About synchronization

DRACOON for Windows offers offline synchronization. This means that you can work with DRACOON drives even if there is no Internet connection.

DRACOON uses modern on-demand synchronization: By default, files from your DRACOON are copied to your PC only if you really use them (e.g. open them by double-clicking). Thus, no unnecessary storage space is occupied by the DRACOON files that you currently do not need.

If desired, you can also explicitly copy certain data rooms, folders, and files to your PC and keep them available offline permanently.

If you edit DRACOON files on your PC while offline, any changes made are automatically synchronized with DRACOON after you reconnect to the Internet.

If you no longer need the offline copies on your PC, you can free up space by deleting the offline copies and leaving the files stored only in DRACOON.

 

Automatic on-demand synchronization (smart synchronization)

1. When you connect a DRACOON drive, on-demand synchronization (called "smart synchronization") is active by default.
2. After establishing the drive connection, a table of contents of your DRACOON is first created on your PC, which can also be used without an Internet connection. This allows you to navigate quickly through your DRACOON drive in Windows Explorer.
3. The actual DRACOON files are not yet available on your PC and are marked with the following icon: The cloud indicates that the file is currently stored only in DRACOON (in the cloud). An Internet connection is required to open the file.
4. As soon as you open the file, e.g. by double-clicking, the file is downloaded to your PC and marked with the following icon: The icon indicates that a copy of the DRACOON file has been created on your PC. This means that the file is also available without an Internet connection. Changes to the file on your PC are automatically synchronized, i.e. uploaded to DRACOON as soon as an Internet connection is active.

• Some files are opened automatically by Windows Explorer, e.g. to display a thumbnail of image files. This automatically creates an offline copy of these files on your hard disk. This explains why some files are marked with a green checkmark that you have not explicitly opened yourself.
• If you no longer need the offline copy of a DRACOON file on your PC, you can delete it and free up the occupied storage space. To do this, right-click the file, click DRACOON, and then click Remove offline availability. The file will then have the grey cloud icon again, as it is only stored in DRACOON.

 

Offline synchronization of specific data rooms, folders, and files

If you always want to keep a specific data room or DRACOON folder completely offline on your PC, you can enable permanent offline synchronization for the room or folder:

1. In Explorer, right-click the room or folder you want to keep offline.
2. On the shortcut menu, point to DRACOON, and then click Make available offline:
3. All files in the data room or folder are copied to your hard disk and marked with the following icon: The icon indicates that you want to make the files available offline on the PC. Thus, they are also available without an Internet connection. Changes to the files on your PC are automatically synchronized, i.e. uploaded to DRACOON as soon as an Internet connection is established.

• If you have selected a data room or folder for permanent offline synchronization, all contents of the room or folder are regularly synchronized between DRACOON and your PC. For example, if other users add files to the data room in DRACOON, the files are automatically copied to your PC as well. Existing files that other users have updated in DRACOON are automatically updated on your PC.
• Offline copies of an entire data room or folder can take up a lot of space on your hard drive. If you want to free up the occupied space, you can withdraw the permanent offline synchronization for a room or folder that you no longer need to keep offline. To do this, right-click the room or folder, point to DRACOON, and then click Remove offline availability. All offline copies of the files in the room or folder will then be deleted from your hard disk. The files will then have the grey cloud icon again, as they are only stored in DRACOON.
• By default, offline copies of the DRACOON files are stored in the following folder on the hard disk: %LocalAppData%\DRACOON\Cache. If desired, you can choose a different folder under Preferences > Sync > Choose.
• Temporary files that are automatically created by Microsoft Word or Explorer, for instance, are never synchronized and marked with the following icon:
  

 

Check synchronization status

• While the synchronization is running, the DRACOON icon is animated in the notification area of the taskbar. This allows you to see whether the synchronization of a large data room or folder is still running.
• Items that are currently being synchronized are displayed with the following icon:
  
• For details on the synchronization status, click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar. The sync status is displayed at the top of the menu. When synchronization is complete, the status is Up to date:
  
• If synchronization is currently running, point to the topmost menu item (the summary of the synchronization status). A submenu will appear that shows details for each running synchronization item, such as how much has already been uploaded, transfer speed, and the estimated remaining time:
  

 

View synchronization history

The last 8 events of the synchronization are kept in the synchronization history. You can always check the synchronization history to see which files were last synchronized and which events caused synchronization (e.g. copying a new file to the DRACOON drive). You can also track the time of each event.

• Click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar and point to the top item in the menu (the synchronization status). A submenu appears that displays the synchronization history:
  

You can click an item in the synchronization history to go to the corresponding file/folder in File Explorer.

Synchronization events

The icon in the left column of the synchronization history indicates the event of each synchronization operation of a file or folder:

Icon	Event
	The file or folder was added to DRACOON (e.g. by another user) and then downloaded to your PC and added to your DRACOON drive during synchronization.
	The file or folder has either been deleted in DRACOON (e.g. by another user, causing the file or folder to be deleted on your PC) or by yourself on your PC (causing the file to be deleted in DRACOON).
	The file or folder was changed in DRACOON (e.g. by another user). The updated version was downloaded to your PC and replaced the previous version on your DRACOON drive.
	The file or folder was added or modified by you on your PC and then uploaded to DRACOON. If you have modified and saved the file in a program on your PC, the program that was used is displayed in light grey under the file name and the icon of the program is displayed right below the file icon.
	A problem has occurred when synchronizing the file or folder.

 

Troubleshoot synchronization problems

• If a problem occurs when synchronizing a file, the file is marked with the following icon:
  
  In addition, the folder containing the problematic file and all its parent folders are marked with this warning icon as well to make you aware of the sync problem.

How to troubleshoot synchronization problems

 

Pause synchronization

1. To pause synchronization, click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar, point to the synchronization status at the top of the menu, and then click Pause Sync in the submenu.
2. The synchronization status is displayed as Sync Paused, and the DRACOON icon in the notification area is dimmed:
3. To resume synchronization, click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar, point to Sync Paused, and then click Resume Sync in the submenu.

• When the Internet connection is interrupted, synchronization is automatically paused. Once the Internet connection is restored, synchronization automatically resumes.
• For example, manually pausing synchronization is useful if your laptop's battery is low and other users are adding many files to the synchronized room that you don't need immediately. This would temporarily postpone copying the new DRACOON files to your PC to save power.
  Pausing is also useful if you're doing major restructuring in a data room on your PC and don't want to synchronize the changes until you're done.

 

Turn off synchronization

If you do not want to use synchronization, you can disable it.

Disable synchronization by default

1. Click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then click Preferences.
2. Click the Sync tab.
3. In the Sync dropdown box, select Online:

Disable synchronization only for a specific DRACOON drive (bookmark)

1. Click the DRACOON icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then click Preferences.
2. Point to the DRACOON drive connection where you want to turn off synchronization, and then click Edit.
3. Under Connect Mode, select Online:

It is recommended that you do not turn off synchronization even if you have a permanent Internet connection. The reason: Offline files on your hard disk can be processed faster by Windows programs than online files that must be used when synchronization is turned off. Synchronization will therefore generally increase the speed and reliability of working with DRACOON files under Windows.