How To Synchronize My Office & Home PCs??

lazycontractor

I want to synchronize my office PC and Home PC in such a way that at home I make a folder and put some files in there and make same folder on my office PC and when I delete some files from my home PC they should automatically get deleted from my office PC.

Is there some way to do so?

I have heard about "Briefcase" in Windows XP but I don't know how it works. Can anyone please tell me something about this?

Thanks

welovepainting

Not to sure how that works but I have looked into it slightly. The only thing we do now is gotomypc.com which is pretty cheap and works ok. I am looking for a program where we can share the same outlook program on like 2-4 pc's.

Celtic

Briefcase overview
If you frequently work on files outside your main computer (using a portable computer, for example), you can use Briefcase to synchronize the files with their counterparts on your main computer when you finish working on them.
When you reconnect your portable computer to your main computer (or insert a removable disk containing the modified files), Briefcase automatically updates the files on your main computer to the modified versions. You do not need to move modified files out of Briefcase or delete the existing copies on your main computer.
Briefcase stores files and displays their status. For instance, it can show you whether a file is linked to the original file on your main computer, or whether it is an orphan file This information helps you keep files organized and prevents you from accidentally deleting or copying over the most recent version of a file.
Note
•When you are using Briefcase to copy files from your main computer to your portable computer, the two computers must be connected, either over a network or with a direct cable connection



How To Use the Briefcase Feature in Windows XP

How to Create a New Briefcase

1.Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2.Click the folder in which you want to create a new briefcase.
3.On the File menu, click New, and then click Briefcase. The new briefcase is created. To open the briefcase, double-click it.

If you want to create a new briefcase on your desktop, right-click an empty area of your desktop, click New, and then click Briefcase.

How to Use Briefcase to Synchronize Files on Two Computers

1.NOTE: The following steps assume that you use a desktop computer as your primary computer and a portable computer as your secondary computer.

2.Connect your portable computer to your desktop computer. You can connect your computers either over a network or by using a direct cable connection.

3.Start Briefcase on your portable computer, and then drag the files or folders that you want to work with from your desktop computer to Briefcase.

NOTE: Before you copy folders and files from your desktop computer to Briefcase, the folders containing the files must be shared.

4.Start Briefcase, and then make the changes that you want to the files.

5.When you have finished working on the files, reconnect your portable computer to your desktop computer (if they were disconnected), and then start Briefcase on your portable computer.

6.Do one of the following:
•To update all files, click Update All on the Briefcase menu.

-or-
•To update only some of the files, select the file or files that you want to update, and then click Update Selection on the Briefcase menu.

7.The Update dialog box is displayed. Confirm the update action on the files or folders that are displayed in the dialog box, and then click Update. The files on your desktop computer are updated with the modified versions of those files in Briefcase on your portable computer.


Click for more:
How To Use the Briefcase Feature in Windows XP

How to Use Briefcase to Synchronize Files Stored on a Floppy Disk
How to Check the Status of Files Stored in Briefcase
How to Split Files Stored in Briefcase from Their Counterparts
Troubleshooting

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Ed the Roofer

I was told to set up a VPN, which stands for "Virtual Private Network".

I have not done this yet, but others may know more about it.

Supposedly, you are directly connected with both computers, no matter where the other one is set up at.

Ed

HomeMedia Pros

Its free I think the site is alwaysync.com . After you get a hang of setup it works like a charm. All of our trucks have Laptops and they do estimates and invoices in the field. Once back in the shop the laptops find the wireless network and sync starts automaticaly sending their data to file storage. There a small program reads it into quickbooks. This is super setup.

We do Home Automation, Home Theaters and Media Rooms, most of our parts are high dolar custom orders. Having this info loaded to Qbooks and then automaticaly email Purchase Orders to Vendors is priceless.

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we like them all at www.homemediapros.com

lazycontractor

I installed BeInSync.com software on both computers (home & Office) but the problem is that to synchronize the files both computers should be ON.

I have seen the button of "Backup" on that software.. I think by clicking it it will upload all the shared files to the server and from my office PC i will be able to download them. But I have not checked that option yet. Will do it later. I think it is the right software for me.

welovepainting

I am still very confused when it comes to this crap. What I would like is a server to put our master documents on and when we need to do changes go to the server update the file and that's it.

GregS

That's called versioning control. You can 'check in' files and users can 'check them out' and return them in a modified condition, all along maintaining a complete history of each revision.

It's done in computer software development with a number of commercially available tools.

The only free way to do it involves things like CVS and whatever Windows shells can fit on top of that.. and they work well, just not easy to work.

If you can get some sort of dedicated computer, set up file sharing on it, dump all your master documents on there, lock them as Read Only. Have people with their computers on the network connect to the file share, read the files, modify and then resave them with a different name, presumably with a version number or date (use the ISO standard date format, year-mm-dd to make name sorting easier)

Contract

I have heard about gotomypc.com... has anyone tried it?

gideond

Gotomypc.com is okay but not really a sync tool. It's more to just access the PC in a mini-browser from a remote location. It can also get expensive as there is a yearly renewal. It can be very slow and laggy too even on very high speed connections.

dougchips

We have used their service for the past year. The connection is very slow so it is not like you can sit at home and do productive work on your office computer. It is a life saver when you are sitting at home and need a document or file from the office computer, in 3-4 minutes you can log on and get the job done.

See if they still have a free trial program.

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gideond

There is completely free and open source software that can do just as well if not better than gotomypc.com but you have to put some time in configuring it.

lazycontractor

BeinSync.com is working fine for me. I am happy with that

Thank you for your suggest by the way.

casey344

I use it and love it. I'm not a hard core after hours worker but if I get a call from a customer after hours I can login from home, look at drawings and proposals, even create/send/print proposals.

I've found it particularly handy when I've left work and realized today was the day our liability taxes are due. Keep heading home and file them from there.

We're seriously considering the Quickbooks Online version to allow remote access to ourselves and our accountant.

GoToMyPc is free for the first 30 days I think.