to keep careful backups separate from each time I/we run one of these solutions. In otherwords, I've got at least a third drive that I am always sure has a good copy of the last state before I run a sync. Thanks again all!
posted by Mngo at 5:19 AM on December 7, 2014

It is SO stupid that the "best answer" isn't actually a feature in Windows itself, for what seems like such a basic activity

Windows does have assorted backup options built in, and they work quite well. But Microsoft being Microsoft, restoring files from a backup is yet another special-case operation that you have to learn how to do, rather than a simple ordinary file copy from backup drive to working drive; the backup and working drives are not identical.

If you're willing to do things the MS way, though, you do get nice extra features like being able to reach back in time for a several-backups-old version of whatever it is you accidentally destroyed last week without realizing. It's also pretty easy to use one huge external drive to back up stuff from a whole lot of other places.

All of which results in a strong temptation not to be as sensible as you when it comes to keeping at least one backup completely offline at all times.
posted by flabdablet at 7:20 AM on December 7, 2014