Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

anomoly reviewed v5.62 on Jan 9, 2012

Actually in linux it is portable as a single executable is free and works beautifully. I'm still a linux noob so who knows. Fsarchiver is also recommended but that's linux only.

ghammer reviewed v5.57a on Oct 29, 2011

I myself have used this tool for literally years to backup to USB and to a NAS. I mirror what I backup and have vastly different schedules.
Never seen a failure.

CyberDoc999 reviewed v5.56a on Oct 16, 2011

I have seen it fail many times
I used to reccomend it ..... but no more

ghammer reviewed v5.56 on Oct 10, 2011

You give a fine tool a 1 because it is not portable and does not claim to be portable? It also does not whittle, knit, nor cook dinner. Nor does it claim to.

What it does claim to do, it does extremely well. In fact, I have found no other tool that does all that this one does.

HeilNizar reviewed v5.55 on Sep 24, 2011

This guy is writing everywhere, Program Files, Program Data, AppData..
Make it portable please, and I mean PORTABLE where it writes to no where but its dir.

svkowalski reviewed v5.30b on Jan 18, 2011

Can't say enough about this tool. I use it to synch my MP3s to my SSD in my car; it cleans out all the non-mp3 files so the player doesn't get stuck. I replaced my PC in 3 hours using this tool to reload all of my personal files. It keeps getting better with each release.

anomoly reviewed v5.19a on Nov 18, 2010

Has all the bells and whistles and a seemingly easily configured gui but it likes to popup questions during the sync which is annoying, especially for an ap that has built-in scheduling-that oughta work well. It is totally portable as long as the ini file which contains your key is left in your program data folder-you can even uninstall it. The main exe is compressible down to 4+mb's.

There are free ones such as Capivara (jar) which is completely network & cross-platform compatible though I have not used it other than to sync to a local flash drive. Also try Create Synchronicity (small fast and light) but I'm not sure if it's network capable at all and it does have some filter file-type limitations. My personal free favorite, FreeFileSync, is also cross platform and OS. I doubt it's network capable on it's own. Above are all portable btw. so there
The ssl binaries need updating in this ap.

Plumber reviewed v5.17 on Oct 15, 2010

Yet another bit of complete nonsense. BestSync comes in several versions, one of which is free. But the free version is seriously limited: No backup to USB, FTP, or network, no encryption or compression, and so on.

How ridiculous to rate SFFS down because of price. No one needs others to review based on price. You can see at a glance how much a thing costs. What you cannot see at a glance is how a thing performs. That's what reviews are for.

eviljolly reviewed v5.16a on Oct 13, 2010

Honestly the only thing wrong with this software is the price. It's a $25 program at most, and there's just no way I'd fork out the $59.90 they're asking for.

Bestsync is available for free, and works well too.

ghammer reviewed v5.16a on Oct 12, 2010

Still, the one, the only, the best. Name something you'd like to do regarding backups/syncing. It does it, and does it accurately and easily.

Portable? Um, wouldn't paths and devices be a problem? Oh, wait. Perhaps you do not look for specific media before backing up.

But really, you don't need to be portable to evaluate the app. If it works on the eval machine, why would it fail as portable? Gimme a break... Portable, sheesh!

heintro reviewed v5.15 on Oct 12, 2010

Seems to be very complete and pro but due to lack of a portable evaluation version cannot not risk it.

Plumber reviewed v5.12 on Sep 14, 2010

I am so sick of people whining about portability...

ballyhairs reviewed v5.07 on Aug 4, 2010

Its about time the author starts releasing it as portable.

Plumber reviewed v4.93a on May 10, 2010

Yes, it is the best of its kind, as a previous reviewer states. The speeds are excellent as well (something you may not think about when choosing a backup program, but I urge you to compare). The author is also very responsive.

And unlike SyncBackPro, I can have it embed file modification dates/times into destination file names on an FTP server, and it will put the added string AFTER the original file name, which makes it MUCH easier to find files visually when using an FTP client.

ghammer reviewed v4.83 on Dec 11, 2009

Best of its kind!
I haven't been able to find anything this won't do backup/sync related.
If only all software was this trouble free.

We all have files we don't want to lose. This app has saved me several times.

SilentStar reviewed v4.05 Build 49 on May 22, 2009

Extremely feature-rich and robust synchronizer.I can't recommend it enough. FYI: The current version is 4.57

somusque reviewed v4.05 Build 49 on Dec 3, 2008

The new version 4.49 should now fix the issue reported here.

Undesired Username reviewed v4.05 Build 49 on Nov 25, 2008

^ Indeed, problem fixed. My thanks to the author. I can now use SFFS in a way that SyncBackPro does not allow: To ZIP/encrypt files and store them directly on an FTP server. (The 2BrightSparks people seem baffled that such a thing is possible. I'm baffled that I seem to be the only one backing up that way.)

^ I did not miss the "Real Time Deletions" checkbox (and the delay was set to "0"). Also, please note that "somusque" is the author.

This was with version 4.47c (also duplicated with 4.48b and 4.48c):

I tried setting up a profile to establish an FTP server as a mirror. I enabled mirror mode (duh), configured the mirror mode settings, unattended settings, special settings, safety settings, and all the other settings... And I could not get the scheduler to delete files on the FTP server automatically, without stopping and restarting the scheduler.

If the scheduler was left running, it simply kept saying "Nothing to be done" when files were deleted from the source. All the settings seemed to be as they should be. When I ran the profile interactively, it flagged the deletions.

I very much think that this is a bug because if a file is deleted on the source, the scheduler won't do anything, but if that same files is then restored to the source, the scheduler copies it again to the destination (FTP server)--even though that exact file is already there. (I can tell the file is copied over due to the time/date change.)

zridling reviewed v4.00 RC1 on Feb 21, 2008

Love the new, simplified UI! Far less noisy than the old one.

chrisparker reviewed v3.72d Build 705 on Nov 29, 2007

Awesome tool. Fast, stable, reliable.

I've spent the last several years searching for a fast, reliable synchronization tool (w/ delta copy capability) for personal use. This search has led me to purchase, test, and uninstall a lot of tools (very frustrating!). Super Flexible File Synchronizer is the first sub-$100 tool I can rely on. It's been working flawlessly for almost six months (can't say that for any other sub-$100 tool with similar features). I'm running it on Vista Ultimate x64, Vista Ultimate 32-bit, and Windows XP Pro.

Delta copy functions are indispensable for multi-gigabyte encrypted disk files (True-crypt), irtual machine disk images (Vmware, Virtual PC, etc), and .PST files. What use to take hours to backup/sync now takes minutes (after the first run).

It has a number of useful features exposed in a fairly straitforward, easy-to use interface. Logging is good and the ability to run pre-/post-scripts is handy for more advanced operations.

If you don't need delta copy (binary difference copy) capabilities, SureSync is a fantastic alternative.

ghammer reviewed v3.70 Build 694 RC on Nov 12, 2007

If you evaluated this tool and found a feature missing in the past, you should take another look now.

I can't imagine what could be missing at this point. And, it all works well. I rarely even look at the results because I know my backup and sync have been performed exactly as I wanted.

hell0 reviewed v3.45 Build 604 on Jul 14, 2007

thehunger mentioned it doesn't do delta copies, it does now with the version 3.49 we are using.

We copy close to 2.5TB (not GB) of user files, department files and source code over our 100Mbps MAN link to our crisis center every day in about 5 hours thanks to delta copying. The NTFS permissions, time stamps, inheritance and file attributes are all copied properly.

The application is also able to compress using ZIP prior to transmission and will get decompressed on the fly on the destination. A feature I can't comment on since we don't use (CPU load gets high).

I tried DeltaCopy based on rsync and cygwin but it had problems with paths/filename of more than 255 characters which made our copies fail all the time. Also it wouldn't copy the permissions so I had to run a second pass with robocopy /ATSOU (no "D") to copy the permissions over. It made the whole process a lot slower. Haven't investigated if Unison suffers the same problem -- something to be careful about with cygwin based applications.

The only negative comment I would give is with the scheduler which is easy to mess up by accident and the shear amount of options available. Both are minor once you start using the application for a while.

There might be a memory leak issue with the v2.04 server end (responsible for the MD5 checksumming in delta copies). I noticed an increased memory usage slowly creeping up every day.

All in all we are very satisfied with the product and had no problems paying for the Pro version.

zridling reviewed v3.40 Build 581 RC6 on Apr 20, 2007

In the next major version, the name will evolve into the simpler ExtremeSync. And here is the author's personal home page.

akulich reviewed v3.40 Build 580 RC5 on Apr 19, 2007

I have used a variety of sync programs. Most of them work fine. But the feature list of SFFS is this programs strong point. There are options to do just about anything that you could need to do. Also, this is the only program that I have found to work reliably with the Amazon S3 storage system. This program will not disappoint.

ghammer reviewed v3.40 Build 580 RC5 on Apr 18, 2007

This is STILL the best sync/backup tool going.
I won't write pages about its capabilities and options, rather just say if it involves files and directories on Windows this tool will do what you want.

I see the periodic paste of a nonsense 'comparison' of Unison below.
First, Unison does NOT do deltas. Nope, not an option. Unison doesn't handle open files like Outlook pst well.
Unison is an arcane tool that requires a great deal of setup, config files, commandline switches.
Unison is no longer developed. Try it out on Vista...

SFFS is not a tool for simple backups though it will do them in an excellent fashion. It is a quite powerful, easy to use tool for ANY backup and sync need you have.

Again, try it, give it your most difficult job. In less than 30 minutes you'll have the result you are looking for.

zridling reviewed v3.40 Build 577 RC2 on Apr 18, 2007

Wow thehunger, where to start. First, the Unison Synchronizer is fine, except that it's no longer actively developed. So how does that help? Second, If you think SFFS is no different than a "zillion run-of-the-mill file sync products" then I doubt you've used the program enough to understand it. Third, SFFS can detect and merge changes in files — even in different locations using 'SmartTracking' — or it can copy the entire file if you choose to do so within your profile. SmartTracking does what you're talking about; that is, track changes that have been made between the various invocations of your files rather than creating duplicates by merely copying files between the left and right locations. But you decide what SFFS does by properly setting up your sync profile. In attended mode inside the Synchronization Preview dialog, you can even choose the action of any specific file, one-by-one. Therefore, I think you misunderstand the nature of delta synchronization, which is a process method, not an algorithm. You can create a variety of algorithms to run a delta synchronization of your files. Dozens of types of programs — archive tools, databases, file comparison programs, for instance — have had similar sequential execution functionality for almost 20 years. So your criticism is moot.

Fourth, SFFS has a Linux version. So that criticism is also moot.

Fifth, "An advanced algorithm for efficiently comparing source and target directories while sending only a little bit of data across the wire, and copying only changed parts of files... that's difficult." Not really. SFFS does it.

Finally, if SFFS is so bad, why are you calling for its code to be released under GPLv2? I don't get it. Super Flexible Software is a business that primarily caters to enterprise clients. Although it's pricey, we're lucky to have this software available to individual users.

thehunger reviewed v3.40 Build 577 RC2 on Apr 18, 2007

zriding and ghammer have given suspiciously unreserved, positive comments, so here's a different spin. This thing is pretty, it does have an ok feature list, but it comes short when you need to do truly efficient, high-volume file synchronization.

Why? It doesnt do delta synchronization, that is if a file differs between source and targets, it will copy the entire file. That's a bummer if you have many large files that change.

Contrast this with the free, open source Unison.
It is -very- fast, since it uses an rsync-like algorithm and only copies CHANGED parts of files.

So you have a 40mb presentation and changed only one slide? Unison will update the target with only the changed bits from the source, not copy the entire file.

When you have many and/or large files, that really matters.

Now admittedly, Unison does not have the slick gui of SFFS. It's GUI can seem a bit spartan compared to other file sync products. However, it has a few advantages up its sleeve:

- cross platform, so runs on Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac etc
- FREE
- secure: can use SSL-encryption
- ubiquitous: most Linux distros have it available
- keeps improving

So why do SFFS and other products not support delta synchronization? It beats me. It is a killer feature - and would improve SFFS.

My suspicion is that the stuff that SFFS programmers have written is relatively trivial to do. An advanced algorithm for efficiently comparing source and target directories while sending only a little bit of data across the wire, and copying only changed parts of files...
..thats difficult.

It's not that delta sync couldn't BE in SFFS. They could simply use some of the open source code that's available for rsync or unison.
It would only require a small admission from the SFFS creators: that they release the SFFS code as open source as well (at least for GPLv2 based open source). They could still charge money for SFFS, but the source should be made available..

In summary, my beef with SFFS is mainly about lacking a truly efficient synchronization algorithm and protocol, like rsync or unison.
SFFS can run as a service (daemon) on the target Windows. That means the SFFS authors could also write their own algorithm, but they dont and havent.

That means SFFS belongs with any of a zillion run-of-the-mill file sync products that dont cut the musterd when it comes to efficiency - all they do is copy files and present a nice gui with lots of options.

zridling reviewed v3.36 Build 561 RC6 on Mar 8, 2007

Yea, I think this is definitely a case for the saying: You get what you pay for. Good design makes a difference and given how complex some synching apps have become, SFFS lets you keep as simple as possible, or lets you go as deep as you want to go.

ghammer reviewed v3.36 Build 561 RC6 on Mar 8, 2007

This is one of the best tools for file sync or duplication to local, LAN, or FTP.

I have licenses to a few other backup/sync apps that were bought before installing this. None do everything as well and effortlessly as this tool.

I'm puzzled as how this has the overall rating it does. Must have been the 'free' is better crowd.

The trial is completely functional. Throw your toughest job at it and see for yourself. You won't be disappointed!

zridling reviewed v3.35a Build 555 on Feb 26, 2007

What ghammer said. The two words I'd use to describe Super Flexible File Synchronizer (SFFS) are fast and accurate. The UI is also well thought out. Best of all, it gives you control over exactly what goes where and how it syncs — at the point of synching. It's also great for exact mirroring, and while SFFS should really be considered a commercial app; that is, an enterprise one, given its deep feature set. Its trial version is fully functional, letting you thoroughly test and compare it to other synching apps.

The only sync app I've found to be as accurate is DirSync, but not nearly as fast as SFFS. It has both a wizard step-by-step mode or an advanced mode. Profiles are simple to setup, easy to alter, and can be scheduled remotely. Worth every penny to protect your files.

ghammer reviewed v3.30 Build 520 Beta 1 on Jan 12, 2007

This tool is excellent. Accurate, low impact on your system, highly configurable.

I especially like the ability to reverse the paths when I need to restore.

Try it, you'll be pleased.

zridling reviewed v3.00 Build 466 Beta 4 on Jul 26, 2006

A highly accurate synchronizer, too. Much better than relying on ZIP to archive files onto DVD if you ask me.

smfranzen reviewed v2.80 Build 454 on Jul 5, 2006

I've tried a lot of file synchronization programs and this one is at the top of the list in functionality. One of the very few that supports partial file synchronization instead of a full copy. Active development and author is very responsive to feedback.

svkowalski reviewed v2.62 Build 445 Beta 10 on May 16, 2006

My favorite feature is how SFFS figures out when I've moved files or renamed directories, and avoids copying those files unnecessarily.

I tried MS SyncToy, which also does this, but SyncToy doesn't give me the range of options SFFS has.

SFFS is fast & efficient & works the way I want.

zridling reviewed v2.60b Build 425 on Oct 14, 2005

Excellent synching tool, but the name should be Super Advanced File Synchronizer!

harmlessdrudge reviewed v2.60 Beta 1 on Sep 4, 2005

This is an outstanding program. I've been using Beyond Compare and SyncBack SE up to now and this belongs in the same league and in some ways is better. It's incredibly flexible. I would like some kind of utility to enable me to synchronize with an Internet connected drive. Neither Netdrive nor Webdrive work for me as uploaded directories are stamped with the current date and time when they are created. If anyone has a solution for that problem I'd like to know.

zridling reviewed v2.60 Beta 1 on Sep 3, 2005

While Super Flexible File Synchronizer is quite good, I did not find it as accurate as DirSync, which also includes a Lifetime license.

thehunger reviewed v2.51 Build 401 Beta 6 on Jul 25, 2005

vsgotto - check out Novell's iFolder. It's a commercial product that does multiple master delta sync, automatically, in the background.

With the latest version - v3 - the client has been made open source. iFolder v3 client can do peer to peer sync, while you need the commercial server to do more.

ghammer reviewed v2.51 Build 401 Beta 6 on Jul 25, 2005

Nice tool for what it is intended.

vsgotto- Take a look at SureSync. It will do what you ask. Best backup tool going in my opinion.

http://www.softwarepursu...m/suresync/features.htm

vsgotto reviewed v2.51 Build 400 Beta 5 on Jul 21, 2005

This is all great, but I have yet to see anything that performs true automatic syncs. By that, I mean, if I update a file in one location, copy it somewhere else without having me to tell you or without having me wait until my scheduled sync to kick off.

Anyone know of anything that does that?

Inray reviewed v2.51 Build 400 Beta 5 on Jul 21, 2005

I always used file/folder synchronizers for my daily backup jobs thus I had to try many of them, if not all available.
The truth is that most of them are unreliable, slow and almost useless. That's weird because these programs supposed they protect user's data.

Super Flexible File Syncronizer is one of the very few exceptions, a really great and trusty application.
Not only it does the job, but is also the fastest one ever tried before, much faster than even the excellent SyncBack.

For example, I compared (not sync) two lan shared folders I use as my remote data backup holder. My favorite sync tool BeyondCompare, finished in 30 sec and SuperFlexible... in less than 11 sec! File sync was also very fast, much faster than using Windows Explorer or command prompt. In fact it is slightly slower than the fastest sync gun, the command line utility Microsoft RoboCopy from Win2003 SDK.

Of course there are still things I didn't like...
First is the ...name. I'm sure author could use something shorter than "Super Flexible File Synchronizer". Not big deal though...
Second is the user interface. Huge buttons (in Wizard), and non-standard menu and dialog layout just make programs look cheap and amateurish.

I rate this "Super Flexible" thing with 5, because it really works fast and reliable.

Highly Recommended

ssb reviewed v2.51 Build 400 Beta 5 on Jul 21, 2005

Great sync tool!!!

uberfly reviewed v2.51 Build 400 Beta 5 on Jul 21, 2005

thehunger ?? All that just because you love Unison so much? There are TONS of scenarios where someone might want classic right/left synchronization and the convenience of all those 'crazy checkboxes' to configure what they wish to do. Unisom's GTK gui is garbage in comparison and many people don't want to get strung out writing a long sync/scheduling/logging script when they can use a nice tool like this to do it quickly and easily. It really is well written. Efficiency is nice but not always everything to everyone.

thehunger reviewed v2.51 Build 399 Beta 4 on Jul 14, 2005

Sure it is flexible, but is it efficient?
If I change -one- slide in a 50 slide, 8mb PowerPoint presentation, will it copy the entire file or just the changed parts?

Super-efficient delta synchronization has been available for years in free, open source software such as Rsync and Unison. This is the umpteenth file sync product I've seen this year and all they do is basic stuff, like options, ftping, maybe a little scheduling.

Why do these file sync wannabe authors keep churning out new file sync products that dont do delta sync?

I'll tell you why? Because it is a lot more difficult to implement an efficient file synchronization protocol than designing a few dialog boxes with lots of options, and calling a few ftp libraries.

However, there is a solution: implement the free, open source protocol of Unison, but combine it with a modern GUI -and- the flexible options. Of course, it would mean they'd have to release the product as open source as well. But that at least has the potential to improve the world a little by providing great software for free.

Or they could simply release their collection of dialog boxes with options and calls to ftp libraries as a shareware product.

Sorry for the rant, but I really wish someone would improve on Unison's capabilities and not just create inferior products.

BTW, Unison is at
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
it's GUI is bad, there are not that many options, but is cross platform, and super fast and efficient. Try syncing 40gb of data a couple of times and compare the speed to any of the non-free alternatives here.

aladdin reviewed v2.50 Build 386 Beta 1 on May 30, 2005

Simply the best! No buts, ifs or ands.

ghammer reviewed v2.43a Build 385 on May 25, 2005

The ability to run as a service is a big plus for me. No need to be logged in, doesn't need the Windows Task Scheduler. A bit of a reach to setup at first, but soon the directory selection and options become more clear.
Could use a major facelift though. Simply have to click too many tabs and boxes to get a backup set and scheduled.