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CopyMastro (copy and backup utility)

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How to install and start

Windows (portable 32 - 64 bit): unzip the downloaded file (right click on the file and then click on "extract all" menu option). Put the generated copymastro-x.y.z-portable folder in your preferred place: maybe in Programs (x86) folder. Double click on copymastro.exe.
Windows (installer 64 bit): double click on copymastro-x.y.z.exe file.
MacOSX : open the downloaded file. Drag and drop CopyMastro.app in Application folder. CMD+Click on the app to start it (you have to use CMD+Click to avoid security block by Apple: the app is not in the Store and it is blocked by default).

Feature request or bug reports

Send an e-mail to Marco Mastroddi on GMail.

Updating to a new version

CopyMastro by default is portable. The compressed file of every new version contains only the application files. When updating just extract the files into the CopyMastro folder and overwrite the old ones. Settings are not lost when updating as they saved in a separate folder called copymastro.ini.

Copy Functions

Copymastro has several functions you can use to back-up your files:

Copy: as it says, this will copy your folders (including subfolders) and files from source to destination. Note: if you remove or delete a file or a folder in the source it will not be removed on next time you “Copy” in the destination. If you which to have exact replication of your source then please use the SYNC function below.
Move: this is the same as Copy except that folders and files are moved to the destination.
Clone: this is the same as copy except that all changes in the source will be replicated in the destination. i.e. any folders (subfolders) or files that are deleted or removed in the source will also be deleted in the destination. Sync will create an exact replica of your source.
Check files: this does not copy or move files. It only checks to verify that all folders and files in the source are matching exactly in the destination. This function is useful to check the integrity of copied files to ensure none are missed or corrupted.
Fix Errors: this function attempts to fix any files or folders that resulted in an error (i.e. could not be copied or moved in the first instance).

Destination mode options

Folder: copy the source folder and files to destination preserving folder and subfolder tree structure. E.g. Source folder will be copied to the destination folder example: C:\test1\ will create a folder in the destination with the same name; example: F:\backup\test1\
Content: copy the files contained in the source folder to destination preserving subfolder tree structure (default). This is the same as above except that the source folder name will not be created in the destination.
Collate: copy files to destination folder ignoring subfolder tree creation. What this feature does is copies (or moves) all files to a single destination folder without replicating the folder/subfolder tree structure. You may have MP3 files scattered all over your hard disk and want to COPY or MOVE them all to one single destination folder. Note: It is important when you use this powerful feature that you select the appropriate option for "if destination file exists". It is highly recommended that you use the "Autorename" option. e.g. you may have jpg files with the same filename scattered all over your disk like "car.jpg". Although they have the same filename "car.jpg" they actually are different pictures of different cars having different file size and/or date-time stamps. You may not want to overwrite them but keep them all. Using autorename option will allow this by autonumbering each copy of car.jpg. i.e. car(1).jpg, car(2).jpg, car(3).jpg etc.

Copy Options

Please note: recently the "MOVE" function was added to CopyMastro. For all purposes the "MOVE" function behaves exactly as the "COPY" function except that it moves folders/files to the destination source.

Recursive: selecting this will copy files in the parent as well as all subfolders under the parent. Enabled by default. If disabled only files on the parent folder will be copied
Hidden files: copies also hidden files. Enabled by default.
Links: copies links. Please note that links are copied and the target is updated with the new path. Disabled by default.
Empty folders: when checked it copies folder or subfolder to destination even if the folder is empty. This can result in many empty folders which may be undesirable. It is best to deselect this unless you want to replicate the folder tree structure even if no files are copied. E.g. you may choose to copy only jpg files from your hard disk by using the copy filter *.jpg. However if "empty folders" is checked then CopyMastro will copy all folders/subfolders even if they do not contain jpg files.

Destination File Exist Options

You can choose what to do if the file already exists in the destination folder:

No overwrite: it does not copy source file if destination file exists.
Overwrite always: it always deletes existing destination file before copy.
Overwrite older: it copies the file only if destination file is older than the source.
Overwrite different: it copies the file only if destination file has diffrent size or dates (creation or modification).
Autorename: it copies the source file even if the same file exists in the destination however it renames it by autonumbering the file. E.g. mypicture.jpg will have multiples of the same file mypicture(1).jpg, mypicture(2).jpg, mypicture(3).jpg etc. This is ideal for keeping archives or versions of the same file. This is especially powerful when using the feature "copy files to destination folder ignoring subfolder tree creation" (see below for further details).

Preferences

You can find the preferences in File/Preferences. Here you will find three tabs:
System - External copy program - Misc

System

Threads/Simultaneous copies: you can select the number of simultaneous threads to use when copying and checking files. The default number is 1 but can be set higher ideally 3-5. Keep in mind that too many threads can use up CPU system resources and slow your computer down. You will need to fine tune this based on your systems capability. A rule of thumb is your CPU. e.g. Intel i5 has 4 cores and 4 threads. An Intel i7 has 4 cores and 8 threads. Also consider many concurrent threads accessing you hard disk can slow your system.
Method to use for file copy: there are 4 methods for file copy.
1. "Smart" is the default one, CopyMastro selects the best method for your system.
2. "Simple" is very simple method, a bit slower than other two but it has more reports.
3. "Native" uses your operating system function. *
4. "Qt" uses the QFile::copy(...) function shipped with Qt Library. *
Skip integrity check: this setting is for when you choose to use the "Verify" function to check files have been 100% successfully copied from source to destination. Default is 0 Mb meaning no files will be skipped and all files will be verified. You can set this higher e.g. 10 Mb meaning that files 10 Mb or greater will be skipped (not verified).
Report progress interval: default is 100ms. This is the interval rate for updating the GUI of the copy progress. Increasing the interval value can make the copy faster.
Add to report skipped files from filter: enable this feature if you want to see a report of the files that were skipped due to your filter settings.
Skip errors in creation and modification dates: enabled CopyMastro ignores errors encountered creation and modification date during rhe file copy process.
Always save copy error on a file: when CopyMastro encounters errors when copying files it saves a script for later use to copy those files that had errors.
Fix creation date in previous copied files: enable this feature if you want to keep the same creation date of the source files you are copying.
Update symbolic link target with the new path copied: when copying symbolic links to a new destination CopyMastro update the link to reflect the new path.
Remove "read only" attribute: after copy it removes the "read only" attribute to destination file.

External copy program

When the option box is checked this allows you to set an external copy program of your choice to perform the copy instead of CopyMastro. This feature is for advanced users.

Misc

Language: select the language file. For more information visit the Language section on the website.
Log: the log file is an audit trail of all copy activities performed by CopyMastro. You enable or disable these logs by checking/unchecking the box. Additionally you can restrict the size of the log file by setting the minimum and maximum file size. This helps ensure that the log file does not grow too large.
Allow multiple instances of CopyMastro: start many instances of CopyMastro and have them run in parallel. Please note that in MacOSX you have to create a shell script with the command "open -n CopyMastro.app".
Check for new version on startup: when CopyMastro is started it will check online for a new version.

Copy/Supporter ID and CopyMastro supporters

Software is not written by itself and it takes a lot of time, tests and hours passed to think how to make things better. Donating a few dollars can help me to add new features. A way I have to be grateful to supporters is giving them more option flexibility. When a supporter makes a donation, he/she will receive a Copy/Supporter ID to change these (default) features:

Multi-thread/Simultaneous copies
External copy program

Thank you Tony for updating this help!