Synchronizing Network Files

So my 1st question is - how do I make the folders on the NAS available Offline?

 

The reason I am trying to do this is because it seems to be the only way to make the folders available to the Synch Centre so that I can set up a Synch Partnership. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Making files available offline copies them to your local hard drive, so I don't think you want this.

 

"Enable offline files if you want to work with files that are in a network folder. A copy of the file on your hard drive will be synchronized with the network copy as soon as you are back at work or you regain your network connection."

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/02ecf57a-fa36-40be-a5c2-907f51cda1fe1033.mspx#EHC

 

Are you setting up a "sync partnership" The NAS should show up as an available device for a sync partnership. If it does not use Tools/map network drive.

 

I have never used it before so I used help and support on the start menu to find this info. Maybe that option to select offline is there after you set up the partnership, I am guessing.

 

another statement I found in FAQ

 

"What devices can I sync with Sync Center ?"

 

"You can sync many different types of mobile devices with Sync Center, including: portable music players; portable video players; mobile phones; mobile computing devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs); and many other types of handheld devices. The manufacturer must support Sync Center for sync to work."

 

You may be able to get your old software to work

 

Here is how to install software or drivers on Vista that are for XP,2000,NT4,98,95

1. Right click on the setup.exe file for the software/driver you are trying to install and select the compatibility Tab

2. Tick the "run this file in compatibility mode" box and then select XP, or whatever OS the software was designed for, in the drop down box, Tick "run as Administrator" if it is available, hit OK

3. Now double click this setup.exe file to execute the install process, hopefully all will go well and install the drivers/Software you need.

4. If the exe installs software for the device, or you have installed software only, you need to navigate to the program folder where it installed, then do the compatibility thing (1 & 2) again for the program executable.

I do not guarantee all drivers or software to work but a large percentage do..

Good luck.

If the Software/ installer (exe file) is on CD, copy the entire contents of the CD to a folder in Vista, then start at #1

There is no compatibility mode for .msi installers
16 bit programs will not run on Vista

Like I said I have never used the sync software built into Vista, I have 5 usb drives that Vista sync will not see as syncable devices, so it applies to more than phones and such.

 

Windows sync software is different than regular sync back up software, it requires the device to co-operate in the process, so I guess usb hard drives like I have cannot.

 

Can you skip the offline part? 

 

Here is a simple version of sync software that will work on Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

 

"In October 2006, in response to customer demand, we released SyncToy 1.4 for Windows Vista."

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E0FC1154-C975-4814-9649-CCE41AF06EB7&displaylang=en  download

Yes - I'd like to set up a Synch Partnership, & the NAS Share is already successfuly mapped to Z:

 

The manufacturer must support Sync Center for sync to work." - I took this to refer to phones, pda, etc etc I'd expect a NAS to Synch fine.

 

I'm installing VPC for my legacy applications, however for something as basic as Synching I thought it time to move on to the Vista way of doing things.

 

NICK

I use a program called GoodSync which looks at all designated files andcopies the changes to a predetermined destination.  It can propogate deletions or not, and in the case of multiple external drives, set adiitonal profiles specific for each drive.

Hey guys - thanks for those suggestions, I'll look into them later today. I didn't know that there was a Toys for Vista already, I tried the Synchtoy for XP but it wasn't as good as Powertoys so I didn't bother. The trouble with MS is they try to "protect" the user from what is happening, but if you actually understand what you are trying to do (& lets face it I think most of us do) then all they achieve is make things more complicated & error prone.

 

Thanks for your helpful replies

 

Nick

MS's Synchtoy won't run! It just crashes on launch!

"MS's Synchtoy won't run! It just crashes on launch:"

 

That's not good, I have used it on 3 different installs of Vista with no problems.

The free version is very limited in the number of files it will synch. I was hoping to synch 101G of data!

The program I mentioned works on all platforms and is FREE!

"and is FREE"  only for a pre determined time, then functionality is reduced after that time expires.

 

" 1The Free version is unlimited for 30 days. After 30 days the free version allows up to 3 jobs and 100 files to be routinely backed up or synchronized. "

 

 

Very small print at the bottom of this page.

 

http://www.goodsync.com/freevpro.html