We are often asked how to setup Syncdocs to create local backup by 1 way sync that converts all Google Drive files to MS Office.

I'm wanting to make a backup of my files as part of my handover when I
move onto a different role.

How can I setup Syndocs to create a local backup via a 1 way sync that
converts all files to MS office locally while leaving them as whatever
the original native format they are stored in (either google docs or
MS Office) on google drive.

Here is how to do setup a 1 way Google Drive sync.
The best way to do this is to uncheck these options on the Syncdocs Preferences Sync Tab:

and set the following settings in the Conversion option in the Files Tab:

Syncdocs only syncs changed or newer files by default. If you have had Syncdocs running before, then either:
1. Force a re-sync by quitting Syncdocs, deleting the local sync folder(s) and then restarting Syncdocs,
or
2. Change the primary Sync folder to a new location in the Folders tab:

Rus asks:

I have about 40GB of google drive files in my PC, I would like to move that to USB and use Syncdocs. How to move the files to syncdocs without having to download the full files again. Please help.

It’s quite easy to do, just make sure that you keep the folder structure hierarchy.

Syncdocs can sync some Google Drive folders from the USB and some from your drive.

So if your existing Google Drive looks like this:
Folder1
Folder2
Folder3
and you want to move Folder2 and Folder3 to USB do the following.
1. Exit the Google Drive sync client
2. Move Folder2 and Folder3 to your USB drive
3. Install Syncdocs. Syncdocs will automatically detect that you had Google’s Google Drive client installed and use its sync folder.
4. At the last screen of Syncdocs install, click on the option below:

5. Then click on Select folders

6. And then on Add folder – and add Folder2 from the USB drive. Repeat step 6 for all the folders on your USB drive.

That’s it. If you already have Syncdocs installed you can just click on Syncdocs taskbar icon, and select Preferences to see exactly the same menu as in step 5.

If you want to archive some of these folders, just uncheck them from the above menu and they will stay archived on Google Drive. You can also use the advanced options sown below to only upload or download if you want.

Many of our users use Google Drive strictly for backup purposes. They want an option that backs up to Google Drive at login and then stops syncing until the next login.

This is easy to do with Syncdocs. The simplest method is to start Syncdocs at login via a batch file in your startup folder. The batch file should contain a line:
SyncdocsPath\Syncdocs.exe –OnlyRunSyncOnce

The Syncdocs command line option to run once is –OnlyRunSyncOnce. This option is not case sensitive.

Standard shell error reporting is supported, exit code 0 means no problems, 1 a serious error.

If you want to run at external app when syncing is done, Syncdocs can run any external program to do this after the sync to notify you. Here’s how:
http://www.syncdocs.com/how-to-run-an-application-after-syncing/

If you want to send an email at the end of a sync, then you can do so via your mail client. Here’s how in Thunderbird:
http://www.kbrandt.com/2008/05/quick-tip-tunderbird-email-from-command.html

If you wish to run Syncdocs regularly, say for backup purposes, once a day, you can add an item to the Windows scheduler, or via the Syncdocs Preferences menu.

This lets you sync once a day at the time that you specify.

Syncdocs makes it easy to sync multiple Google Drive accounts at the same time. Here’s how to sync multiple Google Drive accounts simultaneously:

The easiest way to set up multiple Google Drive accounts

1. Click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon

2. Click on Preferences.
(If you see the basic preferences, click on “Advanced” button)

3. Click on the Account tab, and then run the Wizard.

That’s it. You’ll be taken through a step by step process setup a second Google Drive account with Syncdocs.

More advanced multiple account setup

If you want more options on setting up multiple Google Docs and Drive accounts, see this post.

To start multiple accounts syncing when your PC starts see here.

By default, Syncdocs creates some folders in your Google Drive folder. These folders are:

• OriginalsBackup – this stores backups of any files that are converted to Google Docs format. Google can destroy some formatting in Word and Excel, so original files are kept here as a a backup. The backup of your Google contacts list is also kept here.
• DirectUploads – files uploaded from the Windows Explorer context menu via right clicking on a file and selecting “Upload to Google Drive” are put here.
• Public Share – files shared via right clicking on them are put here.

These folder names can be changed, but you’ll need to edit the Syncdocs settings file to do it. Here’s how:

The settings are stored in the file appsettings.xml which is typically in the folder c:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Syncdocs\

Change the folder name settings.
1. Exit Syncdocs.
2. Edit one of the following fields to the folder names that you want. (You can edit the appsettings.xml file in Notepad or any other text editor).
  <DirectUploadSubDir>DirectUploads\</DirectUploadSubDir>
  <SharingSubDir>Public Share\</SharingSubDir>
  <BackupPath1>D:\tmp\OriginalsBackup\</BackupPath1>
  <BackupPathMerge>D:\tmp\OriginalsBackup\MergeTemp\</BackupPathMerge>

3. Re-run it Syncdocs.

Future versions of Syncdocs will make the creation of these folders optional, so they don’t clutter your Google Drive root folder.

The normal way of selecting what syncs is to select the folders in the selective sync menu in Syncdocs.

However, more advanced users may wish to ignore certain types of files or folders based on the name or attribute. Here’s how to do it.

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\user_name@gmail.com\

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.

Ignoring Hidden Files

Many programs create hidden temporary files. Syncdocs ignores those used by common apps (like MS Word and Excel) by default.

You may also tell Syncdocs to ignore hidden files by setting this value in appsettings.xml

<UploadHidden>false</UploadHidden>
<ShowHiddenFiles>false</ShowHiddenFiles>

Restart Syncdocs when done.