FreeFileSync

[lintalist]

@smaragdus: many thanks, that indeed works correctly.

[webfork]

Based on some of the recent entry comments, I'm going to go ahead and post the suggested setup instructions. I let this topic slip too long.

[webfork]

Steps to extract:

1. Download the installer and extract to a temporary folder (requires the latest version of Innounp as described in the FAQ)
2. Copy the contents of {app} to a folder of your choice
3. Launch FreeFileSync.exe

(Edit: my plan was to point to this post but I just posted these instructions to the entry.)

[smaragdus]

FreeFileSync at version 8.0 but it seems it is no longer possible to run it in portable mode- see the screen-shot of the error message FreeFileSync spewed after I tried to start it:

FreeFileSync 8.0 - 2016-03-17 - error - 001.png (8.42 KiB) Viewed 67798 times

I have been using FreeFileSync for years and this is the first time I see such an error. I am reverting to version 7.9 which runs fine. I don't know whether there is any point to contact the developer because I suppose he made the change intentionally. Anyway, I need a confirmation that the problem doesn't appear on my system only. I have a question- does anyone know whether it is possible to disable update check in FreeFileSync?

[JohnTHaller]

does anyone know whether it is possible to disable update check in FreeFileSync?

Disabling update checking has been broken when used portably for some time: http://www.freefilesync.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2308

[smaragdus]

@JohnTHaller

Thanks for your reply. So the developer is unwilling to fix this issue?

By the way I saw that the problem I described above didn't appear on my machine only:

[BUG] Portable installation is broken in v8.0

[Enternal]

So it's a weird problem. If you don't hit the "Finish" button at the end of the installer, it won't create the "install.dat" file which would then give you that the "Installation files are corrupt". Basically make sure you go completely through the installer and then "Finish" it before you start copying/moving the files. The requirement of the "install.dat" file is a new thing with version 8.0

The difference between Local and Portable mode is simply the presence of the "Uninstall" folder. If there is no "Uninstall" folder, it will save its setting in the same folder as the executable. If there is an "Uninstall" folder, it will behave like an installed program.

Anyways, if you look at the Archive page on the main website, you will notice that he stopped archiving Windows installer after version 5.0. I'm just guessing but he's primarily programming for Linux (and perhaps Mac) which may explain why he's not as interested in fixing some of these more odd Windows bugs.

EDIT: I just realized that most people here used Universal Extractor to extract the files. So you need to make sure it also extracts "install.dat". I use Sandboxie to "extract" so it wasn't much of an issue for me.

[smaragdus]

@Enternal
There is no install.dat file after the extraction of the installer (FreeFileSync_8.0_Windows_Setup.exe).

Anyways, if you look at the Archive page on the main website, you will notice that he stopped archiving Windows installer after version 5.0. I'm just guessing but he's primarily programming for Linux (and perhaps Mac) which may explain why he's not as interested in fixing some of these more odd Windows bugs.

Once all Windows installers were available at SourceForge. I suppose that the developer is more concerned about adding ad-ware to the installer than fixing bugs. Removing Windows installers from the archive is unacceptable for me. I doubt that the bug report at the official forum will ever be addressed by the developer. I consider dumping FreeFileSync for good.

Several previous versions of FreeFileSync (from 6.14 to 8.0) are available for download at FileHippo.

I have a collection of previous versions of FreeFileSync for Windows (installers from version 1.16 to version 8.0), I can upload any of these Windows installers on request.

[JohnTHaller]

Thanks for your reply. So the developer is unwilling to fix this issue?

I noticed the issue a while ago in conjunction with the issue with FFS being unable to be launched from another process and mistakenly thought the issues related. I realized it's a separate bug in testing again recently and reported it last month. So, the bug has been around for a while, but I only reported it recently. I couldn't find anyone else reporting it.

[Enternal]

@smaragdus
Basically for 8.0, the "install.dat" file can only be made through the installer (generated through programming on-the-fly) therefore you can't find it when you try to extract it through other methods since it's not pre-made and packaged.

Anyways it would be good if you can find a place to upload the installers for version 6.0-6.13 since those versions are the one that FileHippo does not have and also contains the version that last worked well without that launching bug (6.2).

Anyway I'm not dropping FFS since it's still working in my case. However my opinion about it has dropped significantly over the years so if this continues, I think I might as well just go back to SyncBack or get the pro version. At least there's no bullshit involved and SyncBack has always worked really well over the years that I had used it prior to FreeFileSync. The newer versions seems to be really good too during my testing.

[webfork]

So the FreeFileSync entry keeps breaking and I keep having to go back and fix the extract instructions, which is getting tedious. At the moment neither UniExtract nor 7zip are opening it. A disclaimer is up now but I'm going to make the hopefully rare suggestion that we switch the entry over to point to the PortableApps package.

Suggestions?

[Midas]

A disclaimer is up now but I'm going to make the hopefully rare suggestion that we switch the entry over to point to the PortableApps package.

• Considering what I know of that program history with TPFC, I for one totally support it...

[smaragdus]

Below I will paste the response of the developer of FreeFileSync (ZenJu):

This is related to the installation consistency checks that are now included. FreeFileSync will test during startup if any data corruption occured to the installed files.

Portable usage should still continue to work if you install on an USB stick directly and move it between different computers, or if you move it to the USB stick manually via Explorer. But it may not work if the copying is done via Dropbox, in which case it needs to be installed on the other PC, too (either locally or portably).

the forum thread

I do believe that this "consistency check" is malicious by intent- this check makes the extraction of the installer useless (I was able to extract FreeFileSync_8.0_Windows_Setup.exe using InnoExtractor) and forces the users to run the ads-ridden installer. My opinion- FreeFileSync is a robust program but its developer is a scoundrel.

@Enternal
I tested SyncBackFree for a short time and I remember that after uninstallation it left hundreds (if not thousands) of left-overs in the registry. Since you have used it I have a question- is the free version usable or it is severely limited? If I dump FreeFileSync for good I think I will have to switch to DirSync Pro or to FullSync (both require Java to run but this is not a problem for me).

[webfork]

I do believe that this "consistency check" is malicious by intent- this check makes the extraction of the installer useless (I was able to extract FreeFileSync_8.0_Windows_Setup.exe using InnoExtractor) and forces the users to run the ads-ridden installer.

That's entirely possible. Ultimately it's in his best interests that the portable version doesn't work as it's the installer version that provides him revenue.

My opinion- FreeFileSync is a robust program but its developer is a scoundrel.

I down-voted this program long ago as there are plenty of good alternatives with fewer annoyances.

[smaragdus]

@webfork
I have just down-voted FreeFileSync. For me it is also suspicious that the Windows installers have been swept off from FreeFileSync archive and from SourceForge download page- as far as know only the Windows version is bundled with ad-ware and I suppose the developer wants the users to be up-to-date with the latest ad-ware he provides. I won't post in the FreeFileSync forum any more because I don't have time to waste- the developer of FreeFileSync has shown clearly that he won't give up his malicious practices, on the contrary- he seems to be trying hard to harden them. If he cared for the users first of all he wouldn't bundle ad-ware, or at least he would offer a clean, non-installable portable version. In fact there is an ads-free donor edition but I will never donate to a developer who tries to swindle the users cashing on their misfortune.

@Enternal
I prepared a ZIP archive containing FreeFileSync versions from 6.0 to 6.13. Every single installer is in a separate archive inside the archive containing all the archives. The name of the archive is FreeFileSync-6.0-6.13.zip. I uploaded it to Zippyshare and you can get it from the link below:

http://www105.zippyshare.com/v/zNGrSUDM/file.html

I checked the download link and it worked fine it but if it happens that you have problems with Zippyshare I can upload it to another file locker.

Checksums for FreeFileSync-6.0-6.13.zip:

MD5: 3fc2771e131559429d89fd4fdc5c144e
SHA1: 2baf0da8cde1c72af5365f297f1098096d17860b
SHA256: c2f9b981253882f327986e588e6ef81a345e98017b3787201af965eef9951aef
CRC32: e7df8745