How does selective sync work with many PC's?

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How does selective sync work with many PC's?

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Started 1 year ago by eizymeizy_0809
Latest reply from Phil
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eizymeizy_0809
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Hi, I have 2 questions that I need to find out before I can setup my SyncDocs.

I am thinking about using selective sync to keep my folder structure intact, but I am worried that this will create lots of duplicates in Google Docs when I buy a new PC and put the contents from PC 1 to PC 2 in the future.

So to answer this, I have formulated these questions:

Question 1: How does SyncDocs identify unique files? Is it through file name or some hidden unique identifier? So if I copy my files from PC 1 onto PC 2 (either manually or through a backup program called "Mozy Home", then turn on selective sync on the same folders on PC 2 , will SyncDocs recognize that those folders already exist in Google Docs, or will it create duplicates?

Question 2: If I buy a new PC 2 which is clean and install SyncDocs, will it automatically add the folders that are included in "Selective Sync" in the right places in PC 2 (so not in the main My Google Docs folder but actually in the same places those folders exist on PC 1)?

Question 3: If Question 1 and 2 doesn't seem to satisfy my requirement, how would you recommend moving from PC 1 to PC 2 without creating lots of duplicates and keeping my file structures intact outside of my Google Docs folders?

Thanks so much for the help, Syncdocs is really helping me organize the mess of having duplicate structures in local vs. docs, but the "moving from PC 1 to PC 2 without creating duplicates and messing up the structure" keeps bugging me...

//Eizy

Posted 1 year ago #
Phil
Syncdocs

Hi Eizy,

Answer 1: Syncdocs will not resync files that have the same name and same content. It keeps a record of what is known as a hash or digest of the file, and uses this as a signature.

Answer 2: No. It will not sync back the Selective Sync folders outside the main Syncdocs folder to the corresponding place on PC2 that they were on PC1. They will be synced back to a subfolder in "My Google Docs". The reason it doesn't is that we are not sure how to handle the case where PC2 has a very different folder structure to PC1, as selective sync allows you to select folders from anywhere, including network drives, or drive letters that might differ on PC2 compared to PC1.

Answer 3. To bypass the problem in Answer 2, you will need to create the same selective sync folders for folders outside the main Syncdocs folder on PC2, using the selective sync menu.

-Phil

Posted 1 year ago #

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