Compare Advance (file system utility)

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Midas
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Compare Advance (file system utility)

#1 Post by Midas »

I decided to test BauerApps Compare Advance, since I haven't found any mention of it here at TPFC.

Although the installer supplied can be easily (Uni)extracted, I found out Compare Advance isn't natively portable: it saves its settings in a XML file inside a 'Compare Advance' folder created in the user's Documents location.
  • [url]http://www.bauerapps.com/compare-folders-windows-compare-advance/[/url] author wrote:Compare Advance makes comparing any two folders an easy job. The stylish interface highlights what's different between the two folders and a powerful synchronisation dialog makes reconciling those differences easy too. Can be used to synchronise files and folders between 2 computers and to give you fine control over making a backup copy of your important data.
    • Image
Download Compare Advance latest installer (currently v1.4.1) from http://www.bauerapps.com/downloads/.

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smaragdus
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Re: Compare Advance 1.4.1

#2 Post by smaragdus »

Compare Advance looks good and works fine but one of its features- "Integrate with Windows Explorer" does not work on my Windows 8 x64 system. I even tried WOW64Menu but I couldn't find traces of shell integration. Once I submitted this issue to the developer but I never got an answer. To be fair I have to tell that he responded to my previous reports about crashes of Compare Advance version 1.4.0 on Windows 8 and he fixed them in version 1.4.1. Most likely the program is abandoned.

Some additional links:
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Compare-Ad ... 90168.html - Compare Advance at Freeware Files
http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Fil ... ance.shtml - Compare Advance at Softpedia
https://alternativeto.net/software/compare-advance/ - Compare Advance at AlternativeTo

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Midas
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Re: Compare Advance 1.4.1

#3 Post by Midas »

smaragdus wrote:Once I submitted this issue to the developer but I never got an answer. [...] Most likely the program is abandoned.
  • I have a similar experience with RightNote. Not to disagree with you, but I believe it's just that the developer isn't very responsive... :?

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webfork
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#4 Post by webfork »

Midas wrote:I decided to test BauerApps Compare Advance
Looks good -- glad to have clean, easy alternatives to FreeFileSync.

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smaragdus
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Re: Compare Advance

#5 Post by smaragdus »

Looks good -- glad to have clean, easy alternatives to FreeFileSync.
Compare Advance is not portable, it seems to be abandoned, shell integration doesn't work (for me), I do not like that much its handling of projects.

I still prefer DirSync Pro (requires Java, portable), FullSync (requires Java, not portable) and even SyncBackFree (not portable, commercial editions with more features available). Other alternatives that have been discussed- SyncFolders (requires .NET, portable), jaBuT (portable), Create Synchronicity (portable, abandoned), Directory Compare (portable), DSynchronize (portable, I won't touch it again because the of GUI changes I cannot accept), Bvckup 2 (portable, abandoned beta, supported commercial version available), Toucan (portable, abandoned), Synkron (portable, abandoned), InSync (not portable), PathSync (portable, abandoned), FolderSync (portable), OneWay Backup (portable, probably abandoned), WinDataReflector (portable, I have concerns about its usability), AutoVer (portable), Bart (portable, abandoned).

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joby_toss
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#6 Post by joby_toss »

@smaragdus: no mention of Zback? It's my precious! :)

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Midas
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#7 Post by Midas »

joby_toss wrote:@smaragdus: no mention of Zback? It's my precious! :)
  • :lol:

    BTW, almost half the entries in smaragdus list require either Java or DotNET -- I steer clear of the former and prefer to avoid the later.

    Bvckup is the shining light there, and my personal favorite. dSynchronize is the runner up.

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smaragdus
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Re: Compare Advance

#8 Post by smaragdus »

@joby_toss
I just forgot of Zback, it is a good tool, excuse me for my omission, my list is by no means complete, nor it is well-organized, I am sure there are more programs I have not mentioned.

Midas
I avoid .NET and I love Java and it is one of my first installations on a newly-installed OS.

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joby_toss
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#9 Post by joby_toss »

No need to excuse you for anything, I'm just glad you don't find it lacking some important features and whatnot...

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smaragdus
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Re: Compare Advance

#10 Post by smaragdus »

@joby_toss

It would be nice if TP109 makes some tests of synchronization programs. Once I considered making a comparison of all the synchronization programs which had been discussed here but I discarded the idea because for me it would be an arduous task.

I have never tested Zback very thoroughly because to this day I have mainly relied upon FreeFileSync, DirSync Pro and FullSync. I don't know how many profiles can be added to Batch in Zback- the window where .bal files are displayed is small and I am not sure whether it would become scrollable when it is filled with profiles.

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smaragdus
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Re: Compare Advance 1.5.0- portable

#11 Post by smaragdus »

Good news- Compare Advance version 1.5.0 is portable (– Add a portable version)- downloads and changes:
1 November 2016, version 1.5.0

– An update! :), with the following improvements and changes:
– No longer use a summary node for different files. Instead show file properties (i.e. size and date) for both folders side by side
– Save application position and dimensions
– Improvements to Copy dialog
– Some improvements to popup menu
– Replace some icons
– Move some project options from the comparison page to the options page
– Fix some display glitches
– Add a portable version
– Remove shell integration
– Some bug fixes
Settings are saved in config.ini, dialogs.ini and settings.xml files inside program folder. Shell integration never worked for me so its removal is not a loss for me.

Direct Download Links:
Archive
Installer

@moderators
Please move this thread to Portable Freeware Submission sub-forum.

Thanks to BauerApps developer for releasing a portable version of Compare Advance!

TP109
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Re: Compare Advance

#12 Post by TP109 »

smaragdus wrote:@joby_toss

It would be nice if TP109 makes some tests of synchronization programs. Once I considered making a comparison of all the synchronization programs which had been discussed here but I discarded the idea because for me it would be an arduous task.

I have never tested Zback very thoroughly because to this day I have mainly relied upon FreeFileSync, DirSync Pro and FullSync. I don't know how many profiles can be added to Batch in Zback- the window where .bal files are displayed is small and I am not sure whether it would become scrollable when it is filled with profiles.
That would be a big task. The more options apps have, the more difficult the test design, and many sync apps have lots of options. The results would also need to be timed and verified, and a single option setting can easily invalidate a whole lot of data. The only way I would consider testing sync apps would be to severely limit the number of apps tested, and selecting what apps to include or exclude would be a task in itself.

The apps I personally use for everyday sync jobs are Zback and Dsynchronize, but mostly Zback because of its highly configurable batch option mode. Zback is small, accurate and easy to use once learned, but it's not for newbies and does take some effort to learn to use it effectively. For detailed or specialized backup and sync tasks, I mostly use command-line tools like Robocopy, XXcopy and the like. For synching really big directories, say those of over 1GB, apps like Zback and Dsynchronize don't cut it and mostly crash or choke. For large directories, apps like FreeFileSync are much more efficient. Although FreeFileSync has its issues, it can sync large directories quickly without crashing or freezing, although I'm unsure how accurate it is. In any case, I use of FreeFileSync and similar apps such as Bvckup2 for syncing large directories of non-critical data.

Back to Zback. No, there is no limit to the number of profile (.bal) files. Yes, the profile window is scrollable.

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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#13 Post by TP109 »

After looking through my data folders, I found a data sheet from over a year ago where I had started testing backup/sync apps, but never completed it. Anyway, after thinking about it, I'm going to go ahead and complete these tests. Below is a preliminary list of apps to test. I've already finished testing several of them. The list may change slightly as I progress.

Test conditions are to test the apps using default settings in one-way sync, backup, mirror, or copy mode. The sync/copy test folder is 129MB, containing 142 folders and 6787 files. The data is to include copy/sync completion time and resource usage after the app has completed the sync/copy operation.

AllwaySyncPortable
Back4Sure
bart
bvckup2
Cobian
CompareAdvance
CopyHandler
Create Synchronicity
DirectoryCompare
DirSyncPro
DSynchronize
EZBackup
FastCopy32
FreeFileSync
jaBuT
ODINPortable
OneWayBackup
ozSync
PortableUnison
RoboMirror
RoMoRDuPTaskExecutionClient
shadowcopy
Supercopier
SyncBackFree (NoInstall v6540)
SyncExpert
SyncFolders
Teracopy
Toucan
Windows XP
WinDataReflector
Zback
Last edited by TP109 on Sun Nov 06, 2016 4:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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webfork
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#14 Post by webfork »

TP109 wrote:a preliminary list of apps to test
Good lord. I was not conscious of how many sync programs we had on the site.

It might make sense to run a poll or something on what people want to see tested rather than testing ALL those programs.
smaragdus wrote:Please move this thread to Portable Freeware Submission sub-forum.
All set.

Screenshot

Image

TP109
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Re: Compare Advance (file system utility)

#15 Post by TP109 »

The list will be pared down. Not all the apps apply since some of them are real-time sync apps for file changes, some are remote syncing apps, and so forth. I just copied and pasted all the sync programs from my sync apps folder for the preliminary list. I already removed some of them.

edit:
Updated the preliminary list. Will start a new topic with test results when done.

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