Feature: Free Ways to Synchronize Folders Between Computers

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Set SyncToy Action Options

To exclude any files from the synchronization action (such as system files, or maybe non-image files), click the "Change Options" link. There you can exclude files by name, extension, or subfolder; exclude hidden or system files; save overwritten files in the Recycle Bin; and choose other settings for your pair, as shown in the options dialog below.

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Unison for "sneakernet" synchronizing (e.g between my computers and an external hard drive)

SugarSync for computer to computer syncing (also stores is online, first 10Go free)

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Been a Foldershare user since before it was bought up by Micrsoft. It's been indispensible, I sync about 4 computers -- Macs & PCs -- in different locations.

Downsides?

* No bandwidth throttle, except for limiting the number of files downloaded/uploaded at a time;

* A resource hog, especially when comparing directories or moving lots of big files;

* No scheduler;

* No file filtering;

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unison.

I happen to use it to sync between my workstation at work and my workstation at home. The great thing about unison is that I don't have to think about which way the sync should go. It figures it out. It also works on friggin' everything.

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I've been using Foldershare for a couple of years now, and it works great. Very simple to set up, reliable, no hassles. I've also tried SyncToy a couple of times to do the "sneakernet" sync thing (with a USB flash drive), but reverted to using Treecomp (outdated UI perhaps, but supremely useful). I like the manual control over the automated sync. As I recall, one thing that I didn't like about SyncToy is that it created extra (hidden) files all over the place. I don't know if that's still the case.

I also got in on the SugarSync beta, and it seems to work well (esp. since if you need to access files when the home PC is off).

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Unison may not be pretty, but it can run on an automated basis, it maintains backups if you want, it can be run invisibly when operated from Vista's Task Scheduler, and (like microe noted) you don't have to worry about which direction it's syncing.

The only downsides I've seen with unison are that human intervention is required if a critical error was encountered in a prior sync, and a little thought is required when setting up sync on huge collections of files.

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Foldershare

The good:-
I've been using Foldershare for a while now, and it has performed really well. I have found it particularly useful for syncing files between my home Mac and my Windows laptop. I also use it to sync Firefox profiles, as posted by Adam here [lifehacker.com]
I like the fact that (once everything is set up) you can just leave it running in the background. To date, it has been very reliable.

The bad:
I think Microsoft really need to simplify the set up process. I'm pretty IT literate (I read LIfehacker!) but even I found it a bit fiddly. Gina's post above is great (although as previously highlighted the interface has now changed)... but the fact that it is actually necessary means Microsoft has missed something here (especially verses Dropbox). As already stated, you do need both machines to be switched on, which is inconvenient (kinda). The 2GB file size limit hasn't been a problem for me, but the 10,000 file limit has. Also, the system was down for a few hours on Monday (for maintainance)...

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