TechniTip.Net

Free Windows Command Line Sync Tool

For Windows there is a cute little tool from Microsoft available which can be used to synchronize folders. It is part of the Windows Server 2003 Resource Tool Kit and called “Robocopy”. It is a command line tool which supports UNC path names. So it’s a useful tool to sync folders e.g. to a network storage (NAS).

A simple call to sync a folder to a second local hard disc looks like:

robocopy c:\temp\Privat "e:\backup" /MIR

/MIR mirror a directory tree

If you want to sync to a NAS storage which is not based on a Microsoft Operating System you need to add some further flags:

robocopy c:\temp\Privat "\\ts-101\USB Disk 1\Test" /MIR /Z /A /M

/Z copy files in restartable mode (useful when sync e.g. over DSL connection which may sometimes terminate)

/M copy only files with the Archive attribute set and reset it (needed if you want to sync to a NAS storage which is not based on Microsoft)

/A copy only files with the Archive attribute set (needed if you want to sync to a NAS storage which is not based on Microsoft)

Obtaining Robocopy

• Robocopy download from Microsoft (if link is no longer available search in Google for “Windows Server 2003 Resource Tool Kit)

Make VIM Nice Looking

Linux users usually know the text editor called “vi”. For beginners it’s tough to use and the look and feel is not very nice. “vim” which means vi-improved brings many improvements. To make vim more nice looking I’ve put my settings for your .vimrc together. I personally like the following settings:

• Syntax highlighting
• Different color scheme
• Disable indenting when copy and pasting a text from clip board
• Replace tabs with blanks
• Use 2 spaces as tabs instead of 4 spaces
• Improve the search
• Display cursor position

Open the .vimrc in your home directory and add the following settings:

" enable syntax highlightning
syntax enable
" set a different color scheme
colorscheme desert
" avoid identing when pasting a text
set paste
" enable auto indent
set autoindent
" expand tabs to spaces
set expandtab
" set the tab stop to 2 spaces and soft tab stop to 2 spaces
set tabstop=2 sts=2
set shiftwidth=2
" immediately search and display the typed search pattern
set incsearch
" highlighting of search matches
set hlsearch
" show cursor position
set ruler

Much better now! Try the search (e.g. ESC /high) and you will recognize that the search pattern will be immediately highlighted when you enter it.

Note: If you want to replace all tabs within an existing file you can now use the vi command “:retab” and all tabs will be removed according the settings done in your .vimrc.

And finally the result:

iPhone Firmware Update 2.2.1

Apple has released a new version for the iPhone firmware. Version 2.2.1 is not a major update, only a few things seem improved:

• Improved performance/stability of Safari browser
• Fixed some issues with pictures attached in e-mails

Not so much news. Updated runs for me without any problems.

Users with unlock and/or jailbreak should inform themselves before updating, usually the jailbreak will no longer work after the update until there is a new jailbreak available.

Change iPhone Call Forwarding

When the VoiceMailbox of your iPhone catches the incoming call to early you can change the time after which the call is forwarded to the VoiceMailbox. It’s not possible to change this within the iPhone but this can be achieved using some special codes entered in the iPhone (works for T-Mobile Germany).

The time after which the incoming call is forwarded to the VoiceMailbox can be changed in intervals of 5, 10, 20, 25 or 30 seconds using the code (press dial key after the code has been entered):

**61*3311*11*25#

This will change the time to 25 seconds after the call is forwarded to the iPhone VoiceMailbox. Thanks to Bogi for this tip.

Use the Google search for further special codes for T-Mobile Germany.

Automated Windows Backups

No Backups for Microsofties?

Mac users will already know the comfort of automated backups to an external hard disc or a network attached storage (NAS) running in background without user action. It’s really useful and easy to use. Microsoft users usually need to find their own backup solution. They can buy extra tools or use some Freeware/OpenSource tools.

My Goals

It’s not much I want, just a few things should be fulfilled:

• Sync folders from my notebook/PC to an external hard disc (NAS)
• Sync should run without user action
• Sync should run automated (wish: when notebook/PC is idle)

SyncToy V2 from Microsoft

Looking for such a automated backup solution I came across the tool SyncToy from Microsoft. It’s currently only available in English language. SyncToy can be obtained for free from the Microsoft homepage:

• SyncToy V2.0 download from Microsoft

It is an easy to use Windows application for copying, moving, renaming and deleting files between folder and computers. Handling is easy, the source (left) folder as well as the destination (right) folder is specified. In my case I use the “Echo” sync action, which means that files on the destination folder are also deleted in case they are deleted on my notebook/PC. A preview can be started to see what would happen and finally the synchronization can be started using the “Run” button.

Still Manual

OK, now we have an easy to use synchronisation tool and it’s for free but it’s not yet running automated in background. To do this automatically the Windows Task Scheduler is used. We generate a new scheduled task through Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks. The following command line should be entered for the scheduled task:

"C:\Program Files\SyncToy 2.0\SyncToyCmd.exe" -R

You will need to enter a user should execute the task. You can use your current account (please note: a password seems to be needed, empty passwords seems not to work). Of course you can also generate an extra user, e.g. “backup”. Take care, if the scheduled task is executed as different user which is currently logged in, it’s needed to start SyncToy with “Run As…” for configuration because the configuration is stored separated for every user.

Backup when Idle

When you want to have backups done always when your notebook/PC is idle, then choose the corrosponding option for the scheduled task: execute when idle. My Windows is in German language, so I don’t know the correct name. Furthermore you can define after which passed time in idle the task should be executed. I use 10 minutes here in a first try.

Within the scheduled task options further options can be set like “run task not when operating in battery mode”, “stop task when battery mode is entered” which might be useful for notebooks.

Hint: The user which will execute SyncToy must have access to the local files as well as the remote directory. For debugging try the “Preview” button and the log file (File, view log).

Result

Using a free tool the files of my notebook/PC are not synchronized automatically when I’ve not done any user input for 10 minutes. Great!

It keeps unclear why Microsoft doesn’t add such a backup tool in Windows. Also installation is not absolutely easy. It would be nice if scheduling options could directly be set in SyncToy.

Compared to TimeMachine for Mac really missing are incremental backups, which means you have backups also available from past in a history.