Using SyncBack

What is SyncBack?

SyncBack is one of the backup programs available for Microsoft Windows.

You can use the SyncBack family of products to backup, synchronize, and restore data files.

The SyncBackFree version should be enough for easily mirroring directories, or groups of directory to an external disk, but you can compare the features available in SyncBackPro, SyncBackSE and SyncBackFree: summary comparison and full comparison

Installing SyncBack

Download SyncBackFree

Install SyncBackFree. At the end of the installation process, you may want to subscribe to the mailing list (you will receive from time to time codes to upgrade to another version of Syncback at a reduced price)

Basic configuration

We want to do a mirroring backup:

Copy all the files from the source directory to the destination directory. All the files are copied on the first run, and only the new/changed files are copied on subsequent runs. The subsequent mirror operations are then significantly faster, which should motivate you to make frequent backups

Warning! if a file is not on the source anymore, mirroring will automatically remove it from the destination! The idea is that the destination should be an exact copy of the source! This also means that if you delete a file by mistake, you have to retrieve it from the backup before the next mirror operation removes the file from the mirror! If that's not what you want, check the backup (rather than mirror) options.

Do not be frightened by the step by step configuration and the screenshots below! There are lots of available options in the SyncBack point-and-click interface, and it is easier to use images to explain what needs to be done

Connect a USB disk/stick with enough free space to your computer

You should create a clean directory hierarchy on the backup disk, matching the directories that you intend to backup

In this example, we are going to mirror the content of
D:\Users\jypeter
to F:\Backup_JYP\Dell_Precision_3420\D_Users_jypeter

Launch SyncBackFree. You can find it in Start→ 2BrighSparks → SyncBackFree

Click on New Profile to start creating a new mirroring operation

Choose a Profile Name that will describe correctly the Source folder (e.g. the machine and the source directory names, Precision Tower 3420 D_Users_jypeter) and click on Next

Choose the Mirror type of backup and click on Next. You can get some information about each available backup type by clicking on ?

The Source (a folder on your computer) and Destination (on the USB disk) folders are both local disks and you don't have to change anything in the locations window. Just click Done

A new window Profile Setup window opens, where you can specify the Source and the Destination folders. In this example, we use Source =D:\Users\jypeter
and Destination =F:\Backup_JYP\Dell_Precision_3420\D_Users_jypeter. Once you have filled both fields, a summary of what will be done is displayed in the Description of this profile section. Click on OK when you are done

Filters

It can be useful to use some filters to disable some of what SyncBack would try to backup otherwise:

Not backing up useless files/directories (e.g temporary files in cache directories) will make SyncBack run faster (and save space on the backup device)

Some files/directories can't be backed up because their access is protected by the system and will generate errors in the log file. Skipping them will make it easier to spot real errors

Notes:

A filter must start with \string (string will be searched in the root of the source directory) or *\string (there can be subdirectories between the source directory and string)

A folder name must have a trailing slash

To modify an existing filter double-click it

Suggested filters when backing up your Home folder

This is NOT_C:\Users\your_login, assuming that you have followed the instructions in Configuring folders to create a Home folder distinct from your default Windows home folder on C:\

Remove Thunderbird and Firefox lock file: *\parent.lock

Suggested filters when backing up your Windows folder

Default Windows folder: C:\Users\your_login

Remove WSL+Linux from backup: *\AppData\Local\Packages\Canonical*Ubuntu*\

Remove the backup of all the settings saved in AppData\Local\Packages: *\AppData\Local\Packages\

Remove Chrome Cache: *\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\*Cache\

Remove some Microsoft apps related directories: *\AppData\Local\Microsoft*\

Remove some apps directories that use too much space: *\AppData\Local\WebEx\, *\AppData\Local\GoToMeeting\

Remove misc. files: *\ntuser*, *\NTUSER*, *\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Current*

Remove misc. directories: *\AppData\Local\Comms\, *\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\

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