There are a lot of times when I work on my desktop and later want to continue working on my laptop when I am away, but I can’t because I didn’t make a current copy of my work. So I wait till I get back to my desktop to continue. Keeping track of two of the same file is not only a pain but it causes headaches. BUT I have found folder synchronization to be an ideal solution to this problem.

To give you an example of how folder synchronization works:

When I work on my websites I do a lot of changes on both my laptop and desktop, so I created a “shared” folder on my laptop and added all my current website files. Then I created a second “shared” folder on my desktop and created a sync between the two folders. After about an hour, the sync program copied over all of my website files from my laptop over to my desktop. This way I now have current files on both computers. If I change a file on my desktop, the program will take it and replace the one on the laptop, and vice versa. This way no matter when I work with my websites, my files are always current.

There are a few programs that will sync files and folders but I have found Windows Live Sync to be a great solution. It’s a program made by Microsoft and it’s free to use.

You need to install Windows Live Sync on both computers that you want to sync folders on. Once installed you sign in using a Windows Live account, which can be your hotmail account OR if you don’t use hotmail, you can create a windows live account (also free) with any email. I made one with my Gmail email. After that, create some shared folders and wait for them to sync!

This program is great because it runs in the background without you knowing anything is even happening. It works over the internet or over a home network and works on PCs or Macs.

You can get Windows Live Sync HERE.