OK, this is probably a dumb question, but I need to know how.

I have a 8 gig thumb drive I keep my working files, both 3D printer stuff and PaintCAD, as backups and transport. I would like to keep the files current with my HD. Are there simple commands in Win7 to do this? I suspect there are.

I don't want to rewrite my entire file set every time, I would like to make this thumb drive last.

 

This program might work (Microsoft SyncToy)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155

 

I have a 8 gig thumb drive I keep my working files, both 3D printer stuff and PaintCAD, as backups and transport. I would like to keep the files current with my HD. Are there simple commands in Win7 to do this? I suspect there are.

Consider Git.

 

Consider using XCOPY in a CMD window. Type XCOPY /? in a DOS command window to get a list of switches like overwrite only newer files,only files that exist etc. When you are happy, put the commands in a .BAT file and put a shortcut to that on the desktop.

Its crude, I'll admit, and your backup will not delete files that no longer exist in the source directory but you get real copies of your files that are not compressed with some proprietary (gone next year) format.

That said, I've been very impressed with Acronis True Image and Backup that I use on the laptops.

I wouldn't worry about the life of the thumb drive. You should back up to multiple physical drives anyway.

 

your backup will not delete files that no longer exist in the source directory

Use "del" for that: http://www.computerhope.com/delhlp.htm

 

OK, this is probably a dumb question, but I need to know how.

I have a 8 gig thumb drive I keep my working files, both 3D printer stuff and PaintCAD, as backups and transport. I would like to keep the files current with my HD.

not a dumb question

rather than copy, you'd like to sync the files? mem stick to hdd and vice versa?

i'm working on the assumption, you take the work home, play there, update and take back to work.

edit: i'm not partial to ms products though synctoy may do exactly what you want, personally i use cobian backup http://www.cobiansoft.com/index.htm

 

Personally I use XCOPY as suggested above. Write a little batch file that does a 2-way copy of newer files, which can be done with the /d switch So the batch file xcopy's newer files from the thumb drive to the HDD and then xcopy's newer files from the HDD to the thumb drive. One nice feature of XCOPY is that you can provide it with a list of files and folders to exclude so if temporary files and the like you can exclude them and speed up the copy.

 

SyncToy would be your best bet, SyncToy provides a fairly user-friendly interface to navigate, and should pose no difficulty to anyone familiar with Windows. and it works with XP, Vista and 7.

 

Hello,

You can have a look at rsync or one of its clones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync

Bertus

 

I tried SyncToy, I'll probably stick with it. It does have one minor problem, once it is logged into a thumb drive it doesn't want to let go! I have to pull the thumbdrive off while it is active, as the disconnect feature in windows doesn't work anymore.

Thanks for the input everyone, it was helpful.