SyncToy is a handy synchronization tool from Microsoft, which makes the task of copying, moving, updating and deleting numerous files between your Ontop USB flash drive and the hard drive of your computer much easier. It can manage multiple folders at the same time.
To install SyncToy on your computer,
download the free software to the hard drive of your computer. I downloaded SyncToy Version 2.1. SyncToy is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Windows.
Run the downloaded SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x86.exe file from your local drive.
Double click on SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x86.exe to run the setup window
SyncToy is installed on the C drive of your computer by default. However, you can change the installation location from the SyncToy set up window.
After the installation is complete you can access and run SyncToy via the Start menu.
Double click on the SyncToy 2.1 window to run the program
Next, you have to create a pair of folders, which you would like to sync by clicking on ‘Create New Folder Pair’.
Click on Create New Folder Pair
Select a ‘Left Folder’ (a folder on your PC’s hard drive), which contains the files you would like to sync with the USB flash drive and then select a ‘Right Folder’ (a folder on your USB Flash drive).
Select the Left Folder and the Right Folder
In the next step, the SyncToy window provides three options to sync your files between your PC and your USB flash drive- ‘Synchronize’, ‘Echo’ and ‘Contribute’.
Select Synchronize to sync files between USB drive and your PC, to and fro
When you select the Synchronize option, the following synchronizing action happens:
- The selected folders on the USB flash drive and the hard drive of your PC mirror each other by keeping the latest changes made to the files in either folder.
- Every file inside the folder of your hard drive (Left Folder) that is new or changed is copied to the USB flash drive (Right Folder).
- Every file inside the folder of your hard drive (Left Folder) that has been renamed is renamed in the USB flash drive (Right Folder).
- Every file that is deleted from the folder of your hard drive (Left Folder) is deleted in the USB flash drive (Right Folder).
- The same process occurs from the USB flash drive (Right Folder) to the folder of your hard drive (Left Folder).
The synchronization process using the Echo and Contribute option to Synchronize, however, there is a small difference …
If you select ‘Echo’, the transfer, renaming, updating and deleting of files occurs from the folder on your hard drive (Left Folder) to the USB flash drive (Right Folder). However, it won’t sync from the Right Folder to Left Folder.
If you select ‘Contribute’ the synchronization will be the same as the Echo option but the deletion of files will not occur.
Next, SyncToy will ask you to name the folder pair. Enter a name as mentioned in the example below in the diagram and then click ‘Finish’.
If you want to see the changes that will happen after synchronization, you can click on the ‘Preview’ button to view the upcoming changes on the USB flash drive or on the hard drive of your PC.
Click the Preview button as shown above
The preview window above displays the changes in the files, which will take place after synchronization
Click on ‘Run’ to start the synchronization as the last step.
After the synchronization is complete, a new message will be displayed, The SyncToy run completed successfully.
By clicking on ‘Change action’, you can customize the selection of files, like which files you would like to sync between the hard drive of your PC and the USB flash through SyncToy in the future.
You can always save the overwritten files in the Recycle Bin.
SyncToy is an easy to use and customizable tool that can relieve you from the tedious process of managing files between your USB flash drive and the hard drive of your computer. The excellent writing speed of Ontop TurboJet USB flash drives ensures the synchronization is always a smooth process.