Recommendation for staying syncronized between desktop and laptop

[dweimann]

Well, my new laptop is being delivered this week and I wanted to explore the best way to syncronized between my desktop (where I manage all my Webwork, email, etc.) and my laptop. I'm mostly working on consulting projects these days so I'm not too concerned about moving files around, but I do need a good way to have my email on both the laptop and desktop, as well as all my contact information and my core work files for current clients and my own projects.

Does anyone have suggestions on good ways to syncronized? In the past I used a laptop only for a specific task, but now as consulting is more of my business I'll be out of the office more and more. The new laptop will have Vista and Office 2007. I plan on upgrading my main work desktop to Vista and office 07 later this year.

- Daniel

[cleonard]

I'll throw out a couple of suggestions.

I use Outlook for mail, contacts, tasks, calendar and utilize Plaxo www.plaxo.com to keep my laptop and desktop sync'd. I use the free version and it's the only solution I found where I don't consistently get a bunch of sync errors, dups, etc. However, it does not sync mail.

With me, my laptop is my main computer and the desktop is not. I use IMAP with Outlook on desktop and then download all messages on my laptop when connected. I also throw a Motorola Q smartphone in the mix that get's synced with Outlook through Verizon Wireless sync system . . . again that works really well.

For files I don't really sync as much as I backup on the desktop. I sync My Documents every night via the free version of SyncBack http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/sbse.html. Again, I've used it for several years and it does a pretty good job over my wireless network.

With Plaxo and Wireless Sync I can always go to the corresponding website if I'm not near laptop, desktop or smartphone. In that case I carry a 2GB memory stick on my keychain with Portable Apps www.portableapps.com and Roboform www.roboform.com and various files/scripts I use a lot.

Yes, I know, what a mess . . . A plan for every situation and trust me, within the last year I've been thankful that all this "stuff" is in all these places. At least once, I've needed it for that particular situation.

I hope that help.

[dweimann]

Chris,

Thanks for the tips! I use Plaxo too, which I find very helpful. I've also been carrying around a flash drive with a couple portable apps. I will have to look into SyncBack again...I think I ran across it a few months ago. I probably only need to sync My documents and a few of my work folders.

Mail, is probably my biggest concern at this point. Does imap well with the Vortech setup and how do i go about it? I was thinking of possibly making an outlook rule to forward my main work email to my laptop, but that would only work if my desktop was always running outlook, which it isn't. Hmmm.

[cleonard]

IMAP works with Vortech, but not as well as on my own dedicated servers. If I remember correctly, not all the folders are available. Basically since I got my smartphone, I do more "replying" via a secondary computer and IMAP than I do checking mail because incoming mail is downloaded to the phone and it's easier to type on a full keyboard with my fat stubby fingers.

Setup is pretty straight forward in Outlook 2007, just choose IMAP and type in the appropriate servers and settings. You could also, which may be a better option, use POP3 with Outlook on both, but check the box that says "leave a copy of messages on server" on the one you wish to be later downloaded by the other computer. (Did that come out right)

The other thing I left out is that I have a gmail account for each business unit. I have all messages forwarded from all mailboxes for a unit additionally forwarded to the appropriate gmail account just in case and as backup.

[Zoren]

Hey DWeimann,

Laplink will do what you're asking. It's not free, but its been around a while and works well. Here's the link: http://www.laplink.com/llgold/. I also use IMAP and can get my inbound mail on multiple computers. For backups I use Cobain backup: http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm. It works well and is a yahoo tech favorite. There is also a windows utility that lets you utilize rsync: http://www.aboutmyip.com/AboutMyXApp/DeltaCopy.jsp. Hope that helps and have fun with your new laptop.

[dweimann]

Thanks Zoren and Chris. I will have to check into that. Are there any performance issues or limits to using IMAP?

[cleonard]

No performance issues that I've experienced with IMAP. FYI, I think Thunderbird actually does a better job than Outlook for IMAP, but that would kinda defeat the whole sync thing you're trying to do.

Biggest issue I've seen is just the nature of the beast. I use the IMAP and respond to someone. Well, when I get back to the other computer using POP, I don't have a record that I responded to that person because it's in the IMAP Sent Items folder and doesn't get downloaded to Outlook via POP. You can bcc yourself on all replies which is one solution.

It's burned me one time on a potential customer, because I swore I responded to them. I had not. Too many prospects that day and I got mixed up and didn't have the little "replied" icon in Outlook to show me different.

[dweimann]

Hmm, yeah, i see what you mean. I think i will need to play with it a bit.

- D

[dweimann]

Well finally got my laptop this past week and have run into a few snags. I tried IMAP, but decided that i would just go with Pop on my desktop and laptop but leave the mail on the server for a few weeks which gives each machine plenty time to grab the mail. However, Vista is a pain in that a bunch of my apps don't really work quite right. Also, Plaxo doesn't support Outlook 2007, which is a real bummer. SyncBackSE looks like it will probably handle my sync needs and the latest version works with Vista, which is a plus. Any other suggestions on syncing contacts? Also, I'd like to find a way to sync my passwords...for web sites and the such.

[cleonard]

Hey D,

I'm using Plaxo with Outlook2007 without any issues at all. What type of issue are you having?? Course I'm running XP Prof still.

For passwords I'd use Roboform and "sync" your Roboform data using SyncBack. If you don't have roboform and want to support my three young children who would like to go to college some day, you can click here: http://www.roboform.com/?affid=swsrf

[dweimann]

Plaxo's Website states that it doesn't support Office 2007 or Vista. I suppose it may work under XP, but that doesn't do me much good. Vista is a real kettle of fish... i'm finding all sorts of little incompatibility issues that are driving me nuts. I tried Plaxo, but no go on my system. Even though i have orded my Vista upgrade DVD for my desktop system, i am going to hold off upgrading that machine for a while.

[Brangwyn]

If your not too worried about files (which can be fairly easily syncronised just using the builtin Windows Briefcase anyway) then consider a hosted exchange account for your email using someone like Mail2Web.com

[dweimann]

what is involved with running an external exchange server. The idea to use an exchange server is something I have thought about in the past.

[Brangwyn]

It's pretty painless, you simply set up Outlook using RPC over HTTPS to the hosted exchange account, from there on it's exactly like working with any other Exchange account. You'll get webmail via this as well and the Exchange webmail client is arguably one of the best around, plus the ability to Sync OTA with mobile devices etc too, so personally I think it's a really good solution.

[dweimann]

What about the speed of an exchange server? Part of the time i will be on dialup, so are there any issues with that? I've used exchange server in the past, but only over broadband/lan.