New feature
New Google Drive Sync version 5 Released
We are happy to announce the release of version 5 of Syncdocs today:
What’s new:
– Enhanced drag and drop support. You can now drop files onto Syncdocs from almost any app to sync them to Google Drive.
– Right click syncs folders from anywhere on your PC without making a copy. This saves space.
– Local file times mirrored on Google Drive
– Many more command-line options, giving advanced users more control.
– Support for fully automated Google Drive installation, all options pre-configurable
– Fix for Google Server moving files and ex-shared folders to root
– Version pruning enabled on all files by default, so old versions of no longer take up Google Drive space.
Enhanced Documentation
The Syncdocs FAQ has been updated with many new Google Drive questions answered.
The how-to guides have new articles.
How to Update
The upgrade is free and will happen automatically. The old Syncdocs version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days.
To update now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
http://www.syncdocs.com/download-syncdocs
New portable version
The portable (USB memory stick) version of Syncdocs has also been updated.
How to automate Google Drive installation using Syncdocs
The Syncdocs installation wizard asks the user for various settings about their PC and Google Drive account during setup.
If you are deploying Syncdocs for your users, you can do a fully automated installation without your users having to set up anything. No wizard is shown.
It is also easy pre-configure all the settings for your users.
Installation steps
An automated installation script typically has these steps:
1. Installing the Syncdocs.msi package on the target PC
2. (Optional) Setting advanced features in the appsettings.xml file
3. Running Syncdocs with installation parameters set on the command line.
So a simple batch file to install Syncdocs will be:
msiexec /I Syncdocs.msi /QB-
syncdocs.exe -user [email protected] -oauth -syncfolder C:\GDrive -IacceptTerms
The first line installs Syncdocs without asking the user for any options in the setup wizard.
The second line starts Syncdocs, specifying the username, security method (OAuth), the main sync folder to use and the acceptance of the licence terms.
More details on command line options
Specifying User and Password
-user [email protected] specifies the user
-password secret specifies the user’s Google password as “secret”
-oauth specifies that OAuth should be used instead of the password.
OAuth will pop up a browser window asking the user to log in to their Google Account to give Syncdocs the Google Drive and Docs access. This way Syncdocs is only given the rights it needs and the Google account password does not need to be disclosed in the command line.
Note that -user is optional when -oauth is used, as Syncdocs will get this data from Google.
Agreeing to the licence terms
-IAcceptTerms To agree to the licence terms on behalf of your users, so they are not shown a dialogue asking them to.
To specify the main sync folder
-syncfolder option will set this. This will set the main sync folder to what you specify.
for example:
-syncfolder “C:\Users\My Google Drive”
or
-syncfolder “%USERPROFILE%\Some Google Files”
To add other folders (links)
To sync folders outside the main sync folder, add them via the Syncdocs menu, or specify the folders in file.
To create the links, you’ll need two things: a file with the folder names for the links and the -addpaths command:
-addpaths “C:\Install Files\links_file.txt”
links_file.txt is a standard text file with the folders you wish to link to on each line. For example it can contain these lines:
c:\Python
"c:\Users\User Name\Scanner\Images"
\\ServerName\ShareName\FolderName
%USERPROFILE%\GDrive
this will create links to these folders in your main sync path, equivalent to adding them via the menus.
Notes:
- Make sure you specify the full path of this file, “C:\Install Files\links_file.txt” not just “links_file.txt”.
- Adding links to folders that are already symlinks or junction points is not recommended.
- Do not use a trailing slash after the folder name.
- Links folders that don’t exist will just be skipped, but the user will be shown a warning.
Putting it together
Simple examples
Here are some example install scripts.
msiexec /I Syncdocs.msi /QB-
Install using OAuth, main folder is “d:\tmp\test one 2 3″, add the additional folders in “d:\tmp\links\links_file.txt”
Syncdocs.exe -oauth -syncfolder "D:\tmp\test one 2 3" -addpaths "d:\tmp\links\links_file.txt" -IacceptTerms
As above, but using a specified password. This will result in a completely prompt-free install for the user.
Syncdocs.exe -user [email protected] -password secr3t -syncfolder "D:\tmp\test one 2 3" -addpaths "d:\tmp\links\links_file.txt" -IacceptTerms
Advanced Syncdocs Settings
Not everything can be specified by the command line. The Syncdocs config, appsettings.xml , contains many more settings.
For example, to set Syncdocs as the default office suite on the system, during step 2 above in the installation, replace the line
<DefaultOfficeSuite>false</DefaultOfficeSuite>
with
<DefaultOfficeSuite>true</DefaultOfficeSuite>
Automated install tools like Altiris, or a simple find and replace on the appsettings.xml file can change these settings.
You may also with to copy a pre-configured appsettings.xml file during step 2 of the installation.
Notes
- A sample install script is shown below.
- This sample and a sample uninstall script and config file are available here.
- Make sure that the user has access to destination folder.
- You need Syncdocs version 4.27 or above.
- Syncdocs is a .NET app. If it is the first time a .NET app like Syncdocs has been run on the PC, it may take a few seconds for Windows to initialise it.
- Environment variables are supported on the command line and in the links file.
- Syncdocs needs access to the Internet in order to work. You may need to setup a fire wall rule via “NETSH advfirewall firewall add rule name …” in order for it to work.
A sample install script
rem Batch File to demonstrate installing Syncdocs
rem The script has 3 stages:
rem 1. Install the msi package without any user intervention
rem 2. Optional. Copy the config files with any pre-configured settings
rem 3. Set user, password, agree to TOS and run Syncdocs
rem Stage 1
rem Run the installer in quite mode.
msiexec /I Syncdocs.msi /QB-
rem For “all users” on the PC: msiexec /I Syncdocs.msi /QB- ALLUSERS=1
rem Syncdocs is now installed on the PC, but not set-up. If no previous setup
rem is available, then it will ask the user for account settings etc when
rem first run, unless it is pre-configured by copying the appsettings.xml
rem file as shown below:
rem Stage 2 – optional copy advanced settings file
rem If you want to pre-configure settings for user1, fill in the xml fields
rem you want in appsettings.xml and then copy appsettings.xml for user1,
rem for example:
xcopy \\server\share\syncdocs\user1\appsettings.xml %APPDATA%\Syncdocs\[email protected]\
rem For Windows XP, use “%APPDATA%” instead of %APPDATA%
rem Use a text or xml find-and-replace util or AutoIT or Altiris to set
rem the values in the appsettings.xml file to your desire
rem Stage 3
rem Now run Syncdocs
rem For Windows 7/Vista/Server 2008, the path is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Syncdocs\Syncdocs.exe
rem For XP this will be “%ProgramFiles%”\Syncdocs\Syncdocs.exe
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Syncdocs\Syncdocs.exe -user [email protected] -password secr3t -syncfolder “D:\tmp\test one 2 3″ -addpaths “d:\tmp\links\links_file.txt” -IacceptTerms
rem If you wish to use OAuth (Google authentication) to give Syncdocs permissions
rem then use -oauth instead of -password:
rem %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Syncdocs\Syncdocs.exe -oauth -IacceptTerms
rem Troubleshooting
rem In stage 1, make sure you have uninstalled the old version first.
rem If you see the setup prompt after stage 3, then some settings in
rem appsettings.xml are not valid for this PC (typically paths that do not exist).
rem or you are installing and older .msi file, Syncdocs version 4.27 or above is
rem required.
Syncdocs supports new Office file formats and OAuth
We’re happy to announce a new version of Syncdocs, version 4.1.
What’s new?
Google recently announced that they will be dropping support for exporting older Microsoft Office formats. Syncdocs has been updated to reflect this Google change.
Syncdocs also now supports the Google OAuth 2 protocol. This means that you can authenticate/de-authenticate Syncdocs using the standard Google permissions console.
Syncdocs will also now support single-sign-on (SSO) solutions like OneLogin and SSOEasy.
How to upgrade
As usual your old version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days, if you want the fixes now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
http://www.syncdocs.com/download-syncdocs
USB Portable versions
This have also been updated. Grab the version that runs from a USB stick here.
The new 64 bit portable version is still undergoing testing with Office 64 bit.
How to set up OAuth
During installation, simply click on the link shown below, rather than entering your credentials into Syncdocs:
How to switch to OAuth
In the Syncdocs Preferences, Account tab, click on the checkbox shown below:
New Syncdocs Release has Notifications, Hybrid search
We’re happy to announce a new version of Syncdocs.
What’s new:
- Hybrid search combines local PC and Google Drive search results. You can open local files or Google Docs directly from the search results.
– Pop-up notifications. See taskbar notifications for new shared files, or for changes by others to files you have shared.
- Your Google Contact list is backed up once a day.
– The low bandwidth mode uses less bandwidth and now only syncs every 30 minutes despite local changes.
– Syncdocs can execute an external program at the end of the sync.
– some small user interface changes and bugfixes
How to upgrade
As usual your old version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days, if you want the fixes now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
http://www.syncdocs.com/download-syncdocs
USB Portable versions
These have also been updated. Grab the version that runs from a USB stick here. There is also a 64 bit portable version.
Syncdocs version 3 – Even better Google drive syncing and backup
We’re happy to announce a major new version of Syncdocs, Syncdocs version 3
Improvements and New features:
– Strong encryption of files to Google Drive for enhanced privacy and security. Easily encrypt folders in Google Drive just by right clicking on the folder in Windows.
– Clearer menu options. User interface improvements bring commonly used features to main basic preferences menu, no longer confusingly hidden away.
– Very robust handling of all sorts of errors ensures your files are synced.
Minor improvements and fixes:
– mp3 playlist format compatible with more smartphone audio players.
– One click sharing of files works with Google Drive for goo.gl\xxyxx type URLs
– Better handling of files that are locked or that user is not authorized to read. These files are now just skipped with a warning and will be retried later.
– Better handling of file names with unprintable characters in them
– SSL errors from Google Drive are not interpreted as critical, and Syncdocs tries to work around them more smoothly.
– Editable sizes of files converted to Google Docs format increased to 50MB for presentations and 20MB for docs and sheets.
– New wyBuild automatic updater component, fixes update loops.
How to Update
The upgrade is free and will happen automatically. The old Syncdocs version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days. To update now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
Enchanced Google Drive Privacy and Security
Since the announcement of Google Drive there has been some concern over the privacy of online file storage.
We’re happy to announce that Syncdocs now supports full cloud encryption of any file or folder using strong encryption.
- It’s pretty easy to use. Files are encrypted transparently. Here’s a quick start guide
- there’s more detailed information on the encryption settings
- and information on secure Sharing and syncing many PC’s
- we’ve also started an Google Drive Encryption FAQ for common questions.
Syncdocs Google Drive encryption is still in beta phase, so we’d love to hear from you, either as comments on this page, or on the forum.
How To Transfer your Syncdocs License
Why Transfer Accounts?
If you change the Google account that you use with Syncdocs you can transfer your Syncdocs licence to this account, you don’t need to buy a new one.
Also, if you make a typo in the Google Docs or Google Apps email you use to register, you can also use this to correct that.
Previously you needed to email our support to ask them to do it, but now you can do it yourself.
Here’s How
1. Visit our secure licence transfer page
2. Enter the old and new emails
3. Read your confirmation email
4. Enter the code
How to fix typo’s in your account email
If you don’t have access to your old email, or you made a mistake in typing it in, then you can send to your PayPal email that you used to make the purchase
Syncdocs maintenance release
We’ve just released a new version of Syncdocs. This is a collection of recent bugfixes and small improvements:
Release notes for Syncdocs version 2.22
- Improved handling on non printable characters in file and folder names.
– Fixed a bug to bypass unnecessary deletions and the re-syncs caused by the way certain applications save temporary files. This affects Adobe Illustrator, MYOB, Netbeans and Autodesk users.
– Selective Sync now bypasses Google xml errors for certain collection names, and shows these names, removes duplicates.
– Faster handling of updates to existing files and folders, especially when the user has no permission on Google to commit the update.
– Faster mirroring of Google permissions locally.
– Fixed bug where files with exactly the same name, path and content, but different mime types were seen as the same file.
– Verify Google deletes reported by changes feed.
– Timed or manual sync displayed ‘syncing’ at startup.
– Timed sync or backup displayed right time but wrong date.
– Timed sync or backup would revert to automatic sync on some errors.
– Fixed a bug where locked files were not re-synced once the file was unlocked later.
– Fixed a permissions inheritance mismatch where sub-collections on Google have been set with different permission to parents.
– Fixed error on Wipe Trash older than 7 days where next sync would unnecessarily re-upload files.
– Wipe trash function ignores file not found errors and now wipes trash better.
– Don’t overwhelm user with cryptic “access denied” error messages on Google file locked.
– Google server now adds http redirect for music files on Docs. Partial fix for mp3 playlists generation, playlists not work with all audio players yet, though.
How to Update
The upgrade and will normally happen automatically. The old Syncdocs version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days. To update now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
More Control over Selecting what Syncs
Easy selection
Syncdocs lets you select what syncs in the selective sync menu.
You can also on select any folder on your PC or network to sync.
There are also options in the Preferences menu that allow one directional syncing, exclusion of network shares or exclusion of non-Google file types.
New selective sync features
How to exclude files in the root folder
A new feature of Syncdocs version 2 is the ability to ignore files that are in the top level (root) folder on Google Docs. Many times, you only want to sync certain folders on Google, to the exclusion of everything else. This option ignores files not in any folder, too.
Advanced file and folder exclusion
For advanced users, Syncdocs can be set to ignore specific file names or file types.
Note that doing this requires editing a settings xml file. You can break your Syncdocs if you destroy this settings file. If you do break the settings, you can repair Syncdocs, either by re-installing it, or by clicking on the “Default Settings” button in the Preferences.
To set which file types sync, first exit Syncdocs.
Then edit the settings file called appsettings.xml in the folder:
c:\Users\your_username\AppData\Roaming\Syncdocs\[email protected]\
and edit the section “FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore“
Not syncing certain file or folder names
To ignore all files called “thumbs.db”, add thumbs.db to the list:
<FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore>
<string>thumbs.db</string>
<string>.dropbox.cache</string>
</FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore>
Files or folders (collections) in this list will be ignored.
Not syncing certain file types
Syncdocs can also ignore certain extensions:
<ExtensionsToIgnore>
<string>.lnk</string>
<string>.LNK</string>
</ExtensionsToIgnore>
The above will ignore all .lnk and .LNK extensions.
Extensions are case sensitive.
Restart Syncdocs when done.
Syncdocs 2
We’re happy to announce a major new version of Syncdocs, Syncdocs 2.
The main new feature is closer integration with Google Docs. Google recently released a new interface to Google Docs specifically designed to make syncing to Google Docs faster and more reliable.
We’ve rewritten the core sync engine of Syncdocs to take advantage of this new Google feature. Syncs that used to take up to 15 minutes can now finish in 15 seconds.
Improvements and new features
- Changes detected and synced faster and more reliably, especially for those with tens of thousands of files.
- New format Google presentations to Powerpoint sync support
- Ability not to sync root files (files in no collection) in selective sync
- Lower overall memory use
- New scheduler to backup Google Docs once a day
- All advanced setup options available during installation
- Ability to ignore filetypes and folders
- Better Dropbox to Google Docs sync
Bugfixes:
- Syncdocs sometimes did not reconnect after computer hibernated
- Some files uploaded to root were not visible in “Home”
- Once a day and manual sync now detect local changes made before first sync
- Better handling of Google server 403 and SSL errors
- Smoother mirroring of slow Google server recursive deletions
- Updates to content of files in root folder sometimes not occurring
- Deletions and renames sometimes resulting in duplicate files
- Bypass Google errors on Cyrillic and East European character sets
- Smoother handling of Google 503 errors during deletions
A big thank you to everyone who reported bugs!
How to Update
The upgrade is free and will happen automatically. The old Syncdocs version should ask if you want to update automatically in the next few days. To update now, right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, go to Preferences -> Advanced -> “Check for Updates”
You can also download the new version and install it over the old one.
http://www.syncdocs.com/download-syncdocs