Use Live Mesh to synchronise desktops

Windows Live Mesh is awesome. People usually prefer to bad mouth Microsoft products but it's just a ridiculous and pointless thing to do, especially when they are undeniably useful (and pretty darn neat).

I recently acquired a second laptop. It's more powerful and better in almost every way than my old one but it has taken me ages to migrate, just because my old laptop feels like 'home'. I just discovered the synchronise function within Google Chrome, which copies all your favourites (but not themes..?) using your google account, which is great. But I didn't find that early enough to stop me discovering Windows Live Mesh.

You see, I didn't know Chrome could do it. So I had used Mesh to keep the Chrome user data folder synchronised instead (which worked perfectly). Actually it works better than Chrome's own function, because it syncs your theme and your cookies too, meaning everything was already logged in etc etc etc. Anyhoo, I thought maybe it would be nice to synchronise the contents of my desktop. All my messy icons that I can't live without. And now that I've done it, I am glad I did because I suddenly feel at home here on the new machine. I could have just copied everything, but where's the geeky sense of discovery in that?

Also, I now use both machines (with Synergy - don't use the beta it's shite!). The only thing missing from Synergy is drag-dropping files. Now I just copy to my desktop, and in a few seconds the file is on the desktop on both machines! An excessive method, but it works.



I used the Windows 7 'Problem Steps Recorder' to take screenshots of the necessary steps. In case you don't know of this, it's another clever MS tool that they kept quiet about. Tap in 'psr' to the 'finder' bar (ahem..) and it will pop up at the top of the list. Every time you click it takes a screeny, then compiles them together in an (annoying) mhtml file. Great for troubleshooting someone elses machine!

Step 1 - load up the Mesh window. I guess step 0 would be to download and install it... it's part of the 'Windows Live Essentials' suite, so google that. You can choose whether to take the whole lot (which includes Live Mail, which is pretty decent, and Live Messenger etc) or just pick Mesh out of the selection.

Be sure to install on both your machines (duh) and log in to both of them with your same windows live account (or 'hotmail account' as us old folks call them).

Click on 'sync a folder'.

Choose your folder. In this case we are going to use 'desktop'.

At this point it will ask you where to share with. I had already swivelled over to the other computer at this point, so I clicked it afterwards (which works just the same).

Jump on your other machine. Enjoy my censored desktop. Just a couple of personal pictures I didn't really want to share. No, not those kind of pictures.

You should see that your folder has appeared here, waiting longingly to be synced! So to oblige its desires, click on 'sync this folder'.

You'll be asked where you want the files to go. For our desired effect of synchronising the contents of our desktops, we obviously want to put the items onto this computers 'desktop'.

Mesh starts doing its thang. At this point, it will combine the contents of the two folders. My 'new' desktop was totally empty, so it just copied from the old one.

Swivelling back to 'cartman' we see the window that I neglected to click on earlier. However we also see that Mesh has already worked its magic! Our icons have appeared on the desktop! Click on the machine you wish to sync with (I only have two connected to my live account but it could be more) and dismiss the window.

And we're done! You'll see I am also syncing a folder called 'Chrome' which contains three different user directories (for logging into three accounts... it's complicated, but Mesh makes it nice and simple to have my ridiculous setup on two machines at once!).

Remember now... if you delete something from one of these desktops, it will go from both! Recycle bins still work, of course, but just don't forget this important point.

So there we have it. Syncing your desktops across machines is very very easy thanks to this nifty tool.
Hating MS isn't fashionable any more anyway; we're supposed to be cynical of Google now. Or Apple. Or both...

Live Mesh is available for Windows (duh) and (what!!) Mac OS X. I believe you can also get at it on fancy mobile devices. The service uses your live-account-tied SkyDrive and has 5GB of storage set aside for syncing stuff. For most people that would probably allow for all your documents I would have thought.

It can also sync your IE and Office settings. Actually, I tried IE9 the other day and it's nice... nooo I can't become that much of an MS fanboy!

Windows Live Essentials @ live.com (download)

Windows Live Mesh @ wikipedia.org (background info)

Does anyone else remember 'briefcase' in Windows 95?