I just checked out Syncovery. It's not freeware.

I look no further than Syncovery for synchronisation. The feature set is hard to beat and it seems to work better than all the others I`ve tried.

Using version v2.70.0.a and experiencing no problems whatever.

In my experience the best software often lacks better exposure and perhaps a sexy looking interface. Zback fulfils these criteria. Such an approach usually speaks volumes for a developer that spends his time on creating good code rather than a good image for something they might later commercialise.

I used to write my own batch files for backing up, but replicating file properties for customised folder icons proved a a pain so I went looking and found that a lot of the back up/sync software that people rave about lacks this simple function - or if it is specified it fails to function.

If I could change anything about Zback, it would be the interface, but then I might lose confidence in its naive charm :)

Perfect for my needs which run to backing up and synchronising around 30GB across two laptops using the batch function.

v2.65 failed me too. Otherwise, all versions have been pretty reliable.

I just downloaded v2.65.0.b. I created 2 "test" folders one on C:\ with 5 folders with files and one empty on D:\ I then ran the snyc and the program completely left one folder out of the sync task. I tried several times with te same result. So, Make sure you check your Task! I tried the same Task with "FolderSync 2" and it worked perfect on the same task.

@Li-ion "is the new /R switch. ...start ... "minimized"

This could also be used with launchers that can pass command line such as PStart etc

How does the syncing/backup capabilities stack up to Syncback?

Recently switched to this as my default sync/backup utility because of its small size, configuration options, reporting features and decent speed. FFS has become bigger, slower, and annoying for the reasons indicated elsewhere.

Zback 2.40.0.a is available

That's a really good question, DollyP. I know that FreeFileSync has similar problems with at least one automatic setting of syncing. It pops up an error message noting that some files have been deleted and it doesn't know what to do. It also stores database lists on both disk areas.

If this product doesn't write anything to the main disk how does it maintain a list of deleted files in order to synchronise deletions between disks?

Great tool. The developer responds very quickly to requests and questions. I just wish the user interface would be a little bit more intuitive, it may take some time to get used to.

I was looking for a good backup/synchronize app for backup my computer into an external HDD, now i can stop searching.
Recommended!

I like this a lot; especially the batch feature, but scanning appears to be much slower compared to similar utilities such as Freefilesync.

A new version, 2.0 is available. Most important (for me) is the new /R switch. This gives you the opportunity to start this back-up tool "minimized". If you make a batch file with the contents like:
C:\Portables\zback\Zback mybackupjob.bal /R
and run it at Windows start-up time, the back-up will run without the user knowing.
The contents of the .bal file looks sometime like:

C:\userdir1\*.* > J:\backup\userdir2 /us
C:\userdir3\*.* > J:\backup\userdir2 /us
C:\userdir3\*.* > J:\backup\userdir3 /us

Great software.
Thanks Davor!

For less-experienced computer users, there is a nice little tutorial available at TechRepublic, and it is also available for download in pdf format if you are registered on that site.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=1808