PCsync version 6, by Laplink Software, Inc., Bellevue, WA
by Peter Roll
CapMac (Austin’s Premier Macintosh User Group, Austin, TX
PCsync v.6 is the latest release of a program by a company (Laplink Software, Inc., http://www.laplink.com/) with a long history of hardware and software for transferring files from one computer to another. Back in the olden days (1980’s, early 1990’s), Laplink was known among both Mac and PC users for its cables and software to transfer files between a desktop and a laptop computer, or between two desktops. Since then, its products have been focused on the much larger PC-windows market. The new v.6 of PCsync brings the Mac back into its fold to migrate files to or from a Mac to a PC, and then to keep folders in sync between the two platforms and/or to transfer files in either direction between the computers.
The market for PCsync is most clearly defined in the company’s own literature.
- … users working with a variety of computers throughout the day can quickly and easily synchronize large files and folders between PCs running Windows 7, Windows Vista, XP and even Macs. (Laplink press release for v.6 of PCsync)
- This is a single-user, multiple computer license, which means you are authorized to use the Software on up to a total of three (3) computers that are used by you (e.g., office, laptop and home computer); provided however, a valid license must be purchased for each person who will use the Software. (PCsync EULA)
Priced at $39.95 per copy list, PCsync v.6 can currently be found at Amazon for about $24.
PCSync has a split-window FTP user interface to transfer and sync files between two computers, using a drag-and drop process. It is not suited for initial migration of settings (e-mail, bookmarks, address books, calendars, etc.) from a Windows computer to a Mac, as is Apple’s Migration Assistant. It is well-suited to maintaining shared folders of documents and other files on group of PCs and Macs — it facilitates moving and copying such folders between PCs or a PC and a Mac over a local network (or USB or Ethernet cable), and then keeping the folders in sync with each other to enable shared access and transfer of whichever version is needed (PC or Mac) to colleagues, publishers, business partners, etc.
A PCsync user needs to be generally familiar with file-transfer processes and the files-and-folders management of windows-based personal computer systems in general. It is not a program suited to a person uncomfortable with computer operating systems and file management; IT experience is not needed. The program will be most useful and cost-effective when the group of computers is small, and when it is frequently necessary to transfer or synchronize files between pairs of machines. If transfers and syncs are infrequent, other tools and techniques, using features of both PC and Mac operating systems, may do the job adequately and more cost-effectively.
Documentation is not outstanding in the PCsync Quick-Start Manual for the PC and the Quick-Start Host Manual for the Mac, but it’s OK. Mac users should be aware that there are two ways in which the Mac and PC are not treated equally:
- in a pairwise Mac-PC connection, the Mac with the PCsyncHost program installed and running is defined as the “Host“ computer, with the PC identified as a client; but the control of all processes rests with the PC.
- the Migration Wizard is located in PCsync on the PC and serves to transfer files only from the PC to the Mac; normal file transfer functions are used to copy or move content from the Mac to the PC.
The most complex and potentially useful feature of PCsync is a set of options for syncing folders of files that are frequently changed by multiple editors, where keeping older versions of some files may be important. These options include user to intervention to control what happens to specific files. The logic for this process must be thought out carefully by the user. This task is made a little easier by a series of examples in the PCsync User Guide, showing how the options work for one- and two-way synchronization of files between two folders.
So how well does PCsync work? Well, I tested it by copying a 50 MB folder of miscellaneous nested folders and files, first from an iMac (OS X 10.6.3) to a Windows 7 laptop, and then syncing back and forth to check that changes in the files were properly done. Here are results of those tests:
- Setting up a connection works through a wired Ethernet LAN and through a direct Ethernet connection. It would not work through my wireless LAN connection to one of the computers — don’t know why and more time spent on this should result in success. I couldn’t lay my hands on a USB cable to try that, but I assume it would work as well as the direct connection, and maybe faster.
- Frequent “internal error” messages came up during transfers from the iMac to Windows, which often aborted the process. These did not occur when files which Windows could not read were deleted; most of these were Mac files combining XML and other content into a single Unix package file, much as Microsoft Office 2007 does for the .docx and other XML formats.
- Otherwise, once set up and tested, and with the non-Windows files removed (a good idea even if this transfer had worked!), PCsync did the job it was intended to do reliably.
The results of these tests made it clear to me that the most useful feature of PCsync is synchronization of selected folders of files (including embedded folders) between a few Mac and PC computers (limited to 3 computers per individual license by the EULA). When this syncing process is recurring often enough, PCsync can be a time-saver, whether just between PCs or including Macs, and particularly using its ability to schedule automatic operations. There are other ways of doing this, and there may be other programs that do it, but I’m not aware of them.
So, in summary, if your circumstances match PCsync’s capabilities, you may want to try it out. There isn’t a free trial available, but there is a money-back guarantee.
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This review is written by a Mac user who has, for over a decade, maintained a lab and classroom as it grew from 4 Windows and 1 Mac, to 31 Windows and 10 Macs, serving the Sun City, TX Computer Club of about 3,000 members living in an age-restricted community near Austin, TX. The audience for this review, however, is the membership of the CapMac User Group in Austin, — a much smaller club with a more diverse and more technically-involved membership.
Posted on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 at 10:08 pm by Nancy Gravley |
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