Folder compare-Copy only differences

[bcdewul]

When doing a folder compare and then Copy, will it copy only the differences?
I am not sure about it: when I tried I got an overwrite warning - however, the files were 100% identical, except for a tiny difference in timestamp.

Hash is the same though.

How to avoid this?

Thanks.

[Chris]

The Actions > Copy command will copy all selected files, even files that match.

If you only want to copy files that are orphans and that have newer modified timestamps, use the Actions > Synchronize > Update Right or Actions > Synchronize > Update Left commands.

[bcdewul]

Many thanks!
I'll give that a try.

[Yukusoona]

Sorry to ask but I have the same question and am not sure if I understand the answer correctly:

The Actions > Copy command will copy all selected files, even files with differences.

Did you mean: "even files without differences"?

What I would like to know (and I am not sure if your answer is one to my question): If I compare two folders and only one tiny subfolder is different between both sides, the main folder will get a pink colour indicating difference. Instead of searching the one different subfolder I used "copy to the other side" on the main folder, and so far I thought that using this command would only copy the differences and omit identical data instead. That is, it seemed quite logical to me so I never questioned this. But now for the first time I have got the impression that BC would copy all folders and all data even if most parts were identical. Is that true? And if yes: why? Where is the advantage in copying identical data? I use BC to make backup copies to other hard drives and in that case I would rather not have identical data touched for safety reasons.

Thank you very much in advance!

I use BC 4.2.8.

[Aaron]

Sorry to ask but I have the same question and am not sure if I understand the answer correctly:
Did you mean: "even files without differences"?

You are correct; the "Copy" commands will copy the selection, similar to selecting items in Windows Explorer and selecting Copy and Paste. The Sync Update commands will copy a subset of the selection, only the differences. The Sync Update dialog has a "Just Selection" checkbox, if this is enabled, it will look within the selected items for differences and copy them, leaving equal files alone. If unchecked, the Sync command will act on the entire loaded base folder pair.

Please note that Sync Update's logic will copy Newer and Orphan (does not exist in the destination) files. Sync Mirror will copy anything different (Newer, Older, Different size but equal timestamps, and Orphans) and will also delete Orphans in the Destination (files that exist only in the Destination but not the Source), so please carefully review before committing a Mirror. BC4 does not support an UNDO command, so always verify the preview before committing any action (Copy, Delete, Sync, etc).