Newbie - question about synchronization

Hi All,

Just got My Cloud and I think I don’t quite get the sync part.
I have the 2TB My Cloud working and linked with my laptop and mobile.

  1. What will happen if I delete files from my laptop once they’ve been synced with the cloud? Will I loose them on the cloud?

  2. Same as above but with my mobile.

My ultimate goal is to use My Cloud as external easy-to-access storage. How to set it up working like that?

Thank you in advance!

If you are using WD Sync the answer is yes. You need to read the User Manual.

Copying Into the My Cloud Folder When you copy a file or folder into the My Cloud folder on your computer, the WD Sync software automatically copies it to the WD Sync folder on:  Your My Cloud device  Any other computer in your network with the WD Sync software installed. Then, whenever you change or delete a file in the WD Sync folder on any device, the WD Sync software replicates the change on all of the other devices.

WARNING! The WD Sync software is designed for data files. It is neither intended nor suitable for syncing your applications or executable program files.

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Hi cat0w,

Thank you very much for your reply!

I’ve read the manual twice and the same passage you pasted. Problem is that I quite don’t get how to solve my problem.

Let’s say I have 500 GB of pictures on my laptop. I want to transfer them to the cloud and access from any point. I don’t want to have them on my laptop anymore, just on the cloud.

How to achieve that? Should I sync files with the WD Sync folder and move them to another folder. Will that preserve the files once I remove them from the laptop?

Thanks in advance!

You dont want to use Sync, then, since that’s for synchronising. You need to simply use your file manager and drag and drop files. Read the chapter ‘Managing shares’, in particular ‘Accessing the Contents of a Share Locally’.

Or use the ‘Getting Started’ chapter, and read about mapping the drive into your file system. For Windows, map to the drive using your mycloud account details (‘connect as different user’).

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Hi cpt_paranoia,

Thank you very much! I was baffling around it. Why don’t they simply call it “syncing” and “file transfer” options… I probably needed someone like you to reiterate with different words. I will try it later!

I’m new to cloud and NAS. Probably if there was a simple video to explain it would have been better.

Thanks again!

I do not use the WD Sync. I have my Desk Top computer with 2TB hard drive and my Laptop has only 1TB so I just have them back up to my WD My Cloud… I use the SmartWare to back them up. Everything is on My Cloud and available when I need it.

By doing it that way I can delete whatever I want on my computers but still have it on My Cloud should I ever need it. Everything that is really important is on all three devices plus other storage devices kept in a safe place.

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You could try these:

Or read some of the FAQs. They used to be pinned on the forum, but someone at WD must have decided they were no longer needed…

A NAS is simply a network-connected disk (well, it’s not quite that simple…). But, if you map it into your computer’s file system, it can be accessed by any program running on your computer, just as if it was an internal or USB HDD. Then you can use your familiar file manager to move files about, or use a backup tool. You do not have to use WD tools to access it; pick a backup tool you like.

As for syncing. mirroring, backup and file transfer, a little googling will find good tutorials on the subject. It’s worth understanding the different options. It doesn’t help that WD picked their own terminology, rather than using standard computer jargon (e.g. ‘Share’ for folder, or directory).

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