As agents become more technologically adept, unique challenges often follow. One issue that can be a real problem for the more aggressive technology user is that of keeping files up to date on more than one computer. Managing files on multiple systems can be a very time consuming task for those who own and use two computers - typically a desktop and a notebook.

While most contact managers include built-in schemes for synchronizing databases between systems, users are typically on their own when it comes to managing email, spreadsheets, presentations, word processing documents, scanned contracts, marketing materials, photographs and numerous other types of computerized files.

While files can always be manually copied from system to system through a variety of mechanisms (floppy, CD, network cable, etc) keeping track of which files have been most recently modified, and on which machine, tends to be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process.

A Software Solution

Fortunately, there are a number of software programs that can greatly aid the user who needs to maintain identical files on multiple computers.

One of the most affordable and efficient applications is PCSync from LapLink.

While this software has several distinct functions, (remote access, system migration, etc), as it applies to keeping your computers synchronized, it is their "SmartXchange" routine that's such an incredible time-saver for the professional computer user.

A SmartXchange is simply an instruction to keep track of identical files on different computers. For instance, if you keep your business related files in the "My Documents" directory on both your computers, then you could create a single SmartXchange to monitor and compare this directory on both systems.

Whenever you launch the SmartXchange, PCSync will then compare all of the files in these folders (which can include sub-directories) and will allow you to synchronize them (copying the most recent versions from system to system) with the press of just one button.

If the files you use are not all located in one directory, then you may need to create several SmartXchanges in order to keep your systems coordinated with one another; but this is still a very time efficient process.

A Faster Fix

In addition to the obvious benefits that come from having PCSync keep track of the files that have been modified on your systems, the software also substantially speeds up the actual synchronization process, though what they call their "SpeedSync" technology.

Ordinarily, copying a file from one computer to another would require that the entire file be replicated on the second system. This is not necessarily the case with PCSync because the program can identify exactly which parts of a file have changed. Knowing this, PCSync will only copy the modified portions of a file from one system to the other.

For example, perhaps you've modified a marketing piece on one of your computers, where the entire file occupies 1-megabyte on your hard drive. Without using PCSync, you would have to copy the entire 1-megabyte file to your second system, even if you had only made a minor editing change, a price reduction, for instance.

However, because the "SpeedSync" process can identify the specific portions of the file that were affected by your editing, it will copy only those modified portions of the file to the second system. This process is obviously much faster than copying the entire 1-megabyte file. As a result, this gives you the ability to synchronize a great number of files between computers in literally a fraction of the time that it would take to do so manually.

Human Intervention Required

While programs such as PCSync can help you keep multiple systems up to date, human involvement is still required, and minor inconveniences do exist.

When you understand just how the software works, you realize that basic activities such as renaming or deleting a file on one computer will require that you manually do the same on your other system as well. Otherwise, PCSync will simply restore any files that you've deleted from one computer, using the copies that are located on the other.

While this is a wonderful mechanism for restoring files you've accidentally deleted, it can be an irritant when you really did want to get rid of such files in the first place.

Additionally, when you've made changes to the same file on both of your computers, PCSync will not know how to proceed. Instead of running automatically, it will notify you that a conflict exists and you must then identify which of the modified files you wish to keep. Alternatively, you may choose to skip the synchronization of these specific files entirely.

While the program is not likely appropriate for the neophyte, for power users of multiple systems the potential timesavings are immense. Perhaps even more valuable is the piece of mind that comes from knowing that your computers are perfectly "in sync" at all times.

Available for under $60 on the Web, PCSync offers a great deal of value in boosting your file management productivity.