Is there an automatic way to transfer files from card to 2x HDDs

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jonoooo125

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so my hard drive on my laptop is full, i got two 4tb drives that im using to mirror each other as an onsite backup. Before my laptop was full, i imported them all onto the desktop and then put them into folders in date>month>year then i would copy this onto two separate external drives so i had 3 copies. I was wondering if there was an easy way or an automatic way for them to copy off my memory card onto each hard drive without much interference from me?

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I just want to plug the hub in and let it all copy across

thank you in advance
 
I can see how to do most of it with a batch script but it depends on the folder structure on the card. If it's always the same folder then it's easy but if it varies it becomes harder.
 
So it’s not a simple thing you can do? If I got lightroom, would that atleast take it into one of the drives and I can manually copy it across?
 
Would backup software do what you want? I import all of my images onto my working drive and Carbon Copy Cloner (I'm on a mac) copies those files to my onsite raid backup and a portable offsite hard drives that I swap over (one is always off site). CCC also keeps the backups up to date as I delete or alter a file. If I've deleted a file it removes it from the backup but put it in the 'safety net' folder for a few months in case I've accidentally deleted something I wanted. This is all done automatically on disk appearance or if I manually start a backup sequence by the click of a single button. You can set a timed backup but I'm using external powered hard drives that aren't always on.
 
jonoooo125 said:
So it’s not a simple thing you can do? If I got lightroom, would that atleast take it into one of the drives and I can manually copy it across?
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Lightroom will allow you to import your files to two different locations, tis very simple to do and you can save a preset with those settings, on import you can also define your file structure.

This is how I work, importing onto two externals, one is my working disk, the other my first back-up, the working disk along with my catalogue files etc is also backed up to a third HD....

Breeze systems provide a program for Windows called Downloader Pro which I believe will copy to two locations along with loads of other bits and pieces...
 
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I’ve been waiting to get Lightroom with CC til I buy a new computer but I think I will get it sooner and have a look at downloader pro too, thanks for all the help
 
DemiLion said:
Use Photo Mechanic
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Exactly. Or Lightroom. I really can't see what's hard or unusual about the requirements here. Unless I'm missing something, it's what "everybody" has been doing for years.
 
I just didn’t know how lightroom works and I’ve never heard of the other options either, I’ve always done it manually, so I was unaware of the norm
 
jonoooo125 said:
I just didn’t know how lightroom works and I’ve never heard of the other options either, I’ve always done it manually, so I was unaware of the norm
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No worries - I was just worried I was missing something because everybody was naming elaborate solutions.

When you import to LR you can specify a location to make a second copy. I just set this to an import folder on my NAS. Photomechanic will also do this (and has some other cool features for pros/high volume shooters but is probably overkill for most other people)

If you want a third copy (2 backups) then it's pretty simple to get your favourite backup tool to duplicate the backup location periodically. Personally I'd use Chronosync but that's Mac only.

lrimport.jpg
 
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I see, I haven’t got around to it yet but I think that’s all I wanted to do when the card goes in, thank you
 
I use synctoy from microsoft.

You set it to echo or sync a particular folder tree from one drive to another. I run this between external disks with one set up as the main lr folder and the other a backup. If there's a problem with one then I only have to point lr to the new file location on the backup. You can do this as many times as required. Not automoted from an SD or CF card but free and works.

If you're looking for an HD backup from an SD card then look at WD my passport pro- i use one of these as a backup when travelling- saves me carrying a laptop. You could have 2 of them and move the card after each shot. CArd folder structure, incremental backup and fast- 64Gb transferred in about 15 minutes and you can just plug into lr and syncronise
 
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