
Do you have educational or volume pricing?
We do not offer educational pricing, but do offer volume discounts to everyone. Discounts on 5, 10 & 25 packs are available online. For information on larger quantity discounts, email our sales department with your inquiry.
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How do I upgrade from ChronoSync version 3 to version 4?
ChronoSync 4 is a free upgrade, however you do need a new license key to activate it.
1. Click here to get your new license key.
2. After you receive your new license key, download and install ChronoSync 4.
3. When you run any existing Synchronizer documents you will be prompted to convert them.
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How do I upgrade from ChronoSync version 3 to version 4 if I ran ChronoSync 3 at root level?
Follow the steps in the previous question to install ChronoSync 4.
1. In the Get Info panel, change the user/group privileges for any existing Sync document from "system" to your user, making sure your user's privilege is "Read & Write".
2. Manually open any Sync document and, for any targets that you have root access on, change the "Connect to" setting from "Local Volumes" to "Local Volumes (Admin access)".
Now you have control over the Sync document and root access to the target just like you previously did. Any new Sync documents you create will have the correct user/group privileges. If you want to have root access to any mounted Mac volumes, check out the new ChronoAgent.
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How do I install ChronoSync?
Click here for complete installation instructions.
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What are the system requirements?
Requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later. 50 MB of free disk space is also needed. ChronoSync runs on Panther, Tiger and Leopard. You might say it's cross-catform!
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How do I remove ChronoSync from my system?
To remove ChronoSync from your system, download the Application and run the uninstaller located on the dmg. That's it!
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What can I backup and synchronize?
Backup is when you copy files to a destination so that you have a redundant copy, in case something goes wrong with the original. You can backup anything or everything with ChronoSync.
Synchronization is when you copy and work on files within both targets, like a desktop and a laptop. You can only synchronize data files between two Macs - which is everything inside your Home folder. You cannot synchronize System files and Applications which are outside of your Home folder. In fact, those files should never be synchronized in any circumstance. Learn more...
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Can I do a bi-directional synchronization between two different operating systems?
Yes. You can synchronize certain files, like document files, between any OS that your Mac can copy to. For instance, you can synchronize your Documents between Tiger and Leopard or even Tiger and Windows XP. However, you can only perform a Home-to-Home sync between the same version of Mac OS X, meaning you must sync Tiger to Tiger but not Tiger to Leopard. Furthermore, you need to make sure that your iApps like iPhoto, iTunes and iCal are the same version. If you are unsure if you can synchronize a particular scenario, ask us by filling out our support form describing your situation.
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Can I synchronize a Power PC (G3,G4,G5) Mac with an Intel (Solo, Duo) Mac?
Yes, but only files and folders under the User and/or Home folders. Fill out our support form if you have any specific concerns.
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I want to synchronize the files between two Macs. Do I need to install ChronoSync on each computer to do this?
No. If you are synchronizing between two computers, you only need to install ChronoSync on one of them. You simply need to mount the other computer from the Mac that you'll be running ChronoSync on. If you are connecting via file sharing, ChronoSync can automatically mount the remote computer for you.
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I want to install ChronoSync on two Macs. Do I need to buy two License Keys to do this?
Yes. You need to buy a License Key for each Mac you install ChronoSync on. There are discounts available for purchasing 5 or more copies of ChronoSync.
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After I run a synchronization I end up with a duplicate file containing a "~" in the filename?
ChronoSync creates a duplicate of your Synchronizer document in case the original becomes corrupt. To turn this feature off, go to Preferences and uncheck "Keep backup copy of my documents".
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I've renamed some files and moved some others to different folders. Why are my old files still in my backup target?
You must have "Sync. Deletions" turned on in the Setup panel in order for renamed or moved files to synchronize properly. This instructs ChronoSync to delete the file from the old location and synchronize it to the new location.
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I've setup a synchronizer document and have been using it to sync my files. Is it safe to change one of my targets to another hard disk?
Generally, no. Once you set up a ChronoSync document it is important to always run your synchronizations from the same document and not switch targets. This is because ChronoSync takes a "snapshot" of all your files and their various properties. If you switch targets, ChronoSync may behave in an unexpected way. For instance, if synchronize deletions was enabled, and you switched targets, ChronoSync may think you deleted all the files in one target and proceed to delete all the files in the other target!
In some cases, it IS safe to change targets - such as when doing a unidirectional synchronization. However, if you need to start synchronizing files to another location, we strongly suggest creating another synchronizer document from scratch.
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I've just configured a synchronization and want to schedule it, but the "Schedule..." button is dimmed and won't work.
You must first save your ChronoSync document before you can schedule it. Be sure to choose a meaningful file name!
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I followed the instructions for scheduling a daily backup but whenever I click on the "Schedule..." button, the schedule dialogue box indicates that I am scheduled for a weekly backup. What gives?
The Scheduled Documents Manager window is a list of all your scheduled Synchronization Documents. Double click any scheduled entry to edit it. Clicking the "Schedule..." button on the toolbar simply adds a NEW schedule time to the Synchronization Document. It does not change existing scheduled times.
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I want to keep the data files on my work computer synchronized with my home computer. How can I do this?
Connecting and synchronizing two Macs is easy if they are both on the same network. However, if the two Macs can not be connected, you can still keep them synchronized. How? Use an external hard drive and follow these steps:
1. Setup a bidirectional sync between your work Mac with the (empty) external hard drive. Save the synchronizer document locally on your work computer.
2. Perform the synchronization using the document you just created.
3. Take the hard drive home and set up a bidirectional sync between your home Mac and the external hard drive. Save the synchronizer document locally on your home computer.
4. Perform the synchronization using the document you just created.
5. When you are finished working at home, run the synchronizer document again to synchronize your changes back to the hard drive.
6. When you return to work, connect the hard drive to your computer and run the synchronizer document you created in step 1.
Repeat the steps 2, 4, 5 & 6 on a daily basis to keep your two computers synchronized. When you get real comfortable with the process, you may even want to set up a scheduled synchronization that will sync your computer and hard drive automatically whenever you plug the hard drive in.
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How can I connect my laptop to my desktop so I can synchronize files?
If you have a network (either wired or wireless) you can connect to another Mac using built-in file sharing. To do this, open the "System Preferences" on the computer you want to share files with and enable "File Sharing" in the "Sharing" preference pane (you only need to do this on ONE of your computers). Then, on the other computer, you can use Finder's "Network" browser to locate the shared computer. Double click it to login. Once connected, the shared computer appears as just another hard drive on your desktop and it can be specified as a target in ChronoSync.
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I don't want some of the files and folders in my targets to synchronize. How can I get ChronoSync to skip them?
From the Analyze panel, select the file or folder pair you wish to skip and then invoke the "Exclude" command from the "Actions" menu. If you exclude a folder, all the files and folders contained within it are likewise excluded.
To undo an exclusion, select an excluded file/folder pair and choose "Include" from the actions menu.
Note: A contextual menu will appear if you hold the CONTROL key down while selecting a file/folder pair (or right-click if you have a two button mouse). This menu contains all the actions available to you. Also, shortcuts to the "Exclude" and "Include" actions can be placed on your toolbar. Customizing the toolbar is discussed elsewhere in the online help as well as in the ChronoSync manual.
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I want to synchronize multiple folders but I can only select one folder as my target. How can I do this?
ChronoSync is a very flexible application so there are lots of ways to handle multiple folders.
Option 1: Select a root folder above all of the folders you want to sync and then use the "Exclude" action to skip the folders you do not want to sync.
Option 2: Create multiple ChronoSync documents for each folder you want to synchronize and combine them as one in a container document.
Option 3: Create rules to exclude folders you don't want to sync or rules to include only the folders you do want to sync. The Finder Labels rule is very useful for this because you can control what gets synchronized by changing its color label in the Finder.
Option 4: Use a combination of the above concepts. For instance, suppose you want to synchronize your entire Home folder but want to skip everything inside your Library folder with the exception of Mail (located inside Library). You could create a synchronizer document to sync your entire Home folder but exclude your entire Library folder. Then you would create a second synchronizer document to sync just your Mail folder. Finally you would combine both synchronizer documents into a single container document.
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What is the Archive panel and how do I activate this feature?
Archiving is when ChronoSync retains old versions of files instead of trashing them. You can turn this feature on by clicking on the Options panel, displaying the "Archive Handling" options and enabling the "Archive when replacing existing files" option. The other two options in the group limit the number of old files you retain. Remember keeping older files requires extra disk space.
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How can I get a copy of an archived file without restoring it and copying over the existing file?
Select the file you want from the Archive panel list. Control-click and choose "Restore...". Once the Single Item Restore sheet appears, choose "Specific Folder" and then browse to find the folder you would like to use. Doing this retains the original file name.
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Every time I launch ChronoSync, I get the following error. How do I stop it?

ChronoSync needs to be stored at the root level of the Applications folder or the Utilities folder. If it's not, moving it back should fix the problem.
If it already is located in one of those folders or if you move it and you still get this error then do the following: