Synchronizing with ACDSee Photo Manager using a Second Hard Drive or External Hard Drive (EHD) to backup your Digital Scrapbook Collection & Photos

What is Synchronization?

Synchronization is creating a copy of all your files on a secondary hard drive (network drive, remote computer, EHD) and then periodical sync'ing is checking to make sure they are the same (ie: creates a mirror image - exactly the same). The first initial sync is mainly a copy of your files from one hard drive to another. The subsequent sync's will only copy over anything that has changed or been added, thus they go much quicker. This protects you from local hard drive failure. An advantage may be that you could take one EHD to crops & leave the other home with the assurance that if something happened to one - you have a copy at home.

Note: The Sync Wizard does not retain database information when your files are copied to a new location. To back up files with database information, use the ACD Database Backup Wizard.

NOTE: The Synch'ing was not intended for transfering all your info from one computer to another computer(laptop) to use ACDSee Photo Manager on the second computer. Although it can be used as one step in the process, you need to do a few more steps to achieve full functionality to do this.

Should I Manually Synch or Schedule my Synch to be automatic?

• Manual:
  • This is the best because it will protect you from unexpected power surges.
  • But this method is only as good as your memory to do it.
  • How do I Manually Synch:
    • Plug in backup EHD
    • Go to File | Synch | choose your synch name. This takes a few minutes.
    • Stop your hardware
    • Unplug your backup EHD

    • If you wanted to play it the safest, you would also unplug from electrical outlet too.

• Automatic by Scheduling: I have mine scheduled to backup daily automatically.
  • Leaving your backup EHD on all the time doesn't necessarily protect you from power surges.
  • If I turn off and unplug the EHD afterward, I would have to remember to plug it back in before the next scheduled synch.
  • After I see the daily backup is done, I do turn off the EHD. Next time I boot (tomorrow) it will come back on ready for the next synch.

NOTE: For a synch to run correctly, your EHD must be on and attached to your computer.

To prepare for synchronization:

1. Decide if you would like to have everything synch'ed together or synch'ed separately.
   • By synchronizing everything together it's one step and one schedule, but everything has to be organized under one directory to do this.
   • By synchronizing separately, this give you more flexibility to synch more often for your layouts (which change more frequently) and less often for your digital kits (which change less frequently.) Also, everything doesn't have to be under one directory.
   • I will give instructions for synchronizing together and if you would like to do it separately, then repeat the instructions for each directory containing your kits, photos and layouts.
2. First, gather all your data into one common directory. I chose to create a directory called: "Digital Scrapbooking Library and have the following things in it. Include anything you want to have stored on the second hard drive.
   • Digital Kits
   • My Personal Photos
   • My Layouts
   • And some extra stuff like Heritage Photos Notes: If you move any files around, do it from within ACDSee Photo Manager so you do not lose your organization for you files.

3. On your second hard drive, create a matching directory called the same thing as step 2 (ie. "Digital Scrapbooking Library") Note: I am using two EHD drives so I named one DigiScrapLib and the backup one called BackupEHD. This way I can easily tell my EHD's apart.

4. I would also recommend backing up your ACDSee Photo Manager Database before you synch and include it under your Digital Scrapbooking Library. I created a folder called ACDSee Backups. Then when synch'ed you have 2 copies of your backup.

To create a synchronization:

1. In ACDSee PhotoManager, click File | Sync, and then select Create Sync.

2. On the Welcome page, click the Next button when you are ready to continue.

3. On the Synchronization Options page:

   1. 

   2. Source Folder: Specify the folder containing files you would like to copy

   3. Backup Destination: Specify a folder on a network drive, remote computer, or external hard drive in which to place those files.

   4. Options: Specify how Sync should handle errors and logs. I would suggest selecting them all.

   5. Confirmations: Specify how Sync should handle file duplication conflicts. I would suggest prompt for confirmation.

   6. Select Log File Location somewhere on your hard drive. I have created a special directory to keep my backups and logs. ACDSee Program Manager will keep one log file and append to it on existing one.

   7. 

   8. Click Next when you are ready to continue.

   9. On the Synchronization Schedule page, type a name for your synchronization, and specify whether you would like to run the synchronization immediately, or schedule the synchronization. I suggest that you start the run when you do not have any plans to use your computer but are going to be nearby. Click Finish when you are ready to complete the wizard. Instructions for creating a schedule are below:

4. Once you click Finish, the first synch takes a while to copy over the files. Depending on the size of your collection, the connection speed between your computer and the secondary drive and errors you may receive, the first synch takes a while. My first synch took over 2 hours. I would recommend being nearby so you can answer any errors. I would also recommend NOT making any changes in the data you are synching.

   • NOTE: After synch'ing the first time, it takes my computer about 4 - 5 minutes to re-synch.
5. This is what will appear when you are finished

To create a synchronization schedule:

Note: To get Synch Schedule to run properly you need to have an account on Windows XP and have a password set. To do or check if you have this:

1. Start -> Control Panel

2. Click on User Accounts
3. Click on Change Acct
4. Select your Acct that you use. If the account already says, Password Protected, then there is no need to go and farther.
5. Click Change my Password

6. Enter in the passwords & hints and click Change Password. This is the password that you will use later, when you are creating the schedule below.

NOTE: For people that want to know more details: ACDSee Schedule creates a Scheduled Task with Windows XP.

To setup a synchronization inside ACDSee:

1. In ACDSee PhotoManager, click File | Sync, and then select Edit Sync.

2. Select your Synchronization in the window and click on Schedule.

3. On the schedule, select the best time of day that your computer is going to be on and not being used.

4. Select the Properties Tab

   1. Schedule Task Completed: I don't want it to run forever so I selected Stop after 4 hours.

   2. After the initial synch, subsequent tasks go fast (2 - 10 minutes depending on how much you have changed from the last synch.) so I didn't check anything in Idle Time which means that if I am doing something it will interrupt me.

   3. Power Management. If you don't use a laptop, don't check the top 2. If you do use a laptop, I would suggest checking the top 2. (Don't start task while running on batteries and stop if battery mode begins.) If you have your computer hibernate or standby, I would suggest checking "Wake the computer."
   4. Click OK when done.

Things to take note of when Synchronizing:

• Synching Errors:

On the first synch, I had a few errors of too long of filenames. While synching, just click on Ignore. After the synch is done, open up the synch log. You set the option where it is to be saved above. The synch log will give you all the errors it encountered.

• First go delete the kit on the backup area.
• Go to the kit in your regular area that was giving errors, and shorten directory names.
• The next time it runs, you should not get errors. To resynch, File | Synch | and choose your Synch area.

Synching when Moving or Deleting a lot files:

Synch will keep your files updated if they are added or changed. If you make a change, then the changed file will be moved over to your backup area. If you add a file, then the new file will be added to your backup drive. ACDSee isn't a full features synch software though so I have found two issues:

• If you delete the file, when you synch it will not delete it from the backup drive.
• If you move files around (which is really a delete and add operation), it will copy over the files again to the new location but the old files in the original place will still be there.

In both of these cases it will cause your backup drive to be bigger in space than your working directory. So periodically, I would recommend doing this:

• Go into Windows Explorer, right click on your directory that you are synch'ing with and select Properties. Do the same thing with your directory on the backup drive. Compare the size on disk to see how different they are. In the example below, they are pretty close in size. If they were more than 5 Gig apart or you are running out space then I recommend continuing on to the next step. If they are about the same, then don't do anything.
• Go to your Backup Hard Drive. Verify you are in your backup hard drive. Double check again. Then delete everything in this directory.

• Resynch -- In ACDSee Photo Manager gp to File | Synch | and choose your synch. This will take a while again because it has to recopy everything over.

Synching whenever you want to: