Insync Might Nuke My Outlook File: One PC Desktop, One PC Laptop

#1

Insync installed on both my PC laptop and PC desktop, both running Windows. The desktop is used every day, and is the Mothership. After two weeks of being shut down I started the laptop and synced everything via Insync. Left if unattended and uninterrupted overnight. It looks to me like Insync on the laptop nuked my most recent Outlook file. I had a hunch this might be an issue so I had first backed-up the desktop’s Outlook file, and then simply restored it. Can I send you a log file and have look at what’s up? Thanks.

#2

Hi @MichaelDAustin yes please, kindly send the link to this post along with your logs (How to find the log files) to support@insynchq.com

thanks!

#3

Thank you. I e-mailed the logs.

1 Like
#4

Hello, Insync support,

This issue still isn’t solved. After over two month’s time sitting fallow, with daily changes to my desktop PC’s Outlook files carried in its Insync folder, I today started the laptop. After first backing up the PC’s Outlook files, when I resumed Insync on the laptop, it yet again and erroneously uploaded its own files which are over two months old. Please advise, or I’ll just have to never try and sync Outlook files via Insync.

Thanks,
Mike

#5

Hi there, let me follow this up with our engineer @dipesh

Thank you.

#6

Hello Mike,

I checked the previous conversation between us over email. Previously, the issue was that since the file was opened exclusively by another program (Outlook), Insync would not be able to read it. So, I suggested that you close Outlook and wait for the file to get uploaded and then start outlook again.

Is the recent issue different? Could you elaborate the “erroneously uploaded its own files which are over two months old part”? Also, please send in the compressed copy of the dbs folder from your machine (present next to the Insync logs.db file) so that we could analyze why and what all files have been added/modified of late.

Thanks!

#7

Hi, Insync,

It has become a problem that I haven’t heard from you. I need Insync to show me the way to make sure my laptop won’t destroy my Google Drive files when Insync is running on it. Otherwise I must abandon Insync and look for an alternative method. With that would go at least 10 other customers of Insync’s, as I’m a recommender to them.

My recent e-mail to Insync:

"Thanks, Dipesh,

  1. This issue as different. My apology if something I wrote was somehow unclear. The problem is - after two months’ disuse of the laptop, while having two month’s use of the desktop, the laptop uploaded its own, OLD file over the top of the correct, newer Google Drive file. The newer (desktop) file was already updated/uploaded on a regular basis by the desktop. Insync on the laptop destroyed the newest/newer Google Drive file.

The need stated as simply as possible:

  1. The desktop PC on which this e-mail’s being written is the mothership which contains almost all my computer activity. Not only in Outlook, but all data. I had also started storing my Outlook files in the desktop’s local Insync folder so that,
  2. My laptop, when I travel, could first read its shared Insync/Google Drive folder, and see and use what the desktop PC did with the Google Drive (master) Outlook files. This access and use would then temporarily make the laptop’s changes to the Outlook files the most recent, most vital copy and changes,
  3. Next, when I idle the laptop the desktop would then “take over” the editing of the vital Google Drive Outlook files,
  4. The fundamental assumption here is that BOTH computers would and could see that their own Outlook file was OLDER than the Google Drive version, because the other machine had edited the file. Instead of uploading their own, old file, they would instead download the freshly-edited file, as the Insync version is the master file – at all times under every circumstance.

I’ll send you both the laptop’s and desktop’s log files as soon as I can.

Michael "

The log files were sent recently - twice.

Please reply,
Michael

#8

Hello Michael,

Sorry I could not comprehend your complaint earlier. Yes, in case of conflicts, the local changes always take precedence over the remote ones so that no data is lost - whenever a file is found to be modified locally, Insync uploads the modified file as a new revision of that file on Google Drive. You can rollback to a previous revision (only up to a few previous revisions) of the file on Google Drive: File -> Manage revisions.

Let’s say the outlook file in question is file “A”. It is being sync’d to your laptop and desktop. Initially everything is in-sync, the laptop, desktop and google drive all have the same file contents (A)

  1. On your laptop, you modified the file, - lets denote this modified file on the laptop as “A-l” (this has not been sync’d to Google Drive yet)
  2. On your desktop, you modified the file A, lets denote it as “A-d”.
  3. The file from the desktop was sync’d to Google Drive first. Insync uploads the modified file “A-d” as a new revision to Google Drive. So the contents of the file on the Google Drive are now “A-d” as well
  4. You ran Insync on your laptop, it found out that the file was changed from A to “A-d” on Google Drive and A to “A-l” locally.
  5. Insync simply uploads “A-l” to Google Drive as a new revision regardless of the fact whether “A-l” is newer or “A-d” is newer. So now the contents of the file on Google Drive are “A-l”
  6. This will now be sync’d to your desktop too. So, all will have “A-l” as the new contents of file
  7. If you want to recover “A-d”, go to Google Drive: File->Manage Revisions and roll back to the last revision i.e. “A-d”

Had Insync downloaded and overwritten “A-l” with “A-d” on your laptop just because “A-d” was newer, everything would be sync’d to “A-d” but you would have no way to recover “A-l” if you wanted to.

So, you can rollback the file to the revision that you want on Google Drive.

Let us know if this addresses your concern.

Thanks