A few notes about Allway Sync that I've been keeping.

 

#1 When you see errors such as

"The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process....fs::copyitem::copyfile_failed"

You need to set the "Access Denied" error handling option to "Skip" for that job.

 

#2 You need to make sure that all external hard drives used for backup are given a drive letter high in the alphabet. Reason: If you use a low letter, the potential exists that data will be deleted from your source or data will be written to visting drives (you insert a friend's USB drive to get a file and AllwaySync puts your files on their drive)

 

#3 If a sync job is configured to a particular drive letter and that drive doesn't exist, the error "The system cannot find the path specified" occurs and depending on the error setting, a retry will occur until it fails. When it fails, the program locks up I think until the problem is corrected and the error is cleared. To avoid this, set the "Network Error" option to "Skip".

 

#4 Temporary files that disappear between an "Analyze" and "Synchronize" event cause AllwaySync to hang due to a "Device is not found, Drive is not accessible" error handling event and AllwaySync stops working. This really needs to be fixed by the developer and I've made them aware of it. There needs to be another Error event defined as "File not found, file is not accessible" error. The work around for this is creating an exclusion for temporary files. The exclusion will look like this:

 File Name Filter: ~*.*   Apply to: Files and folders

 

#5 Automatic Sync Conditions
 Depending on circumstances, you should have removeable devices set to sync when connected and then within 3 minutes of file changes.

 

#6 Be sure to set the program options so it starts with Windows, otherwise the auto backup will not work.

 

#7 Depending on the user, I don't suggest you configure the program to check for updates. Most users can't handle it. You should visit every AllwaySync user once per year to ensure data is being backed up, the program settings are set to our most recent standards and to install the most recent version.

 

#8. The error handling options should be the same for manual and automatic syncs.

 

#9. Depending on the situation, you may find that an sync in both directions is the best solution. Although this carries with it a risk of data loss, you can eliminate that risk by creating a separate "one way" sync job to protect the data. Here's what I did for Mike DeVries. Mike is going to use a laptop on occasion to work from Fargo where he lives. He has a desktop too and uses it when here. As everyone that can, should do, he keeps his data on the 'U' drive. I installed AllwaySync on his desktop PC. To make sure his data is with him in Fargo, I created a "Two Way" sync between his U drive and his external drive, propagating mods and deletions. This will ensure his data is identical in both locations and he won't have to think about where his most current data is. The external drive has the letter Z and the sync jobs are set to occur when the drive is connected to his desktop. OK, now what are we going to do to protect against accidental data loss? If something goes wrong and the data is removed from either the U drive or the external drive, that will be replicated to the other drive. I created another sync job so that the U drive contents is synchronized one way to a backup folder in the root of his desktop C drive. It might get cluttered in time, but his U drive data will ALWAYS be on his C drive. This protects against all kinds of hazards, including John's neglect of having an offsite backup. This is a great reason to use AllwaySync in as many situations as possible, it may save the bacon if something really bad happens. You might consider going around to all our AllwaySync users and configure another job to do exactly this.