Review - GoodSync File Synchronization

Have you ever wanted to synchronize all your files betweena desktop and your laptop? Or, did you recently get a new computer, and want to transfer files over from your old computer? GoodSync lets you do all of this with ease, plus more!

GoodSync's PRO features:

• True folder (directory) synchronization with all file modifications tracked in a database to prevent data loss
• Use one-way synchronization to easily backup and/or restore old files
• You can create as many jobs as you need and can accomplish routine multiple-job synchronization with just one click
• A variety of automatic synchronization options include; when file changes are detected, a removable device is connected, a time period has elapsed, on user logon/logout, or on a set time schedule
• GoodSync supports virtually all file systems
• Interface is multilingual and is localized to support more than 20 languages.

What devices it can sync with:

• Between your desktop PC and laptop
• Home and office computers
• Computer and removable devices (USB Key, Flash Drive, CDRW disc) Over a local network or the Internet Similar devices (Computer and MP3 players, Cameras, etc)

Overview:

When I first used GoodSync, it took some time to get a handle on all of the features. Thanks to the intuitive interface though, within just a short time using the software, I was able to understand everything. In the GoodSync help topics area, (top left corner of screen),you will find documentation tocover everything on how to sync files; allin a very basic form that is easy to understand for the beginner.

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GoodSync startup (Notice the little box with the red arrow pointing what to do)

You can type in the file synchronization folder path, or simply hit "Browse" to select the file you want to sync.

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Once you select your file, you now choose where you want the file to go.

For this first test, I'm doing this over my network, between my 2 laptops. The size of this file is 54MB. (All images)

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Now that I selected where the file is going, I can hit "Analyze" (the box in the screenshot explains this), which is nice, because it explains what is going on, and what it can do.

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Here is what I really like. It shows you if the file already exists at the destination. Also, you can select if you want certain contents in that file not to sync, by clicking on the little arrow, between the files.

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Notice the little arrow in between files? This allows you edit the options for that file if you don't want the file to be synced. By default, it will automatically not sync a file that is already at the destination. This way, there will be no duplicates of files.

So now, I'm ready to sync my files. Remember, I'm transferring a 54MB file, over a wireless network, onto my laptop. It took a total of under 2 minutes to transfer this file. Not bad at all for wireless.

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There is a detailed log of when the each file in that particular folder is being transferred.

When I transferred the same file, wired to my other computer this time, I got approximately 1 minute, which is fast for a file of size. The speed of GoodSync has me very pleased.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed using this software. With its ease of use, anyone could use this software. It's recommended to anyone that needs to synchronize their files. The auto synchronization mechanism is a great feature to keep files between computers up to date.

Pros:

• Fast synchronization
• Easy to use
• Very good information and action monitoring

Cons:

• A little expensive

Pricing:

GoodSync is available at www.goodsync.com. They offer a free trial version and a PRO version for $19.95

 

Thanks for the review Nick. I can see this as a useful utility for those that have a laptop they travel with a lot but use a desktop when at home. Using a USB memory stick works okay until it runs out of space or you (being human) start forgetting which files to transfer back and forth so both machines are up to date.

It'd be nice if there were some sort of job that could be setup to run that'd synchronize say your My Documents folder on a couple of machines.

 

That is a great program. I use it for my backing up. It also goes under the name http://allwaysync.com/.

 

I've been using GoodSync for awhile now and I also give it a huge thumbs up.

abaxter-You can sync My Documents on a couple machines...either use the thumbdrive on each machine (one at a time), or if your machines are networked, you can sync over the network

You can also use goodsync as a backup program if you have somewhere to sync your data to (other than the drive it's on).

The only con listed on the review was the price. I hardly consider $20 expensive for a program that is as good as this one.

Goodsync is made by the same company that makes roboform (the lamest name for the coolest program).

-Erik

 

Nice review - I'd definitely consider this if I used a second PC all the time. I like how it prevents duplicate documents.

Thanks,
Chaz

 

Thank you for enlightening us on a innovative product; especially for the mobile users in the world. Nice review.

 

the really free version that does (so far as I can tell) nearly the same things is called compfold. http://home.freeuk.net/mpescod/

 

Great, thanks for the insight on this Erik, seems like it's a well liked product, definitely worth checking out.

 

I use SyncBack ( http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/syncback-hub.html). Infact, I've been using it for a few years now.
The freeware version has all the features of GoodSync (as far as I can tell), and err... is free. I've been using it to synchronize data between my thumb drive, PC/laptop at home and PC at work.

 

I use Sync Toy from MS http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

Use it to sync my laptop and 3.5" usb enclosure. Works good.

 

I tryed out Sync toy, and GoodSync seems to be a lot faster

Thanks guys

Nick

 

I second the recommendationfor Sync Toy. A nice gift from Microsoft...and it works very well.

 

Looks like GoodSync doesn't support file names including international characters; it always crashes with an error message. I'll try MS SyncToy and let you know the results.

 

Just want to add a plug for GoodSync, which I found the hard way (i.e. not through this thread!). I love it! I use a laptop and a desktop, and my work is spread across dozens and dozens of files at any given time. I could never keep track without GoodSync.

In short: I love something free as much as the next guy, but $20 is a bargain for this software. And yes, you can use it free up to a point, but I was sync-ing thousands of files a day, so I paid up.

Chris

 

I haven't tried GoodSync, but Microsoft Groove is starting to look like a good option. I just started playing with it, but it already looks like a better option than Super Flexible File Synchronizer and SyncbackSE. All of them are supposed to be able to synchronize over a network, but Groove is the first one I've tried that seems to be doing a good job of it. Groove can continually monitor and transfer files in the background, which is a big deal if you work with files that get small quick changes that normal file sync programs wouldn't catch.