Seagate/Maxtor Manager - Sync Option Details

Note: Maxtor Manager is only compatible with 32bit versions of Windows XP and Vista. If you are using Windows 7 and need a backup utility for your Maxtor drive, please download Seagate Manager here.


This article hosts information regarding Seagate/Maxtor Manager's Sync feature. Please choose the most relevant link below:

• Using Simple Sync
• Using Custom Sync
• Using Sync Encryption
• Editing Sync Settings
• Checking Sync Status
• Deleting Sync Settings

Using Simple Sync

Simple Sync is pre-configured to automatically sync all file types in your XP My Documents folder or Vista/7 Personal Folder. Newer file versions always overwrite older versions.

To select Simple Sync:

1. Click My Drives in the Command panel.
2. Select your drive.
3. Click Sync in the Command panel.
   The Sync window opens.
4. Click Simple Sync.
   The Simple Sync Confirmation window opens.

Your XP My Documents folder or Vista/7 Personal Folder is now synchronized with your drive. Connect the drive to other computers to complete the synchronization.

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Completing the Sync
To complete the Sync, you must remove your drive from the computer on which the original Sync occurred and connect it to another computer on which you want to sync the selected folders. You can connect the drive to as many computers as you wish to include in the Sync. The first time you connect your drive to a second computer to complete a Sync, you’re asked where to put the synchronized folders on this computer.

To complete the Sync:

1. Safely remove the drive from your computer.
2. Connect the drive to another computer.
   
   (a) If you’ve synchronized folders other than your XP My Documents folder (or Vista Personal Folder), the Sync Folders window opens.
   (b) If you’ve synchronized your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal Folder), the Sync “My Documents” (or Sync “Personal Folder”) window opens.
   (c) If you’ve synchronized both your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal Folder) and other folders, both windows open.
    
3. In each window, select the location at which to store the synchronized folders on this computer and click OK.

From now on, the selected folders will automatically sync with the versions on your drive each time you connect the drive to the computer.

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Using Custom Sync

Custom Sync allows you to select specific folders and file types for synchronization and to choose sync and encryption settings.

To configure Custom Sync:

1. Click My Drives in the Command panel.
2. Select your drive.
3. Click Sync in the Command panel. The Sync window opens.
4. Click Custom Sync. The Folder Selection window opens.
5. Select the folders to be synchronized.
   You can select as many folders as you like, but they must all reside on the same drive (partition).
6. Click Next. The File Types window opens.
7. Select the types of files you want to sync.
   • All file types
   • Photos, Music

You can choose to sync any or all of the following:

Photos: JPG, GIF, TIFF, ...
— Music: MPG, AIFF, WAV, RA, WMA,...
— Videos: AVI, MOV, MPEG, QT, RM, WMV,...
— Documents: DOC, XLS, RTF, TXT, PDF, PPT,...

Custom
Custom selection allows you to choose the specific file type (by specifying that file’s extension) to include or exclude in synchronization:

To permit synchronization of a specific file type:

1. Select Include these file types.
2. Select each file type, one at a time, that you want to include, and click Add
   to move it to the Include list.

To exclude a specific file type from synchronization:

1. Select Exclude these file types.
2. Select each file type, one at a time, that you want to exclude, and click Add to move it to the Exclude list.

Note: File extensions are the suffix characters to the right of a file name that define the file format.

8. After you’ve selected the types of files to sync, click Next. The Sync Options window opens.

9. Select your Sync options:

Sync Rules:
Sync automatically each time a file changes.
Sync manually using the Sync Now button in the Sync window.

Copy & Replace Rules
Always replace older file versions with newer versions.
Ask before overwriting a file.

Sync Encryption
Automatically encrypt synchronized files on the drive
You must set up Encryption before you can select Sync Encryption.

Note: You can select Sync Encryption only during your initial setup of Sync. If you later decide you want to encrypt synchronized files, you must delete your current Sync settings and create new settings.

10. After you’ve set your Sync options, click Finish. The Sync window opens.

Completing the Sync

To complete the Sync, you must remove your drive from the computer on which the original Sync occurred and connect it to another computer on which you want to sync the selected folders. You can connect the drive to as many computers as you wish to include in the Sync. The first time you connect your drive to a second computer to complete a Sync, you’re asked where to put the synchronized folders on this computer.

To complete the Sync:

1. Safely remove the drive from your computer.

2. Connect the drive to another computer.

(a) If you’ve synchronized folders other than your XP My Documents folder (or
Vista/7 Personal Folder), the Sync Folders window opens.
(b) If you’ve synchronized your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal
Folder), the Sync “My Documents” (or Sync “Personal Folder”) window opens.
(c) If you’ve synchronized both your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal
Folder) and other folders, both windows open.

3. In each window, select the location at which to store the synchronized folders on this computer and click OK.

From now on, the selected folders will automatically sync with the versions on your drive each time you connect the drive to the computer.

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Using Sync Encryption

You can automatically encrypt synchronized files to keep them secure as you synchronize them between computers. Your Sync Encryption password is the same as your Encryption password since all encrypted folders are stored in the same folder, called “Encryption Folder.” Before you can enable Sync Encryption, you must set up Encryption in the Security window. If you have not yet set up Encryption, the Sync Encryption option is grayed out in the Sync Options window.

To set up Encryption and then enable Sync Encryption:

1. Click Cancel in the Sync Options window.
2. Click Security in the Command panel.
3. Click Encryption and follow the steps to set up an encrypted folder.
4. Click Sync in the Command panel.
5. Click Custom Sync and select your Sync folder and file-type settings.
   When you reach the Sync Options window, Sync Encryption is no longer grayed
   out.
6. Set your Sync Rules and Copy & Replace Rules and select Sync Encryption.
7. Click Finish. Your synchronized folders will now automatically be encrypted using the same password you used to set up Encryption.

Note: If you select Sync Encryption, all users must have your encryption password in order to
access synchronized folders on their computers.

Completing the Sync

To complete the Sync, you must remove your drive from the computer on which the original Sync occurred and connect it to another computer on which you want to sync the selected folders. You can connect the drive to as many computers as you wish to include in the Sync. The first time you connect your drive to a second computer to complete a Sync, you’re asked where to put the synchronized folders on this computer.

To complete the Sync:

1. Safely remove the drive from your computer.
2. Connect the drive to another computer.
   
   (a) If you’ve synchronized folders other than your XP My Documents folder (or
   Vista/7 Personal Folder), the Sync Folders window opens.
   (b) If you’ve synchronized your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal
   Folder), the Sync “My Documents” (or Sync “Personal Folder”) window opens.
   (c) If you’ve synchronized both your XP My Documents folder (or Vista/7 Personal
   Folder) and other folders, both windows open.
    
3. In each window, select the location at which to store the synchronized folders on
   this computer and click OK.

From now on, the selected folders will automatically sync with the versions on your drive each time you connect the drive to the computer.

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Editing Sync Settings

1. To change any of your Sync settings:
2. Click My Drives in the Command panel.
3. Select your drive.
4. Click Sync in the Command panel. The Sync window opens.
5. Click Edit Sync Settings. The Folder Selection window displays your current folder settings.
6. Add and/or remove folders from Sync and click Next. Folders removed from Sync are deleted from your drive. The File Types window displays your current file type settings.
7. Make the desired changes and click Next. The Sync Options window displays your current Rules settings.
8. Make the desired changes and click Finish.

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Checking Sync Status

1. Click My Drives in the Command panel.
2. Select your drive.
3. Click Sync in the Command panel. The Sync window opens.
4. Click Check Sync Status. The Sync Status window opens. Listed are the names of the computers on which Sync was set up, the date of the last Sync, and the Automatic Sync setting (On or Off).
5. Click OK to return to the Sync window.

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Deleting Sync Settings

To delete all your Sync settings and create a new set:

1. Click My Drives in the Command panel.
2. Select your drive.
3. Click Sync in the Command panel. The Sync window opens.
4. Click Delete Sync Settings. The Delete Sync Settings Confirmation window opens.
5. Click Delete. The original Sync window opens.
6. To create new Sync settings, select Simple Sync or Custom Sync.

Note: If you delete your synchronized files in the Seagate Sync folder on your drive, you can recover the last two versions of those files in the “SyncRecycleBin01” and “SyncRecycleBin02” folders, respectively.

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