backup to 2 external drives

x2 for FreeFileSync. I've used for quite some time now. If you have any problems trying to figure out how to use it, let us know and one of us will jump in.

trickyrick said:

Thanks for your suggestions Im trying free file sync. When I open the program it wants to know of a folder to keep track of. How do I keep track of a hole harddrive also Im not sure what to put in the command line. I know Im old and this goes back to the days of Dos but its being along time

1. Make sure the drive you want to copy from and the one you want to copy to are connected to the computer.

2. Under Program at the upper left corner of the window, click on New.

3. In the left large column, under where it says Drag & Drop, off the right is a box that says Browse (there are two boxes that say Browse; you want the one to the left of the two). Click on that.

4. In the left column of the window that pops up, click on the drive you want to copy from, then click on Select Folder (FFS treats drives as folders; do not click on any folders). The drive letter of the drive you selected will appear in the space to the left of the Browse box.

5. Click on the other Browse box (the right one of the two Browse boxes). Click on the drive you want to copy to, the click on Select Folder. The drive letter that you selected will appear in the space to the left of that Browse box.

6. Just to the left of the box that says Synchronize is a thing that looks like a gear; click on it.

7. In the window that pops up, click on Mirror.

8. Below that, under Delete Files, there are three boxes that say Permanent, Recycle Bin, and Versioning. Until you learn more about the program, leave Recycle Bin selected.

9. Below that, under Handle Errors, are two boxes that say Ignore and Pop-up. Leave Pop-up selected.

10. Under On Completion, leave it blank for now.

11. Click on OK.

12. So you don't have to go through all this rigmarole every time you update a backup, under Configuration (off to the left) click on the center symbol to save what you just did and follow the prompts.

What happens with this configuration is FFS will compare the source drive with the destination drive, then it will copy folders and files as needed from the source drive to the destination drive and delete any necessary files on the destination to make what is essentially an exact copy of the source drive on the destination drive.

To use, just boot up DFFS, click on the configuration you just made, then click on Synchronize, then follow any prompts.

I strongly suggest that, instead of manually copying files to the first backup drive, then using FFS to copy from the fist backup drive to the second backup drive, you use set up FFS to backup the drive in your computer directly to the first backup drive, then repeat the same thing for the second backup drive (both backup drives will need the same drive letter for now). It will be faster in the long run and will have fewer chances for errors.

Let us know how it works out for you (the first time through may take a long time but it will be much faster after that), then we can go into more details on how to fine tune this.

Edit: if it makes you feel any better, I'm also a flatulent geriatric. The feathers hide my age.