The Mac’s Best Ever File, Folder, Backup Sync.

We preach Mac backups, file copies, and folder synchronization at Mac360.

It’s a simple premise. You turn on your Mac and nothing happens. Your hard disk is dead. What do you do? How do you get your files back?

Preparation is the key word for disaster. If you’re not prepared, the disaster is that much worse.

So you turned on your Mac and the hard disk was dead. No smiley face. No Finder. Nothing. Wait. It gets worse.

How about your music in iTunes? How about thousands of digital photos in iPhoto? See the problem?

To prevent the disaster from becoming a heart attack or a leap from a tall building, simply get a backup plan in place.

Mac360 has listed a few over the years. There was Good, Bad, and Ugly.

There’s been backup plans from Martian Technology, but not from Mars.

There’s our absolute favorite for cloning your Mac to another hard drive. It’s soooo SuperDuper! Nothing works better.

Backup or Syncrhonize, we don’t care, so long as you have a plan in place, follow it diligently, and when that bad day of death to your drive comes—you’re ready.

File synchronization can be a lifesaver, especially for files you cherish, those that are so valuable it’s worth the effort. Think music. Think photos. Think documents.

That’s where Econ’s ChronoSync comes in. It’s a file backup and synchronization utility that’s simple, straightforward, elegant, but with plenty of power features.

At the basic level, ChronoSync simply synchronizes files and folders on your Mac, between Macs, across the network, to another hard drive.

You can sync files and folders both ways, or one way. Did I just mention across a network? Could that be important?

Syncrhonizing files and folders from your Mac’s hard drive to another hard drive is a breeze for ChronoSync. Just as easy as a second hard drive is the synchronization between two Macs across a network.

Connect your Mac to the server using Connect To... using the Go menu in the Finder. Use ChronoSync to find the folder on the other Mac that you need to synchronize.

Before doing anything, Chronosync’s nifty Trial Sync function lets you know what’s about to happen with the sync process.

Manual syncs are easy. Point and click. It’s not much less difficult than scheduled syncs, which ChronoSync performs flawlessly.

What happens if you have more than one folder on your Mac that you want to sync to another drive or another Mac?

ChronoSync lets you save each file or folder as a document so they can be instantly reused.

Wouldn’t it be cool to link a bunch of those documents together and synchronize a whole bunch of files and folders?

You asked for it. ChronoSync’s Container feature does just that. Add a few of your favorite sync documents in the Container, and ChronoSync runs each one, one after the other, then logs off if you’re on a network.

When I say “synchronize” that’s what I mean. It doesn’t just copy all files from one location to another. That could take forever if you have many files.

ChronoSync checks each file and only copies those that have changed. That bell (or whistle) speeds up the synchronization process.

Other whistles (or bells) include email notification messages when things go wrong. Or, when things go right.

ChronoSync can automatically log on to a Mac or Mac server to sync files according to your schedule. Got iPod? I know what you’re thinking.

Once your iPod is connected to your Mac, ChronoSync can synchronize certain files or folders to the iPod from your Mac. Or, in reverse.

You can even set it up so that it keeps copies of all the files that would be deleted in a synchronization. You know. Just in case of human error.

The list of features is lengthy, but ChronoSync constantly ranks at the top of Mac applications we love at Mac360, and, importantly, tops in trust.

Do you synchronize files to another Mac, another hard drive, or across a network? What’s your tool of choice and why? Share your experience with other readers in the Comments section below.