I regularly switch between working on my desktop and my laptop. I also have an iPod. Because I’m most often with my laptop, I prefer to manage the iPod from there (Apple only lets you manage your iPod from a single computer). Music gets added to my library in an odd fashion—most often, I rip CDs on the desktop or buy from the Amazon MP3 store. Sometimes I do these things from my laptop. Often, this means that my libraries are disjointed. Tracks exist on the desktop but not on the laptop and vice versa. All of this has to get to the iPod somehow.

Enter SyncToy 2.0 from Microsoft.

SyncToy allows you to keep two directories in sync. It’s a simple, unitasking tool that does its job extremely well. Here’s how I use it:

1. I sync my Music folder from my desktop to my NAS box
2. I sync the Music folder from the NAS box to my laptop

SyncToy allows you to do a full sync where source and target are made the same. Files deleted from the source are removed from the target. Files added to the source are added to the target. Files changed on the target are also changed on the source. This means that the NAS music folder is changing based on additions made from either the desktop or the laptop. Those changes are reflected to both devices.

SyncToy has three operational modes:

• Synchronize: New and updated files are copied both ways. Renames and deletes on either side are repeated on the other.
• Echo: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames and deletes on the left are repeated on the right.
• Contribute: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames on the left are repeated on the right. No deletions are performed.

You may wonder why I bother with the NAS device. It’s possible to have SyncToy just keep the folders on the desktop and laptop in sync, but including the NAS box also gives me a full backup of my music library and makes it available (read only) to other devices in the house. I can stream music to my XBOX without having to have either the desktop or the laptop up and running.

Sometimes, simple tools are the best. SyncToy does one thing and does it very well.