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I'm wondering if it is possible to fully synchronize notebook and desktop, both working under Windows 10. I mean settings, files, meta data etc.

Maybe some examples. Let's say that I've made some change on my notebook while being outside home. I've created a new document .doc placed in D:/myDocuments/Secret. I'd like to have the same file in the same place when I will come back home. Or, let's say, that I've changed an order of icons on my windows' desktop. I'd like to synchronize this change too.

Dear superusers, is it possible? How close to this result can I get?

mathsicist
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1 Answers1

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There are several possibilities but each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The simplest approach would be a vanilla Microsoft one. This would require you do use a Microsoft account as the default user account and live.com (OneDrive) for storing your shared documents. You install the OneDrive application and can set it to take over your "My Documents" folder if you like. You can also sync other folders as required. Logging in using your Microsoft account on all computers will sync most settings.

There are plenty of other options for syncing files/folders but not so much for settings since many of them would need a reboot on change. Or at least a logout and back in again.

Julian Knight
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  • So you think that there is no such solution? It's strange, I thought that there are people who want have exactly the same environment – mathsicist May 23 '17 at 21:20
  • Depends what you actually want to achieve. The method I've outlined is pretty good and works well. Not sure every app will get its settings copied over but it certainly works for many W10 settings, IE favorites and so on. Synching files with metadata is easy and there are loads of tools to do it either peer-to-peer or, more usually and robustly, via a service like OneDrive. – Julian Knight May 23 '17 at 22:16
  • You can also easily sync other settings using a backup tool such as SyncBack Pro but, as I say, you may need to log out/in or reboot to pick up some changed settings. You also need to be selective what you sync as it is typical to have >1 million files on a well used W10 device. – Julian Knight May 23 '17 at 22:18
  • You can also use Dropbox.com, Google Drive, pCloud.com, Box.com – Remus Rigo Mar 09 '18 at 11:49
  • https://superuser.com/questions/349/how-can-i-keep-folders-synchronized-between-several-machines-over-my-home-networ?rq=1 – Remus Rigo Mar 09 '18 at 11:51
  • I've already mentioned that you can do that @RemusRigo, the problem is with synchronizing settings. Not all settings and system files can or even should be sync'd. – Julian Knight Mar 11 '18 at 17:35