Category Archives: Synchronization
Review of GCal Duplicate Deleter
It is inevitable when sync’ing calendars between devices that something will get duplicated. ActiveSync was especially bad for that, it seems, which was really annoying as it was pushed out by MS themselves as the solution for sync’ing between Windows Mobile and Outlook. Well, changing to an iPhone and a Google calendar but still sync’ing with Outlook has actually worked quite well, but the inevitable has happened.
Workaround for iTunes Home Sharing Nonsense
Some time ago, I complained in “Review: iTunes Home Sharing Disappoints” where I listed some downers about the whole iTunes sharing of playlists. For example, I thought it was annoying that iTunes literally had to be running on both PCs for it to work. However, that was minor in comparison to not marking items as being played as it went along. So, I wound up listening to some podcasts three times before I figured out nothing was being marked as played. This isn’t such a big deal for playlists that don’t change often, but when I am on the road, I like to catch up on news sometimes.
Well, I got clued in on an iTunes feature that I’ve never seen documented anywhere (not a big surprise, as so few features seem to be). If I double-click on iTunes while holding down the [Shift] key, it will prompt for which library you want to open. So, that got me to thinking about accessing the iTunes library remotely. Would it get around these issues?
Good Way to Get Rid of Google Calendar Dupes?
Short answer: I don’t know. At least not automatically.
This is pretty annoying. I can remove dupes in Outlook, but they will fail to be removed from Google Calendar after a sync. You’d really think Google would have a built-in function for this, but they do not.
So, I tried out a couple of programs on the web. First, I tried GG Duplicates Cleaner. It basically ran for about ten minutes and then died. Afterwards, it would run for 30 seconds or so and complain it couldn’t connect (even though it went through all the motions).
Then, I tried GCal Toolkit. It is trialware. To me, trialware is a good way to shoot yourself in the foot if you don’t do it right. Needless to say, they definitely do it wrong. It found maybe 3 dupes. I suspect it is because you have to get the paid version to go back to repeating appointments set in the past. There’s only one problem with that. I’m not going to purchase it until you prove to me that it works.
So, any non-stupid software out there to remove Google Calendar duplicates?
Dumping Firefox Sync; Back to Xmarks We Go
Well, I tried Firefox Sync, and it was great … for a while. Starting a little more than a week ago, I noticed it was having occasional problems connecting. Then, the problems became more frequent. Finally, the past few days, it hasn’t connected at all. Yesterday, I got fed up and went back to Xmarks.
Well, Xmarks is still free for the moment, and at least it works. Makes you glad they didn’t go under.
Xmarks Coming To an End
Well, I’m back and still trying to catch up on things. Unfortunately, my first blog article is about the “End of the Road for Xmarks”. I write enough about software that just plain doesn’t work but for some reason hangs around anyhow, so I am truly saddened that such a jewel is disappearing.
I love Firefox, and one of the things that has always made it worthwhile was Xmarks (previously Foxmarks). Firefox has come out with their own alternative, Firefox Sync, but until now I haven’t had any reason to try it . Looking at the alternatives, I guess I will be trying it out soon. I’m certainly not going to pay Apple $99/year for MobileMe!
Xmarks Sync ends on 10 January 2011.
Reviews: FreeFileSync
Yesterday, I mentioned that some of the Windows Live Essentials beta broke some stuff. Windows Live Sync is one of those items. It just doesn’t sync things, and the error is so subtle that you can easily miss it.
Also, I found it extremely difficult to setup using the interface. It is quite a change from the previous version. I tried to sync up the Public folder, for example, and it keeps giving errors about the Public Desktop. I’m unsure whether or not I want to check ignore those types of warnings, though. I mean, will it then ignore all those errors or just the ones for the Desktop folder? I cannot think of a time when I would want to ignore all attempts to overwrite hidden files, for example. Yet, if I don’t check, then it doesn’t sync a darned thing! And, why didn’t the previous version give the same error?
No, that’s just unreliable. It should sync what it can when it can. I should be able to selectively ignore certain items as well. I don’t even know for sure how the ignore works, so I’m reluctant to try it.
Has Microsoft once again lost touch with what a “beta” is? It would appear so, I’m afraid. This is more like an alpha release, especially considering that this is not the only component of Live Essentials with odd issues.
Well, I finally got fed up and downloaded FreeFileSync from SourceForge.net. It’s far from perfect, but it is pretty easy to setup – once you get around Microsoft’s silly permission issues that is.
Just as a side note on Windows Vista/7, when I grant permission to “Everyone”, I really do mean “Everyone”! It’s completely moronic to have to take ownership of files before being able to overwrite them, especially if I am an administrator. In addition, why are Public folders such a pain?
However, that is a Windows issue. One of the weaknesses and also one of the strengths is that you only have to install the program on one machine. Unlike some other file sync’ing programs, you don’t have to install on both machines. You simply use the UNC path (in the form of \<server name><share name) to the share to sync with the share over the network (again, once you convince Windows to actually give you access to it).
A screenshot is worth 1,000 words:
Note that the local path is on the left and the remote UNC path is on the right (in this case, I am sync’ing files with the machine Hatter).
You must click on Compare before you can sync. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but at least it does give you an opportunity to review files to make sure it is doing the right thing.
It will most certainly give at least one error the first time around. New directories will not yet have the database file in it, so that is one of the errors. One error that I did not originally figure out was the “empty directory” notification. I was clicking on the green plus sign, ‘+’, to add directories, but it turns out that the top row is also an active row, and it was empty.
On the first run, you will certainly want to note any permission errors, either during the Compare or the Synchronize phase.
Once the Compare is complete, some of the symbols might not be so obvious. Unfortunately, the Help file isn’t that much help in this regards. However, if you hover over an icon in the status column after the compare, it will give a balloon hint of what is going on. You can click on it to change the action at that point if desired.
Basically, once you are satisfied, click on Synchronize.
I was able to muddle through most of it without the help file, as much of it is pretty straight-forward. I also like the idea that if I need to update the software, I don’t have to run around between machines to do so.
There is one downside to it, though, and it could be a deal breaker for some. AFAIK, there is no way to sync files remotely, that is when not on your LAN. Windows Live Sync uses an Internet server as a go-between for synchronization, so you don’t have to be on your home/work network to do a sync. That’s one of the things that drew me to it at the time, as I was travelling quite a bit at the time, and it came in very handy on occasion.
A possible work around, if you have MS Office 2010 and are sharing Office documents, is to use the personal SharePoint that comes with it to sync up with Office Live. Otherwise, you can still use SkyDrive, Dropbox, YouSendIt! or some other file sharing utility to share remotely. These latter options are not automatic, though.
Android Synchronization
I received an email pointing me to a website about synchronization that I want to share. Since I don’t have a ‘droid, I thought this might be an excellent resource for Android users who are looking for sync’ing solutions.
It is www.syncdroid.net, and it has a list of software with prices and what it syncs.
Good stuff!
Live Sync Issues, Anyone Else?
OK, I am giving up and creating a new category for synchronization.
I previously mentioned that Live Mesh and Live Sync are going to be combined into one Live Sync product. It is now in beta, in fact.
Well, I installed it on my laptop running Windows 7, and all seemed well. However, I could not install it on XP, so I was a bit surprised when it turned out this seems to be intentional. Well, thanks for the goose chase! It would seem to be a trivial matter to tell me the OS is not supported rather than telling me there is something wrong with the downloaded installation file.
OK, but all seemed to be working, that is, up until yesterday. I noticed on the XP machine that it would say “Connecting” and then act like it was connected and switch back again. Forgetting why I didn’t update in the first place, I tried again to update to the beta. Needless to say, it didn’t work. So, I rebooted, etc., but I still had the same problem.
Well, this morning, I noticed that the Windows 7 machine is doing the same thing! What gives?
Given my previous disappointment with Live Sync neglecting to backup my Outlook PST files, I’m thinking it might be time to look again at other solutions. Any recommendations?
