Useful Utilities Commercial Keeping Files and Folders in Sync | Keeping Files and Folders in Sync |
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| Tuesday, 08 February 2005 | |
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Many people are starting to back up important files on their PCs such as financial information
and correspondence as tax time approaches. Part of this process should include file verification
to ensure that the files were correctly copied. Having back up copies of your QuickBooks files is
of little value if the original files and copied files differ. One tool we've found useful in
this regard is FolderMatch.
We should mention we routinely use this program and not just at tax time. The program is beneficial to people using several computers. For example, we work on a desktop and laptop. Even though the machines are networked, there are times we need to disconnect the laptop and take files on the road. When we return, we want to update the desktop with the changed contents. Rather than doing tedious file compares, we rely on FolderMatch to handle the details. We can also view file differences for ASCII or Word files. If you've used file sync or compare program, you know one of the biggest hurdles is recognizing, which files are different. This is one area where FolderMatch excels. In contrast to other utilities, we found the interface easy to understand. Each file was preceded with an icon that showed if it was identical, newer, older and so on. You can also filter the folder lists using these icons. And for those users who like the security of paper, you can print results to either a file or printer. There are also times when we need to compare files of one of more types. For example, some of our projects have many files of different types such as DOC, XLS, BMP, PDF and so on. In some cases, we want to only compare Microsoft Excel files. Rather than doing a full compare, FolderMatch allows us to include or exclude specific file types. Apart from being a great file comparison and sync utility, the program contains many other worthwhile features. One of these gems is the programs Find Duplicate Files feature. Although we try to practice good file management, it always amazes us how we end up with so many duplicate files. Perhaps we can blame a couple hundred of these files on Microsoft since we have several versions of Office. However, there are a many duplicates that we created. Whatever the reason, FolderMatch tells us how many copies of each duplicate and the location(s). Lets just say we had backups of backups in some instances. The company offers a free trial so you can test all the features including the ones we didn't mention.
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 August 2006 ) |
