Sync Your Documents with Windows Live Sync

I initially thought I had no use for any type of synchronization technology for my desktops and laptops because I always had my handy USB thumb stick ready. I try to make a habit of using my USB drive as a way to synchronize my files between the many different computers and laptops that I use. However, I realize that’s the ‘caveman’ way of doing things and while it gets the job done, I want something more seamlessly integrated with my operating system. I know I have a lot of different options to pick from but after some thinking, I’ve decided to try the Windows Live Sync offering first.

UPDATE:
Windows Live Sync will be discontinued after March 31, 2011.
Dear Windows Live Sync customer,
You’re receiving this message because you installed Windows Live Sync (previously known as FolderShare) for Windows or Mac. On March 31, 2011, Windows Live Sync will stop working. After March 31, this program will no longer sync your files between your computers and you won’t be able to access your files remotely from sync.live.com. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.
With the new release of Windows Live services, we’ve made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live.
If you enjoyed the functionality of Windows Live Sync or FolderShare, you can choose to install the new Windows Live Mesh. First uninstall Windows Live Sync, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you’re syncing on each computer and if they’re shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again.

Why Synchronize?

Syncing your files between computers, whether they are office documents, music, video clips, photos and other data files, is a feature that can be enjoyed by almost everyone that has two or more computers. Going with the USB drive method I’ve mentioned earlier, it can be quite a hassle. The frustration can multiply as you work with more and more computers. Emailing files to yourselves can be a good method as I still use that method today for super ultra highly sensitive files, but once again, it’s not the best method when you got a lot of files to sync. Besides, your email provider will usually impose a limit on how big your attachments can be. With Windows Live Sync and other online sync service providers, you’ll have an easier way to centralize your data and files between the computers you work with.
I’ve chosen Live Sync over the other services simply because I’ve used Windows Skydrive and it was such a blast to use that I’m going to try Live Sync in hope that it will provide the same great experience.

Getting Started

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Before you get started, there is one big factor you must consider. Windows Live Sync is a peer-to-peer technology. That means that no data is directly stored on Microsoft’s server. When you download/sync files, you are doing it by directly downloading from your other computer. Therefore, in order for you to successfully sync files between computers, YOU MUST have at least one computer in your folder sync group turned on and connected to the Sync client with a Internet connection.

1. To begin using Windows Live Sync, you’ll need to sign up for the service. Already have a Live email account? Then you should be good to go! Log in with that account to proceed.

2. To be able to synchronize files and folders between different computers, you need to install the Sync client software on each individual computer. For Mac users, you’re not left out in the dark as Live Sync can also be used on that OS platform.

3. Once you’ve got the Sync client software installed, find it in your Start Menu and open it. Sign in with your user account to begin.

After signing in, Live Sync can then be accessed via your system tray/notification area in the lower right corner (depicted by two blue arrows). You’ll see a couple of options. To begin creating folders for synchronization, right click the icon and select Sync Website.

Your default browser should open and take you to your Live Sync’s profile page.

4. Obviously by default, there are no folders or files that are being shared. We are going to change that right now. Under the Devices category, you should see your computer icon labeled with your computer’s actual computer name. This is configurable. As written in the description, you are allowed to create two types of shares. One is for your personal/private use and the other type is for sharing with other people. I will go over the latter in a bit. For now, let’s create a personal folder. Click on the Create a Personal Folder link to proceed.

You will then be asked which computer you would want to create the shared folder on. Since we only have one computer setup right now, we should only see one option. So, go ahead and select it. As you’ll first see, there are some default folders that you can opt to sync with the other computers such as Music, Pictures, Documents, and Video.

With Windows Live Sync, you can have a maximum of 20 folder shares with a maximum of 20,000 files in each of them and each file cannot be more than 4GB! Yes, you read right. You don’t have to be a math teacher to realize how much space that is! But remember, your files don’t get stored on any Microsoft servers.

You can simply choose other folders on your computer for syncing. Browse to it by clicking on the C: drive icon and locate it. Then select the Sync Folder Here option. In this example, I will share a sample folder labeled Blog Share located on my desktop. Once done, you should now see your folder under the Personal Folder section and files in that folder will be marked for syncing. I suggest you get familiar with Windows Live Sync first before sharing and syncing your ‘real’ folders. Create a dummy folder and play around a bit (like what I’m doing here).

Now I’m going to add some files to my Blog Share folder and see what happens.

If I look back at my share in the Live Sync website, it clearly shows that it successfully have marked my four files for syncing.

If you want to see recent activity on your Live Sync account, choose the Activity menu option by right clicking your Live Sync’s system tray icon.

5. Now that I have successfully created a personal share and have added some files to it, let’s sync it with my laptop! The first thing you’ll need to do is once again, download and install the Sync client software on the computer and then login as we did earlier. Once you’ve done that, you should now see your two computers in your Live Sync profile.

Now that I’ve got more than one computer configured, let’s sync the Blog Share folder to my laptop by creating a sync partnership. First, select the desired folder to sync. Next, select the Add a Computer link. I can select my new laptop as a sync partner so I’ll go ahead and select that. Now it will ask me which folder on my laptop should it sync the Blog Share folder to. I created a new folder called Laptop Sync so I’ll choose that one. When asked how you’ll want to synchronize the folders, choose the Automatic Synchronization option. Immediately after that, the files I stored in Blog Share (first computer) will be downloaded and synced on my laptop (second computer).

If you want to opt for a more manual type of synchronization, that is also possible. Rather than having all files automatically syncing, you can choose to have an ‘on-demand’ sync connection instead. By doing so, you are allowed to choose exactly which files will be synced on your second computer. First, change your sync connection type from Automatic to On-Demand.

From then on, you’ll see placeholders for the files in the folder you are syncing to. They are not downloaded yet because you haven’t given the go-ahead. By double clicking on these placeholder files, the sync will begin.

Once I’ve got my folder sync partnership setup, any files I now add, delete, modify and so on from either folder, those changes will also be replicated to the other! Simple as that! If the other computer is offline, than the synchronization will start as soon as both computer is online (and assuming Live Sync is running on the computers).

Configuring Shared Access

Creating a shared folder that can be accessed by other people consists of similar steps, except that you specify the people who have the rights to view and work with your folder shares. The bad news is that the individual must also set up Windows Live Sync (if they haven’t done so already) in order to be able to work with your shared folders, even viewing them!

In your Sync profile, click on the Create a Shared Folder link to begin the procedure.

You are also allowed to grant permissions to other individuals for your Personal Folders but I wouldn’t recommend doing that. It’s best to keep your Personal and Shared folders separate.

Once you get to the Individuals part, enter the email address for the person you wish to allow access to the shared folder and hit the Add button. You now should see a drop-down box which allows you to grant a more specific right to that individual. The options are self-explanatory. Just remember that you better trust that individual a whole lot if you are to give him/her full permission on the shared folder.

Misc.

Couple points to remember:

- In order to sync files from Live Sync, your computers must have an active Internet connection. Windows Live Sync uses peer-to-peer technology so nothing gets stored in the web. That means you must have at least one other computer in your sync group turned on and connected online in order to sync from it.

- To not confuse yourself, I would suggest syncing folders between all your computers with the same folder name. For example, if you decide to create a Personal Folder share on one computer labeled Financial Data, then create another folder with the same name on the other computer(s) that you wish to sync with. This should make things a lot more organized.

- There is a feature that allows you to remotely browse the other computers in your Sync profile from another computer (providing they are both turned on and have an active Internet connection). However, this feature is disabled by default. To enable it, head into the Settings menu and check the Allow Remote Access to This Computer checkbox. You will also need to test your network to see if the appropriate ports are configured. In my opinion, this remote access feature is not a really big deal so skipping it is recommended. You will still be able to sync files and whatnot with it disabled, like what I’ve so far shown you in this article.

- To get more help on using Windows Live Sync, refer to to this FAQ.

 

In the End…

I will pass on Windows Live Sync. The service is extremely easy to use and configure but the main turn-off is the use of peer-to-peer technology. While there is nothing wrong with using that technology for Bittorrent files and whatnot, it can be a deal breaker when it comes to your own computers. Why? Because you need at least one other computer turned on for the sync to proceed. I save energy by turning off my laptop or computer whenever I’m done using it. Just that fact alone means that Live Sync isn’t going to work for me. However, if you are paranoid about having your personal data stored on the web, Live Sync can be a good choice to go with if you are willing to work with the P2P technology that it employs. It is easy to setup and configure. If not, then you’ll have to look for a different alternative like me.

Next up to bat: DropBox!