Synchronizing Folders

Synchronizing Folders
With Sync, you can easily keep important files up to date in multiple locations. You select one
or more folders on your computer to synchronize. Whenever any files change or are added
inside your folder(s), they are automatically copied to your FreeAgent drive.
You can even synchronize folders between different computers, which is a convenient way to
move files between a computer at work and a computer at home.
Note: Files cannot be synchronized between computers running XP and those running Vista.

Figure 6: Sync

You have these Sync options:

Simple Sync:

Custom Sync:

Sync XP My Documents folder or Vista Personal

Folder

Select one or more folders to sync

Sync all file types

Select file types to include or exclude

Sync automatically

Select automatic or manual sync

Always overwrite older file versions

Set Sync and Copy & Replace Rules

Encrypt synchronized files

Note: Make sure all computers participating in the Sync are set to precisely the same time to

ensure that Sync works properly.

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Synchronizing Folders

Using Simple Sync

Using Simple Sync

Simple Sync is pre-configured to automatically sync all file types in your XP My Documents
folder or Vista Personal Folder. Newer file versions always overwrite older versions.
To select Simple Sync:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: Click Simple Sync.
The Simple Sync Confirmation window opens.
Your XP My Documents folder or Vista Personal Folder is now synchronized with
your drive. Connect the drive to other computers to complete the synchronization.

Using Custom Sync

Custom Sync allows you to select specific folders and file types for synchronization and to
choose sync and encryption settings.
To configure Custom Sync:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: Click Custom Sync.
The Folder Selection window opens.
Step 5: Select the folders to be synchronized.
You can select as many folders as you like, but they must all reside on the same
drive (partition).
Step 6: Click Next.
The File Types window opens.
Step 7: Select the types of files you want to sync.

All file types

Photos, Music,...
You can choose to sync any or all of the following:
Photos: JPG, GIF, TIFF, ...

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Synchronizing Folders

Using Custom Sync

Music: MPG, AIFF, WAV, RA, WMA,...

Videos: AVI, MOV, MPEG, QT, RM, WMV,...
Documents: DOC, XLS, RTF, TXT, PDF, PPT,...

Custom
Custom selection allows you to choose the specific file type (by specifying that
files extension) to include or exclude in synchronization:
To permit synchronization of a specific file type:
3. Select Include these file types.
4. Select each file type, one at a time, that you want to include, and click Add
to move it to the Include list.
To exclude a specific file type from synchronization:
1. Select Exclude these file types.
2. Select each file type, one at a time, that you want to exclude, and click Add
to move it to the Exclude list.
Note: File extensions are the suffix characters to the right of a file name that define the file

format.
Step 8: After youve selected the types of files to sync, click Next.
The Sync Options window opens.
Step 9: Select your Sync options:

Sync Rules:
Sync automatically each time a file changes
Sync manually using the Sync Now button in the Sync window

Copy & Replace Rules

Always replace older file versions with newer versions
Ask before overwriting a file

Sync Encryption
Automatically encrypt synchronized files on the drive
You must set up Encryption before you can select Sync Encryption. For more
information, see Using Sync Encryption on page 24.
Note: You can select Sync Encryption only during your initial setup of Sync. If you later decide

you want to encrypt synchronized files, you must delete your current Sync settings and
create new settings.
Step 10: After youve set your Sync options, click Finish.
The Sync window opens.

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Synchronizing Folders

Completing the Sync

Using Sync Encryption

You can automatically encrypt synchronized files to keep them secure as you synchronize
them between computers. Your Sync Encryption password is the same as your Encryption
password since all encrypted folders are stored in the same folder, called Encryption Folder.
Before you can enable Sync Encryption, you must set up Encryption in the Security window.
If you have not yet set up Encryption, the Sync Encryption option is grayed out in the Sync
Options window.
To set up Encryption and then enable Sync Encryption:
Step 1: Click Cancel in the Sync Options window.
Step 2: Click Security in the Command panel.
Step 3: Click Encryption and follow the steps to set up an encrypted folder.
Step 4: Click Sync in the Command panel.
Step 5: Click Custom Sync and select your Sync folder and file-type settings.
When you reach the Sync Options window, Sync Encryption is no longer grayed
out.
Step 6: Set your Sync Rules and Copy & Replace Rules and select Sync Encryption.
Step 7: Click Finish.
Your synchronized folders will now automatically be encrypted using the same
password you used to set up Encryption.
Note: If you select Sync Encryption, all users must have your encryption password in order to

access synchronized folders on their computers.

Completing the Sync

To complete the Sync, you must remove your drive from the computer on which the original
Sync occurred and connect it to another computer on which you want to sync the selected
folders. You can connect the drive to as many computers as you wish to include in the Sync.
The first time you connect your drive to a second computer to complete a Sync, youre asked
where to put the synchronized folders on this computer.
To complete the Sync:
Step 1: Safely remove the drive from your computer.
Step 2: Connect the drive to another computer.
(a) If youve synchronized folders other than your XP My Documents folder (or
Vista Personal Folder), the Sync Folders window opens.
(b) If youve synchronized your XP My Documents folder (or Vista Personal
Folder), the Sync My Documents (or Sync Personal Folder) window opens.

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Synchronizing Folders

Editing Sync Settings

(c) If youve synchronized both your XP My Documents folder (or Vista Personal
Folder) and other folders, both windows open.
Step 3: In each window, select the location at which to store the synchronized folders on
this computer and click OK.
From now on, the selected folders will automatically sync with the versions on
your drive each time you connect the drive to the computer.

Editing Sync Settings

To change any of your Sync settings:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: Click Edit Sync Settings.
The Folder Selection window displays your current folder settings.
Step 5: Add and/or remove folders from Sync and click Next.
Folders removed from Sync are deleted from your drive.
The File Types window displays your current file type settings.
Step 6: Make the desired changes and click Next.
The Sync Options window displays your current Rules settings.
Step 7: Make the desired changes and click Finish.

Checking Sync Status

To check the status of a Sync,
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: Click Check Sync Status.
The Sync Status window opens.
Listed are the names of the computers on which Sync was set up, the date of the
last Sync, and the Automatic Sync setting (On or Off).
Step 5: Click OK to return to the Sync window.

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Synchronizing Folders

Using Automatic Sync

Deleting Sync Settings

To delete all your Sync settings and create a new set:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: Click Delete Sync Settings.
The Delete Sync Settings Confirmation window opens.
Step 5: Click Delete.
The original Sync window opens.
Step 6: To create new Sync settings, select Simple Sync or Custom Sync.
Note: If you delete your synchronized files in the Seagate Sync folder on your drive, you can

recover the last two versions of those files in the SyncRecycleBin01 and
SyncRecycleBin02 folders, respectively.

Using Automatic Sync

The Automatic Sync feature continuously tracks file changes in synchronized folders and
automatically synchronizes revised versions by overwriting older versions with newer versions.
Your drive must be connected during Automatic Sync.
By default, Automatic Sync is turned on.

Turning Off Automatic Sync

You can turn off Automatic Sync and control when files are synchronized rather than
synchronizing files automatically.
To turn off Automatic Sync:
Step 1: Click My Drives in the Command panel.
Step 2: Select your drive.
Step 3: Click Sync in the Command panel.
The Sync window opens.
Step 4: In the Sync window, click the Automatic Sync Off button.
Step 5: To sync manually when Automatic Sync is off,

Click Sync Now in the lower right corner of the Sync window.

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Synchronizing Folders

Using the Sync Preview Window

OR

Select Sync Now from the Seagate Status menu to Sync on ALL connected
drives:

Figure 7: Sync Now

The Sync Preview window opens.

Listed are the files scheduled to be overwritten.
If you do NOT want to overwrite an older file version with a newly-synchronized version,

Uncheck the file in the On column.

Using the Sync Preview Window

Use the Sync Preview window to manage your synchronized files.

Add or delete files

Decide whether to overwrite existing file versions
Resolve conflicts over which version of a synchronized file to save
If the same file is edited on different computers at the same time, a conflict occurs
over which version of the file to save. When the drive containing a changed version
of a file is connected to a computer containing another changed version of the same
file, the Sync Preview window opens.
To use the Sync Preview window,
Step 6: Use the On checkbox to tell Seagate Manager which file versions to overwrite, add,
or delete.
Step 7: Click Sync Now to complete the sync.
A Sync Progress window informs you of the progress of the sync.
Step 8: When the sync is complete, click OK to close the window.

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Synchronizing Folders

Using the Sync Preview Window

Using Automatic Overwrite

When Automatic Overwrite is on, older file versions are always replaced with newer versions.
When Automatic Overwrite is off, the Seagate Manager displays the Sync Preview window to
allow you to decide whether to overwrite an older file version with a new version.

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