Documents Sync?

Keith W

Keith W

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Hi All,

I am currently building 2 computers to be used in the office of a charity I work for.

They have asked that the documents from one computer be in sync with the other computer, so when a document is created or changed on one computer it shows up on the other computer and vice versa.

Both computers will be running win7 home premium and will be on the same network/router.

Can anyone suggest a quick and easy way yo do this?

Someone suggested synctoy, would this suit my needs?

Thanks in advance.

Take care,

Keith
 
If they are computers in the office, why not a shared folder?

Dropbox is easy with benefits of access off site.
 
I already suggested dropbox, they would need a pro account for the amount of space they would need so the answer to that one was no.
 
Are the machines networked together? Presuming that they are, hanging off the same modem/router?
 
Networking etc. is not "my thing" Neil, hence my questions

So what would be the easiest way to set all this up so that documents are shared and synched between to 2 computers?
 
if you ask me it would be better to have the files stored singly in one location rather than syncing. potentially with having copies on both machines you may run into issues with losing changes.

i.e. machineA opens its copy of wordfile.doc, machineB also opens its copy of wordfile.doc. machineA makes changes and saves the file and closes. as the file is still open on machineB the sync fails. machineB makes changes and closes file. machineB file syncs to machineA losing machineA's changes.

would be best in my opinion to set up a shared folder on one machine and have them both use that. or if there is budget for a NAS etc even better.
 
Thanks for the advice Neil, it is very much appreciated.

I cant see then going for a NAS unfortunately
 
okay in that case..

on both computers make sure the same user logons exist with the same usernames and passwords.

set up a folder and enable sharing on it for each username.

on the other machine map a network drive to the folder using \\machinename\sharename (where machine name is the "computer name" in my computer properties, and sharename is the share name you set up on the folder).

you could still use something like synctoy to do a regular backup to an external drive/alternative location etc.
 
Dropbox is the easiest or amazon do a similar thing and you get a certain amount of gb so anything can be transferred on to it

other solution is create a share folder on the system on a windows pc and allow it to be shared

other option connect a hard drive to the router once on allow it to be shared nice and easy i use this one myself
 
wegotitugetit said:
Dropbox is the easiest or amazon do a similar thing and you get a certain amount of gb so anything can be transferred on to it

other solution is create a share folder on the system on a windows pc and allow it to be shared

other option connect a hard drive to the router once on allow it to be shared nice and easy i use this one myself
Click to expand...

If only 2 of those hadn't already been dismissed ;)
 
Setup a Homegroup, enables ultra simple sharing and is totally wizard driven. I know that file sharing was dismissed but its worth looking into homegroups, can't go wrong :)

Neil
 
Neilc28 said:
Setup a Homegroup, enables ultra simple sharing and is totally wizard driven. I know that file sharing was dismissed but its worth looking into homegroups, can't go wrong :) Neil
Click to expand...

I if I remember rightly homegroups cause system slowdowns. Plus there is no need for one.

Just set up file sharing like I said (wasn't dismissed).
 
It was an alternative option, and I've not experienced a slowdown when I've used one, admittedly I don't use it at home but set one up for a friend and all was good.

More options isn't a bad thing ;)
 
Like I said, never seen it myself, may be something unique to peoples setups.

Thanks for the link though :)
 
Neil - file sharing is the only sensible option (see post 2 ;) )
 
I agree that filesharing is the best option, but the op was after something quick and easy. However it looks like Neil has already covered this so all is good after all :)
 
Well I have convinced then that Dropbox would be a good idea :)
 
Isn't there still a potential conflict problem if using Dropbox? If a file is edited by both computers at the same time won't there be a sync conflict and one set of edits will be lost?
 
Keith

I'd set them up with file sharing and only if they need access outside the office environment would I look at Dropbox.
 
Bristolian said:
Isn't there still a potential conflict problem if using Dropbox? If a file is edited by both computers at the same time won't there be a sync conflict and one set of edits will be lost?
Click to expand...

Doesn't that apply to network drives as well?
 
Dropbox can do file versioning and file recovery if turned on.
 
For it's ease of set up, ease of use, the environment it will be used in, Dropbox fits the bill very nicely
 
Keith W said:
Well I have convinced then that Dropbox would be a good idea :)
Click to expand...

IMO you won't get a better solution for less than $9.99 a month ;)

However, there are lots of ways to get a free pro account (or at least a massive space upgrade). I'm at about 70 GB at the moment - IIRC using a Samsung phone got me a load of space.

Some ideas here - http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to...box-box-skydrive-and-more-the-complete-guide/

BTW Google Drive is also pretty good and any document created in GDocs doesn't count towards your space allowance.
 
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