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Is there any software(preferably free) that will monitor a folder in Windows XP and upon a file being changed will immediately copy that file to a corresponding local network location.

Mike
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4 Answers4

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Before shelling out for Second Copy, you might first have a look at :

PureSync (free for personal use.)
FreeFileSync

EDIT Here are some more freebies:

BestSync 2010
SyncButler
Comodo BackUp
QuickShadow
Gbridge

EDIT2

FreeFileSync now includes an app called RealtimeSync which does essentially what you describe - watching the file system for changes and syncing as they occur.

harrymc
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  • These seem like some great suggestions. I have tried each and they are just not working for what I need. PureSync seems to come the closest but it doesn't seem to have many options for automatic one-way sync. – Mike Aug 03 '10 at 19:21
  • @Mike: Syncing seems to fascinate developers. See my edit for more goodies. Most are highly recommended by their users. – harrymc Aug 03 '10 at 20:35
  • I took out Allway Sync, because it's not really freeware. – harrymc Aug 03 '10 at 20:39
  • After trying out all of these I decided to make my own program for this in VB.net. It simply uses the filesystemwatcher to detect a changed file and then copies it to a corresponding location in my network location.

    I do think that all of the programs you listed look really good for backup and syncing, they just didn't seem to meet my specific goal.

     – Mike Aug 05 '10 at 16:03
  • QuickShadow does watching and copying to a network location. – quickly_now May 17 '11 at 13:28
  • @Mike I'm not sure if this was the case in 2010, but FreeFileSync now includes an app called RealtimeSync which does essentially what you describe - watching the file system for changes and syncing as they occur. – Matt Passell Jul 14 '14 at 20:07
  • @MattPassell: RealtimeSync is new and didn't exist at the time. I have included your remark in my answer. – harrymc Jul 14 '14 at 20:11
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Windows Live Sync will do this across a network or across the internet.

I've used it and it is pretty much real-time even across the internet.

JNK
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  • Does this software require Windows on both ends for local sync? My network device that I want to sync to is not running Windows. – Mike Aug 02 '10 at 14:11
  • Yes it does, so this is probably not for you then. Sorry, you didn't specify anything but Windows XP in your question. – JNK Aug 02 '10 at 14:18
  • What is the network device running? That's pretty important to know :) – JNK Aug 02 '10 at 14:25
  • It is an IBM AS400. I don't think it is necessary to run any software on it for this though given that to Windows it can just be a mapped network drive. The windows software could just copy the files to the network drive. – Mike Aug 02 '10 at 14:31
  • If you can map a network drive then it'll work. You can use this to Sync 2 folders on the same PC as well. – JNK Aug 02 '10 at 14:36
  • I believe that Live Sync would also be sending the files out to the internet in order to come back to my local network as well(correct me if I am wrong). This seems less than optimal and most likely not quite as fast as I would like. – Mike Aug 02 '10 at 14:52
  • No I'm pretty sure it will send it out then back. I can tell you from my experience it takes less than 5 seconds to update across the net. – JNK Aug 02 '10 at 14:53
  • I can't get it to look at a networked drive. Also I just don't like the idea of meta data getting sent to Microsoft about all my files. Thanks for the help though. – Mike Aug 03 '10 at 13:12
  • @Mike - Sorry it didn't work for you, but I'm glad you found something that did! – JNK Aug 03 '10 at 13:19
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Second Copy seems to be the best thing for my needs even though it is not free. The trial is doing exactly what I need though.

Mike
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I'm the developer of QuickShadow which gets a mention above. That is exactly what QuickShadow does when it has the "Watch" option selected. I'm curious about why it does not meet your needs. If there are deficiencies I'd like to fix them. Perhaps you can get in contact?

quickly_now
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