A superb free utility called PathSync to synchronise My Documents with a share on my Linux computer (Note – PathSync could also easily be configured to sync to USB attached storage, or another physical disk). Then to automate the process I modified the local policy on my XP computer so that the sync takes place automatically when I log off. Doing it this way is better than sync’ing using scheduled tasks, as with Task Scheduler I would have to remember to switch my computer on at the scheduled time in order for the task to run.

Configuration

First set up the share in Ubuntu, Edit your smb.conf and add a section:
vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

[sync]
path = /windoze/MyDocuments
read only = no
browseable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes
guest ok = yes

Restart Samba:

/etc/init.d/samba restart

Create the path:

mkdir -p /windoze/MyDocuments

Now download and install PathSync on XP. Configure your sync settings:

Sync your content by clicking on Go. Then go to File – Save SyncSettings. I saved my configuration to “C:\Program Files\PathSync\MyDocs.PSS”.

Sync automatically at log off

Now to automate this we can utilise the command line options that PathSync offfers. Create a new text document and insert this text into it:

"C:\Program Files\PathSync\pathsync.exe" -loadpss "C:\Program Files\PathSync\MyDocs.PSS" -autorun

Save and close, then rename this file to pathsync.cmd. Move the file to C:\WINDOWS\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\Scripts\Shutdown.

Click on Start > Run. In the run box type gpedit.msc and click on OK (Sorry to any users of ‘Windows XP Home’, as this might not work on your system).

In the group policy editor, navigate to Local Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts (startup/shutdown).

Bring up the properties for Shutdown in the right-hand pane. Click on Add, Browse, and select pathsync.cmd. The script does not need any additional parameters.

Click on OK and close Group Policy Editor. Now test by moving some items to My Documents and restarting your computer, you should see it sync up before the computer shuts down. Now you need never worry about backups again!

PathSync is free software released under the GNU Public Licence. Download it from the Pathsync homepage, here.